When I see a question like this one, I frequently use the World Health Organization definitions.

Health is a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.

Mental health is not just the absence of mental disorder. It is defined as a state of well-being in which every individual realizes 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 her or his community.

https://apps.who.int/aboutwho/en/definition.html#top
http://www.who.int/features/qa/62/en/index.html

Some professionals allow consumers to define recovery: http://www.mhrecovery.com/definition.htm Here is a sample Wellness Recovery Action Plan. http://www.idamaecampbell.org/files/40263519.pdf

The Wellness Center promotes the 8 Dimensions of Wellness:

Physical Wellness
Emotional Wellness
Intellectual Wellness
Social Wellness
Spiritual Wellness
Environmental Wellness
Multicultural Wellness
Occupational Wellness

http://www.scu.edu/wellness/about.cfm

Melissa Kirk gives her answer to the question in her Test Case blog here: http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/...ally-healthy-0

I agree with Ms. Kirk when she says:

For me, mental health lies on a continuum. There is no place where we will be perfectly mentally sane - as in, never having a low mood or acting in an unhealthy way, never having negative self-talk, never needing an escape from reality in the form of compulsive behavior - but there are degrees of imbalance, from occasionally feeling melancholy on grey days to full-blown delusional psychosis. Clearly, on the severe side of the spectrum, people need professional medical assistance. But most of us who struggle lie closer to the other side. We get sad and can't shake it, get anxious in certain situations, do to much of something (shopping, watching TV, gambling, drinking, eating) sometimes, or make unhealthy decisions rooted in psychological issues we've developed over the course of our lives.

The therapist who helped me the most periodically would ask me to close my eyes and imagine the life I wanted. Frankly, I had no idea. Growing up I was told what to do and think. After leaving home, making decisions was a huge challenge. I had no concept of how I wanted to live the rest of my life. I became quite frustrated because I had done what I was told and now I was lost and unhappy.

How many of you have thought about what it means to be mentally healthy? Have you talked about it in therapy? Did you formulate treatment plans to help you become mentally healthier? I wonder how many who suffer from an illness have some idea of where they are trying to go to have a more meaningful life?

[missbelle]

For me mentally healthy is acceptance and serenity and contentment. What great feelings!!!

[pgrundy]

I've thought about it a lot. It's more complex than it seems on the surface.

For instance, many great writers are driven by what professionals today would call mental illness--depression or bipolar being two of the main illnesses that seem to afflict creative types disproportionately. If a brilliant writer attains 'mental health' but then loses the urge to write (which happens as often as it doesn't) is that a desirable outcome? I'm not saying it is or it isn't, I'm just throwing the question out there, because I think it's an interesting one.

Some Jungians argue that the most difficult early life experiences, the ones that lead to what (again) many therapists would call 'mental illness', are also the most character-building. It's the shadow side of the personality that creates depth and beauty, not the sunny side.

Finally, mental illness can serve to obscure social problems by making them personal and creating a market around them. We see this to a certain degree with depression. It's not that depression isn't real or that people who take antidepressants don't need them---I'm NOT saying that. But what I am saying is this: What kind of society creates this much depression in its citizens and tolerates it?

We don't do anything about that question or even consider it because we've personalized the problem and created a market around it. We don't say, "We're living in a society that makes insane, unhealthy demands on its citizens." We say, "We have an epidemic of depression, an illness. More drugs please! Drugs for everyone!"

Thank you for this question. I could go on, but I've gone on enough already I think.

[pgrundy]

OK I can't leave this one out:

We've also created a market around sexual abuse and PTSD (for veterans AND abuse victims). We don't say, "How can we stop this handful of sex criminals from destroying lives?" If we bring up sex criminals at all it's to make some statement that is cruel and unusual and doesn't really help, it just feels good to say something extreme. We focus on the victims exclusively and make it THEIR personal 'mental illness.' But really, it's a social problem, not a mental illness. Part of the reason it causes so much damage to victims is that society absolutely refuses to deal with it in an adult, realistic manner.

Same with the war veterans with PTSD. No one says, "Hey we have made war way too much of an industry and it has become horrific for those who manage to survive." No we just say, "Gosh some people for unknown reasons are negatively affected by seeing unrepeatable horrors day after day. They have PTSD, a mental illness." But I personally would think, wow. Who could see that and not be affected? Which person is truly mentally ill? The one who adjusted to it and isn't bothered? Or the one who is now freaked out?

I think the repeated deployments are criminal. Veterans often have to wait years to get treatment. Those who remain in the service are reluctant to seek treatment for fear of the effect it will have on their career. I have no respect for our leaders. They treat real people like tanks and planes -- commodities to used, abused and discarded.

[venusss]

Same with the war veterans with PTSD. No one says, "Hey we have made war way too much of an industry and it has become horrific for those who manage to survive." No we just say, "Gosh some people for unknown reasons are negatively affected by seeing unrepeatable horrors day after day. They have PTSD, a mental illness." But I personally would think, wow. Who could see that and not be affected? Which person is truly mentally ill? The one who adjusted to it and isn't bothered? Or the one who is now freaked out?

yeah, this notion bothers me to no end as well. Gee, some people are ****ed up because they have been to war and in extremelly terrible situation? Cannot get over the fact they killed and have been almost killed and see people dying? Must be a disorder, an illness.
Implying this is not "normal" is almost the same as implying it is a weakness.

[objtrbit]

The ability to love and work. -Freud

[Perna]

Originally Posted by TheByzantine

The therapist who helped me the most periodically would ask me to close my eyes and imagine the life I wanted. Frankly, I had no idea. Growing up I was told what to do and think. After leaving home, making decisions was a huge challenge. I had no concept of how I wanted to live the rest of my life. I became quite frustrated because I had done what I was told and now I was lost and unhappy.

Oh, I remember that stage so clearly (still suffer from it somewhat). I got to where I could picture myself as an empty house ready to be moved into but not the furniture or what I wanted that house to be like; I couldn't make it come alive and be a home!