Mental Health Introduction

Mental/Emotional Health The ability to accept yourself and others, adapt to and manage emotions, and deal with demands and challenges you meet in life.

Characteristics of Good Mental/Emotional Health Positive Self-Esteem Confidence in yourself and able to accept challenges and take failure in stride Sense of Belonging Attachment to family, friends, and others around you for comfort and it promotes stability Sense of Purpose Recognizing own value and importance helps to achieve goals Positive Outlook Seeing the bright side of having hope Autonomy Confidence to make responsible decisions and promotes self-assurance

Personality A set of characteristics that makes you unique

Influences on Personality Heredity Determine a person’s basic intellectual ability and temperament or emotional tendencies Environment Everything that surrounds you in day-to-day life Modeling- observing and learning from behaviors of those around you Behavior The one that you have the most control over. Decisions you make, consequences, etc.

Personal Identity Your sense of yourself as a unique individual Interests, likes/dislikes, talents/abilities, values/beliefs, and goals Short-term goals Long-term goals

Emotions Signals that tell your mind and body how to react Hormones are secreted by the glands and regulate the activities of different body cells Happy, Sad, Love, Empathy Ability to imagine and understand how someone else feels Fear From an imagined threat can lead to not leading a normal life- turn into phobia Guilt, Anger, Hostility Intentional use of unfriendly or offensive behavior

Common Defense Mechanisms Repression Involuntary pushing of unpleasant feelings out of conscious thought Suppression Conscious, intentional pushing of unpleasantness from one’s mind Rationalization Making excuses to explain a situation or behavior rather than taking responsibility for it Regression Reverting to behaviors more characteristic of an earlier stage of development rather than dealing with the conflict in a mature manner

Defense Mechanisms Cont. Denial Unconscious lack of acknowledgement of something that is obvious to others Compensation Making up for weakness and mistakes through gift-giving, hard work, or extreme efforts Projection Attributing your own feelings or faults to another person or group Idealization Seeing someone else as perfect, ideal, or more worthy than everyone else