The World Health Organization defines mental health as "a state of well-being in which every individual recognizes his or her own potential, 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." Traditionally, mental health has been thought of as the absence of an identifiable mental illness. Optimal mental health, however, means more than the mere absence of disease.
Assessment
You may assess your own mental health through the use of online mental health tests. If the results raise a concern, you may wish to seek an evaluation from a psychologist or a psychiatrist. These professionals typically utilize extensive written tests along with a personal interview to evaluate your mental health. In most cases, they will be looking for a known mental disorder and will pronounce you mentally healthy if none are found.
Dimensions of Mental Health
Mental health comprises four dimensions of psychological competence--cognitive, emotional, behavioral and social. Although competence in one area may or may not be accompanied by competence in another, they tend to influence each other. For example, emotional stability is likely to contribute to social competence, and vice versa.
Mental Illness
Mental illness results from incompetence in one or more of the four dimensions of mental health. Mental health researchers have identified a large number of different types of mental illnesses. For example, a disorganization of thought--a type of cognitive incompetency--may indicate the presence of schizophrenia. Emotional instability may be a symptom of bipolar disorder, while certain kinds of social problems may indicate narcissistic personality disorder.
Self-Actualization
The traditional definition of mental health as the absence of a mental health disorder was supplemented with the idea of optimal mental health by psychologists such as Abraham Maslow with his "Hierarchy of Needs." According to Maslow, mental health is not an "either/or" proposition, but rather a continuum with mentally ill people at the bottom, average people in the middle and extraordinary people at the top. Maslow believed that people struggle to satisfy basic needs and that only after meeting these needs are they free to seek satisfaction of their "higher needs." Those who have met their lower needs and are preoccupied with satisfying higher needs are said to possess optimal mental health. These needs, in ascending order from lower to higher, are biological needs, safety needs, need for love and belonging, need for respect from self and others and need for self-actualization. Self-actualization means to become "all that you can be" in terms of productivity and creativity.
Ways to Acheive Optimal Mental Health
In order to improve your level of mental health, you need to maintain yourself in a variety of ways. The most obvious way is to take care of your physical health--to eat, exercise and sleep properly. You should seek to establish at least one intimate, honest relationship in your life and talk over your concerns with this person. You should seek productive fulfillment through your occupation or a hobby. You should spare no effort to preserve your personal integrity, even if it requires sacrifice. You should make a special effort to become aware of your thoughts and feelings and to modify them when they become counterproductive.
