MENTAL HEALTH DAY

Today is October 10^th. As per W H O declaration October 10^th of every year is World Mental Health Day. “There is no health without mental health”. This is the statement of W H O. On this day we are taking stock of our earlier works in forgone years and assessing its success and failures. We resolve to complete our unfinished tasks and address pressing mental health problems of tomorrow.

What is mental health? Mental health is the normal state of well being. Mental health is a condition which is characteristic of the average person, who meets the demands of life, according to his capabilities and limitations. Mental health is not mere absence of mere mental illness. On the other hand, it is positive, active quality of the individual’s daily living. This quality of living is manifest in the behavior of an individual, whose body and mind are working together in harmony. His thoughts, feelings, and actions function jointly towards the common end successful accomplishments of his duties. Such a person can balance his feelings, desires, ambitions and ideals in his daily life, capable of facing and accepting the realities of life. His habits and attitudes towards people and things bring maximum satisfaction and happiness to the individual. He does things without any friction with the social order or group or individuals with whom he work.

Mental health has two important aspects. That is individual and social. In the case of individual it is interpersonal adjustments. He is free from his own conflicts and tensions or inconsistencies. He is deft enough to adapt to new situations and achieve internal adjustments in a social set up. Society has certain value systems, customs and traditions. It is the leading light of existence and dynamic style of society. Who, he understand this dynamics and is behaving as per, is acceptable to society. Meaning is that an individual basically satisfied with themselves, in their roles in life, and their relationship with others, is to be considered as who have sufficient mental health.

New Liberalization, economic policy, tends Kerala as a vulnerable state of mental health problems. Stress and tension due to competitions among society leads to disorders like anxiety, different types of phobias and depression. Alcoholic dependence syndrome and substance uses are spreading among adolescence and youths. Numbers of divorce cases in Kerala are increasing enormously due to these factors. An early diagnosis and treatment to mental disorders is necessary for well being of society. Earlier there was stigma among people taking treatments for mental disorders. Now good sign is that more peoples are overcoming the stigma and are readying to take treatments from experts.