GENERAL HEALTH QUESTIONNAIRE.

Mental health is the level of psychological well-being or an absence of

mental illness. It is the state of someone who is "functioning at a
satisfactory level of emotional and behavioural adjustment".

 Definition of Mental health:

1. According to World Health Organization(WHO,year), mental health

is '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.'

2. According to Medilexicon's Medical Dictionary, "Emotional,

behavioural, and social maturity or normality; the absence of a mental
or behavioural disorder; a state of psychological well-being in which
one has achieved a satisfactory integration of one's instinctual drives
acceptable to both oneself and one's social milieu; an appropriate
balance of love, work, and leisure pursuits."citation

 Ways to improve mental health:

Mental health is much more than a diagnosis. It's one's overall

psychological well-being—the way an individual feels about
themselves and others as well as one's ability to manage one's
feelings and deal with everyday difficulties. And while taking care of
one's mental health can mean seeking professional support and
treatment, it also means taking steps to improve one's emotional
health on one's own. Making these changes will pay off in all aspects
of one's life. It can boost one's mood, build resilience, and add to
one's overall enjoyment of life:

1. Think positive-

Research shows that how one think's about themselves can have a
powerful effect on how an individual feel. When an individual
perceive themselves and their life negatively, they can end up viewing
experiences in a way that confirms that notion. Instead, practice using
words that promote feelings of self-worth and personal power. For
example, instead of saying, "I'm such a loser. I won't get the job
because I tanked in the interview," try, "I didn't do as well in the
interview as I would have liked, but that doesn't mean I'm not going
to get the job."

2. Write down something an individual is grateful for-

Gratitude has been clearly linked with improved well-being and

mental health, as well as happiness. The best-researched method to
increase feelings of gratitude is to keep a gratitude journal or write a
daily gratitude list. Generally contemplating gratitude is also effective,
but an individual need to get regular practice to experience long-term
benefit. Find something to be grateful for, let it fill one's heart, and
bask in that feeling.
3. Focus on one thing (in the moment)-

Being mindful of the present moment allows us to let go of negative

or difficult emotions from past experiences that weigh us down. Start
by bringing awareness to routine activities, such as taking a shower,
eating lunch, or walking home. Paying attention to the physical
sensations, sounds, smells, or tastes of these experiences helps an
individual focus. When one's mind wanders, just bring it back to what
an individual are doing.

4. Exercise-

one's body releases stress-relieving and mood-boosting endorphins

before and after an individual work out, which is why exercise is a
powerful antidote to stress, anxiety, and depression. Look for small
ways to add activity to one's day, like taking the stairs instead of the
elevator or going on a short walk. To get the most benefit, aim for at
least 30 minutes of exercise daily, and try to do it outdoors. Exposure
to sunlight helps one's body produce vitamin D, which increases one's
level of serotonin in the brain. Plus, time in nature is a proven stress
reducer.

5. Eat a good meal-

What an individual eat nourishes one's whole body, including one's

brain. Carbohydrates (in moderate amounts) increase serotonin, a
chemical that has been shown to have a calming effect on one's
mood. Protein-rich foods increase norepinephrine, dopamine, and
tyrosine, which help keep an individual alert. And vegetables and
fruits are loaded with nutrients that feed every cell of one's body,
including those that affect mood-regulating brain chemicals. Include
foods with Omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (found in fish, nuts,
and flaxseed.) Research shows that these nutrients can improve mood
and restore structural integrity to the brain cells necessary for
cognitive function.

6. Open up to someone-

Knowing an individual are valued by others is important for helping an

individual think more positively. Plus, being more trusting can increase
one's emotional well-being because as an individual get better at
finding the positive aspects in other people, an individual become
better at recognizing one's own.

7. Do something for someone else-

Research shows that being helpful to others has a beneficial effect on

how an individual feel about themselves. Being helpful and kind—and
valued for what an individual do—is a great way to build self-esteem.
The meaning an individual find in helping others will enrich and
expand one's life.

8. Take a break-
In those moments when it all seems like too much, step away, and do
anything but whatever was stressing an individual out until an
individual feel a little better. Sometimes the best thing to do is a
simple breathing exercise: Close one's eyes and take 10 deep breaths.
For each one, count to four as an individual inhale, hold it for a count
of four, and then exhale for another four. This works wonders almost
immediately.

9. Go to bed on time-

A large body of research has shown that sleep deprivation has a

significant negative effect on one's mood. Try to go to bed at a regular
time each day, and practice good habits to get better sleep. These
include shutting down screens for at least an hour before bed, using
one's bed only for sleep or relaxing activities, and restricting
caffeinated drinks for the morning.

 Prevalence of common mental disorders in India:

Mental disorders account for a large proportion of the disease burden

in young people in all societies. Most mental disorders begin during
youth (12–24 years of age), although they are often first detected later
in life. Poor mental health is strongly related to other health and
development concerns in young people, notably lower educational
achievements, substance abuse, violence, and poor reproductive and
sexual health.
Adolescence is a fluid concept: the traditional age-bound definition of
this phase of life (10–19 years) is greatly influenced by social,
environmental, and cultural factors. Puberty is considered by many as
signifying the onset of adolescence and this is often associated, in
girls, with menarche; as the age of menarche fell, particularly in the
early part of the last century in developed countries, the onset of
adolescence also seemed to take place at a younger age.

1. The Australian National Survey of Mental Health and Well Being

reported that at least 14% of adolescents younger than 18 years were
diagnosable with a mental or substance use disorder in 12 months and
this figure rose to 27% in the 18–24 year age-group. Taking these
studies together, at least one out of every four to five young people in
the general population will suffer from at least one mental disorder in
any given year, although much less information is available on burden
in developing countries and substantial crosscultural variations are
evident

2. In young people the mental disorder is through disability-adjusted

life years (DALY).Five of the ten leading causes of DALY in people aged
15–44 years are mental disorders—unipolar depressive disorders,
alcohol use disorders, self-inflicted injuries, schizophrenia, and bipolar
affective disorder. In a study from Victoria, Australia, mental disorders
in young people aged 15–24 years contributed to 60–70% of the total
DALY, reinforcing the notion that mental disorders are the major
contributor to disease burden in this age-group. Write about India too

 Risk factors :
Mental health problems are complex issues and are never the result of
one risk factor. Someone who has several risk factors could have more
resiliency towards problems than someone else who experienced less
risk factors. It is important to remember that each individual person
experiences stress, pain, and risk in different ways.

The suffering, functional impairment, exposure to stigma and

discrimination, and enhanced risk of premature death that is associated
with mental disorders in young people has obvious public-health signifi
cance. This significance is amplifi ed, since mental disorders in young
people tend to persist into adulthood.28 Conversely, mental disorders
in adults often began in youth or childhood, as shown by the National
Comorbidity Survey Replication75 in the USA, which was the fi rst study
to examine the temporal concentrations of age of onset. According to
the results of this study, 75% of people with a mental disorder had an
age of onset younger than 24 years. Furthermore, the ages of onset for
most disorders likely to persist into adult life, including depressive and
anxiety disorders, psychoses, substance use, and eating and personality
disorders, fell within a narrow time frame, notably the 12–24 year age
range.

 Protective factors:

1. Reliable support and discipline from caregivers

2. Following rules at home, school, work

3. Emotional self-regulation

4. Good coping skills and problem solving skills

5. Subjective sense of self-sufficiency

6. Optimism

7. Ability to learn from experiences

8. Good self-esteem

9. Social skills

 Mental Hygiene:

The term mental hygiene is closely related to mental health. We use

the term hygiene to refer to keeping themselves and one’s living and
working areas neat and clean in order to prevent illness and disease.
When we extend this concept to the domain of mind it stands for the
art of developing, maintaining, and promoting necessary behavioural,
emotional, and social skills to sustain good, effective and efficient
mental health. One can achieve this by following some basic strategies
at mental and behavioural levels in one’s daily life. These are as
follows:

1. Reality Contact: In order to maintain good and sound mental health

it is important to have a realistic appraisal of one’s own reactions,
emotions, and abilities. If an individual are in touch with reality an
individual may be able to avoid a number of disappointments and
frustrations in one's daily life.

2. Impulse Control: A person with healthy adjustment would have

good control over his/her behaviours and impulses. So in order to
maintain good mental health it is necessary that an individual should
be in complete control over one's impulsive behaviours.

3. Self-Esteem: The awareness about themselves is called self-concept.

It includes all the statements about “I” or “me” expressed in terms of
feelings, beliefs and values. Self-esteem is the evaluative component
of self. The personal evaluation of self could be either positive or
negative. A sense of personal adequacy or positive self-concept is
essential for mental health.

4. Positive Thoughts: The quality of mental health depends on

whether we direct our thoughts in positive or negative ways. Negative
thoughts generate negative emotions such as anger, hate, jealousy,
fear, and despair. The effect of such negative emotions on our mind is
unhealthy. They also harm the endocrine system. Therefore in order to
maintain good mental health, we need to develop the power of
positive thinking which generates positive emotions such as love, joy,
happiness, hope, compassion, empathy, and optimism in us. Such
emotions strengthen our capacity to cope with various life challenges.

Relationship between Mental health and Physical health:

Mental health- Mental health is the level of psychological well-being

or an absence of mental illness. It is the state of someone who is
"functioning at a satisfactory level of emotional and behavioural
adjustment". From the perspectives of positive psychology or of
holism, mental health may include an individual's ability to enjoy life,
and to create a balance between life activities and efforts to achieve
psychological resilience. According to the World Health Organization
(WHO), mental health includes "subjective well-being, perceived self-
efficacy, autonomy, competence, inter-generational dependence, and
self-actualization of one's intellectual and emotional potential, among
others." The WHO further states that the well-being of an individual is
encompassed in the realization of their abilities, coping with normal
stresses of life, productive work and contribution to their community.
Cultural differences, subjective assessments, and competing
professional theories all affect how one defines "mental health".

Physical Health- A balanced diet, proper sleep, and cutting down

unhealthy habits such as smoking, alcohol, and drugs are some of the
key physical health factors that can promote mental wellbeing. Some
of the things that can affect mental wellbeing are stress, working too
much, and being too inactive.

Mental and physical health is fundamentally linked. There are multiple

associations between mental health and chronic physical conditions
that significantly impact people’s quality of life, demands on health
care and other publicly funded services, and generate consequences
to society. The World Health Organization (WHO) defines: health as a
state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not
merely the absence of disease or infirmity. The WHO states that
“there is no health without mental health.”1

Nowhere is the relationship between mental and physical health more

evident than in the area of chronic conditions. The associations
between mental and physical health are:

1. Poor mental health is a risk factor for chronic physical conditions.

2. People with serious mental health conditions are at high risk of
experiencing chronic physical conditions.

3. People with chronic physical conditions are at risk of developing

poor mental health.

Understanding the links between mind and body is the first step in
developing strategies to reduce the incidence of co-existing conditions
and support those already living with mental illnesses and chronic
physical conditions.