Understanding Mental Health - Essay Example

The term mental health refers to a state of complete cognitive, psychological, emotional and social well-being of a person. Or in other words, it may also be termed as the absence of any mental disorder or disease. This paper aims at analyzing the case study of Peter, a man who is chronically suffering from addiction to alcohol and drugs. The World Health Organization however advocates that mental health is “not merely the absence of disease or infirmity” (WHO, 2001, p.1). It offers a much more comprehensive definition of the term by stating that mental health is “a state of well-being in which the individual realizes his or her own abilities, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and fruitfully, and is able to make a contribution to his or her community".

WHO stresses that mental health "is not just the absence of mental disorder” (WHO, 2001, p.1) The Med lexicon’s Medical Dictionary (2010) defines mental health as “emotional, behavioral, and social maturity or normality; the absence of a mental or behavioral disorder; a state of psychological well-being in which one has achieved a satisfactory integration of ones instinctual drives acceptable to both oneself and ones social milieu; an appropriate balance of love, work, and leisure pursuits” (Neeraja & Anuradha, 2014, p. 87) . Hence, the three basic ideas that can be inferred from the two definitions about mental health are: firstly, that mental health is an essential part of human health; secondly, that mental health is a wide concept and cannot be defined as merely the absence of disease; and thirdly, that mental health is intricately connected to physical health and behavior.

(Herrman, Saxena & Moodie, 2005) Though Peter was not suffering from any obvious physical disease or disorder, his addiction to alcohol and drugs had severely affected his