A state of balance between the individual and the surrounding world, a state of harmony between oneself and others, a coexistence between the realities of the self and that of other people, and that of the environment

1. DEFINITION OF MENTAL HEALTH
A state of balance between the individual and the surrounding world, a state of harmony between
oneself and others, a coexistence between the realities of the self and that of other people, and
that of the environment.
W.H.O DEFINITION OF MENTAL HEALTH
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.
COMPONENTS OF MENTAL HEALTH
Self-governance
Growth-orientation
Tolerance of uncertainty
Self-esteem
Mastery of Environment
Reality-orientation
Stress Management
CHARACTERISTICS OF A MENTALLY HEALTHY PERSON
1.Free from internal conflicts
2.Well-adjusted
3.Accepts criticism
4.Strong sense of self-esteem
5.Knows himself/herself
6.Faces problems and copes with stress and anxiety
7.Take his own decisions
8.Sets reasonable goals for himself
9.Self respect

2. MENTAL HEALTH NEEDS
1. The need for affection
2. The need for belonging
3. The need for independence
4. The need for achievement
5. The need for recognition or approval
6. The need for a sense of personal worth
7. The need for self-actualization
FACTORS AFFECTING MENTAL HEALTH DEVELOPMENT
Exposure to toxins (e.g. tobacco, alcohol) pregnancy Head trauma lack of oxygen to the brain at
birth genetic tendency to psychiatric disorder that is Heredity
PHYSICAL HEALTH
Neurological disease Endocrine disease , Various types of acute & chronic infections, head
injuries malnutrition
SOCIAL FACTORS
Worries, anxieties, emotional stress, tension, frustration unhappy marriages, broken homes
Family conflict Poverty inconsistent care- giving Poor family discipline Poor family death of
family member
PSYCHOLOGICAL
Sexual, physical &emotional abuse and neglect difficult temperament maladaptive personality
traits
SCHOOL
Academic failure and drop out inappropriate school environment
COMMUNITY
Community disorganization discrimination and marginalization exposure to violence

3. Self enhancement, growth/therapeutic groups
Self-enhancement is a type of motivation that works to make people feel good about themselves
and to maintain self-esteem. This motive becomes especially prominent in situations of threat,
failure or blows to one's self-esteem. Self-enhancement involves a preference for positive over
negative self-views.]
It is one of the four self-evaluation motives:, along with self-
assessment(the drive for an accurate self-concept), self-verification (the drive for a self-concept
congruent with one's identity) and self-improvement (the act of bettering one's self-concept).
Levels of Self-Enhancement
1. Observed Effect
Self-enhancement at the level of an observed effect describes the product of the motive.
For example, self-enhancement can produce inflated self-ratings (positive illusions). Such
ratings would be self-enhancement manifested as an observed effect. It is an observable
instance of the motive.
2. Ongoing Process
Self-enhancement at the level of an ongoing process describes the actual operation of the
motive. For example, self-enhancement can result in attributing favourable outcomes to
the self and unfavourable outcomes to others (self-serving attribution bias). The actual act
of attributing such ratings would be self-enhancement manifested as an ongoing process.
It is the motive in operation.
3. Personality Trait
Self-enhancement at the level of a personality trait describes habitual or inadvertent self-
enhancement. For example, self-enhancement can cause situations to be created to ease
the pain of failure (self-handicapping). The fabrication of such situations or excuses
frequently and without awareness would be self-enhancement manifested as a personality
trait. It is the repetitive inclination to demonstrate the motive.

4. 4. Underlying Motive
Self-enhancement at the level of an underlying motive describes the conscious desire to self-
enhance. For example, self-enhancement can cause the comparison of the self to a worse other,
making the self seem greater in comparison (strategic social comparisons). The act of comparing
intentionally to achieve superiority would be self-enhancement manifested as an underlying
motive. It is the genuine desire to see the self as superior.
Both the extent and the type of self-enhancement vary across a number of dimensions
1.Self-Advancement vs. Self-Protection
Self-enhancement can occur by either self-advancing or self-protecting, that is either by
enhancing the positivity of one's self-concept, or by reducing the negativity of one's self-concept.
Self-protection appears to be the stronger of the two motives, given that avoiding negativity is of
greater importance than encouraging positivity. However, as with all motivations, there are
differences between individuals. For example, people with higher self-esteem appear to favour
self-advancement, whereas people with lower self-esteem tend to self-protect.]
This highlights
the role of risk: to not defend oneself against negativity in favour of self-promotion offers the
potential for losses, whereas whilst one may not gain outright from self-protection, one does not
incur the negativity either. People high in self-esteem tend to be greater risk takers and therefore
opt for the more risky strategy of self-advancement, whereas those low in self-esteem and risk-
taking hedge their bets with self-protection.
2.Public vs. Private
Self–enhancement can occur in private or in public Public self-enhancement is obvious positive
self-presentation, whereas private self enhancement is unnoticeable except to the individual. The
presence of other people i.e. in public self-enhancement, can either augment or inhibit self-
enhancement. Whilst self-enhancement may not always take place in public it is nevertheless still
influenced by the social world, for example via social comparisons.

5. 3.Central vs. Peripheral
Potential areas of self-enhancement differ in terms how important, or central, they are to a
person. Self-enhancement tends to occur more in the domains that are the most important to a
person, and less in more peripheral, less important domains.
4.Candid vs. Tactical
Self-enhancement can occur either candidly or tactically. Candid self-enhancement serves the
purpose of immediate gratification whereas tactical self-enhancement can result in potentially
larger benefits from delayed gratification.
Tactical self-enhancement is often preferred over candid self-enhancement as overt self-
enhancement is socially displeasing for those around it. Narcissism is an exemplification of
extreme candid self-enhancement.
Types of Self enhancement
Self-enhancement does not just occur at random. Its incidence is often highly systematic and can
occur in any number of ways in order to achieve its goal of inflating perceptions of the self.
Importantly, we are typically unaware that we are self-enhancing. Awareness of self-enhancing
processes would highlight the facade we are trying to create, revealing that the self we perceive
is in fact an enhanced version of our actual self.
Self-serving attribution bias
Self-enhancement can also affect the causal explanations people generate for social outcomes.
People have a tendency to exhibit a self-serving attribution bias, that is to attribute positive
outcomes to one's internal disposition but negative outcomes to factors beyond one's control e.g.
others, chance or circumstance. In short, people claim credit for their successes but deny
responsibilities for their failures.

6. Selectivity
Selective memory
People sometimes self-enhance by selectively remembering their strengths rather than
weaknesses. This pattern of selective forgetting has been described as mnemic neglect. Mnemic
neglect may reflect biases in the processing of information at either encoding, retrieval or
retention.
Selective acceptance & refutation
Selective acceptance involves taking as fact self-flattering or ego-enhancing information with
little regard for its validity. Selective refutation involves searching for plausible theories that
enable criticism to be discredited. A good example of selective acceptance and refutation in
action would be: Selective acceptance is the act of accepting as valid an examination on which
one has performed well without consideration of alternatives, whereas selective refutation would
be mindfully searching for reasons to reject as invalid an examination on which one has
performed poorly.
Assertiveness Training
a form of behavior characterized by a confident declaration or affirmation of a
statement without need of proof; this affirms the person's rights or point of view
without either aggressively threatening the rights of another (assuming a position of
dominance) or submissively permitting another to ignore or deny one's rights or point
of view.
Training
Joseph Wolpe originally explored the use of assertiveness as a means of "reciprocal inhibition"
of anxiety, in his 1958 book on treating neurosis; and it has since been commonly employed as
an intervention in behavior therapy. Assertiveness Training ("AT") was introduced by Andrew
Salter (1961) and popularized by Joseph Wolpe. Wolpe's belief was that a person could not be
both assertive and anxious at the same time, and thus being assertive would inhibit anxiety. The
goals of assertiveness training include:
increased awareness of personal rights
differentiation between non-assertiveness and assertiveness
differentiation between passive–aggressiveness and aggressiveness
learning both verbal and non-verbal assertiveness skills.

7. As a communication style and strategy, assertiveness is thus distinguished from both aggression
and passivity. How people deal with personal boundaries, their own and those of other people,
helps to distinguish between these three concepts. Passive communicators do not defend their
own personal boundaries and thus allow aggressive people to abuse or manipulate them through
fear. Passive communicators are also typically not likely to risk trying to influence anyone else.
Aggressive people do not respect the personal boundaries of others and thus are liable to harm
others while trying to influence them. A person communicates assertively by overcoming fear of
speaking his or her mind or trying to influence others, but doing so in a way that respects the
personal boundaries of others. Assertive people are also willing to defend themselves against
aggressive people.
Communication
>Assertive communication involves respect for the boundaries of oneself and others. It also
presumes an interest in the fulfillment of needs and wants through cooperation.
> "Assertive communication of personal opinions, needs, and boundaries has been ...
conceptualized as the behavioral middle ground, lying between ineffective passive and
aggressive responses". Such communication "emphasizes expressing feelings forthrightly, but in
a way that will not spiral into aggression".
>If others' actions threaten one's boundaries, one confidences, stonewalls, and violates others'
boundaries.
>Assertive communication attempts to transcend these extremes by appealing to the shared
interest of all parties; it "focuses on the issue, not the person". Aggressive and/or passive
communication, on the other hand, may mark a relationship's end, and reduce self-respect.
Assertive people
Assertive people tend to have the following characteristics:[citation needed][by whom?]
They feel free to express their feelings, thoughts, and desires.
They are "also able to initiate and maintain comfortable relationships with [other] people"
They know their rights.
They have control over their anger. This does not mean that they repress this feeling; it
means that they control anger and talk about it in a reasoning manner.
"Assertive people ... are willing to compromise with others, rather than always wanting
their own way ... and tend to have good self-esteem".
"Assertive people enter friendships from an 'I count my needs. I count your needs'
position".

8. Techniques
Techniques of assertiveness can vary widely. Manuel Smith, in his 1975 book When I Say No, I
Feel Guilty, offered some of the following behaviors:
Broken record
The "broken record" technique consists of simply repeating your requests or your refusals every
time you are met with resistance. The term comes from vinyl records, the surface of which when
scratched would lead the needle of a record player to loop over the same few seconds of the
recording indefinitely. "As with a broken record, the key to this approach is repetition. Where
your partner will not take no for an answer."
A disadvantage with this technique is that when resistance continues, your requests may lose
power every time you have to repeat them. If the requests are repeated too often, it can backfire
on the authority of your words. In these cases, it is necessary to have some sanctions on hand.
Fogging
Fogging consists of finding some limited truth to agree with in what an antagonist is saying.
More specifically, one can agree in part or agree in principle.
Negative inquiry
Negative inquiry consists of requesting further, more specific criticism.
Negative assertion
Negative assertion is agreement with criticism without letting up demand.