Mental health

Mental health

 

Main article: Mental health

The World Health Organization describes mental health as "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".^[21] Mental Health is not just the absence of mental illness.
Mental illness is described as 'the spectrum of cognitive, emotional, and behavioural conditions that interfere with social and emotional wellbeing and the lives and productivity of people. Having a mental illness can seriously impair; temporarily or permanently, the mental functioning of a person. Other terms include: 'mental health problem', 'illness', 'disorder', 'dysfunction'. (Hungerford et al. 2012).
Roughly a quarter of all adults 18 and over in the US suffer from a diagnosable mental illness. Mental illnesses are the leading cause of disability in the US and Canada. Examples include, schizophrenia, ADHD, major depressive disorder, bipolar disorder, anxiety disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder and autism.^[22]