Promoting mental health: Increasing strength in human life

Pages: 1250-1255
Aradhana Shukla (Department of Psychology, Kumaun University Campus, Almora, Uttarakhand)

Mental health is an integral part of health and it is more than the absence of mental illness and it is paralleled to physical health. It is the foundation of well-being and effective functioning for an individual, in particular and society, in general. It aims to deal with the promotion of mental strength in people so that they could cultivate them. Mental strength can be defined as a capacity of feeling, thinking and behaving in a way that allows optimal functions in the pursuit of valued outcomes. It is a combination of talents, knowledge and skills. Strength envisages the person and can be seen in terms of well-being, gratitude, forgiveness, empathy, virtues, hope, optimism, resilience and many more. It is determined by efficacy/, confidence, hope, optimism and resiliency. This paper is based on the study, observation and experience of the author about the promotion of mental health and the understanding of the concept of mental strength as an important tool of the enhancement of mental health. This paper is divided in four subsequent subsections. Section one deals with the concept of mental strength as described by Western and Indian thinkers. Section two reveals the determinants and process of mental strength. The third section describes the indicators and hazards of mental strength and finally in fourth section tips to raise the magnitude of mental strength is discussed.