Mental Health: The Quality Of Life

Mental Health

Mental health in society today is still associated with a stigma that which people are made to feel afraid or embarrassed to tell a health care professional what they are feeling or thinking. Mental Health includes emotional psychological and social wellbeing. Although the fear of most people is not to speak about or act on the issues they may have, some people need too, there are many factors that play a part in mental health from biological factors, life experiences or even family history. Research studies show that,” a desire to avoid stigma may play a role in the under-coding of behavioral health issues, such as substance dependence or suicide attempts. As a further complication, the diagnostic criteria for some of

Defining and measuring quality of life is a notoriously difficult thing to do and is without doubt affected by an individual’s particular experience. Where there has been a belief in the effectiveness of ‘cures’ for mental health problems and conditions, quality of life has not been seen as so important because it has usually been assumed that a good quality of life will replace a poorer quality of life once the cure or treatment successfully addressed but the limitations and unpleasant side effects of many medical treatments for people diagnosed with ‘illnesses’ such as schizophrenia, and the failure to find any entirely effective treatments for dementia, let alone a cure, has brought quality of life issues. Initiatives started mainly by service users, such as the recovery approach and self-management, contain an acknowledgement that, for some people, mental distress, hearing voices, having bizarre beliefs and many other ‘symptoms’ of mental health problems are experiences they may live with on a day-to-day basis for a large part of their life. Having some measure of control over these experiences while also being able to maximize quality of life, by which heavy duty sedative antipsychotics often don’t allow, and therefore crucial, but this is much wider than just a health issue. Sustaining good physical health, having positive significant relationships, being able to participate in the community through work or other programs, having a safe and secure place to live and adequate income, and being free from harassment and judgement can all be as important as managing one’s mental health. “This was recognized perhaps most significantly with the publication of the Labor government’s Social Exclusion Unit (SEU) report on mental health (Social Exclusion Unit, 2004). It was arguably the furthest that government has ever reached in acknowledging the limitations of a more traditional