Book contents
- A Handbook for the Study of Mental Health Second Edition
- A Handbook for the Study of Mental Health Second Edition
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Contributors
- Foreword
- Preface
- Part I Approaches to Mental Health and Illness: Conflicting Definitions and Emphases
- 1 An Overview of Sociological Perspectives on the Definitions, Causes, and Responses to Mental Health and Illness
- 2 The Measurement of Mental Disorder
- 3 The Prevalence of Mental Illness
- 4 Biological Theories of Psychiatric Disorders: A Sociological Approach
- 5 Psychological Approaches to Mental Illness
- 6 Sociological Approaches to Mental Illness
- 7 Viewing Mental Health from the Complete State Paradigm
- 8 Mental Health Systems in a Cross-Cultural Context
- Part II The Social Context of Mental Health and Illness
- Part III Mental Health Systems and Policy
- References
- Index
7 - Viewing Mental Health from the Complete State Paradigm
from Part I - Approaches to Mental Health and Illness: Conflicting Definitions and Emphases
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 June 2012
Book contents
- A Handbook for the Study of Mental Health Second Edition
- A Handbook for the Study of Mental Health Second Edition
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Contributors
- Foreword
- Preface
- Part I Approaches to Mental Health and Illness: Conflicting Definitions and Emphases
- 1 An Overview of Sociological Perspectives on the Definitions, Causes, and Responses to Mental Health and Illness
- 2 The Measurement of Mental Disorder
- 3 The Prevalence of Mental Illness
- 4 Biological Theories of Psychiatric Disorders: A Sociological Approach
- 5 Psychological Approaches to Mental Illness
- 6 Sociological Approaches to Mental Illness
- 7 Viewing Mental Health from the Complete State Paradigm
- 8 Mental Health Systems in a Cross-Cultural Context
- Part II The Social Context of Mental Health and Illness
- Part III Mental Health Systems and Policy
- References
- Index
Summary
By combining the pathogenic and salutogenic paradigms, the complete state approach is the only paradigm that can achieve true population mental health. This chapter illustrates the model of health as a complete state through a review of research on mental health as a complete state. Borrowing from the World Health Organization's definition of health, here we define mental health as not merely the absence of psychopathology but also the presence of sufficient levels of emotional, psychological, and social well-being. The chapter consists of reviews of several published papers using data from the MacArthur Foundation's 1995 Midlife in the United States survey (MIDUS). The complete mental health diagnostic states have been shown to be independent risk factors for cardiovascular disease. Evidence to date suggests that flourishing, a central component of complete mental health is a desirable condition that any community, corporation would want to protect or promote in its citizens.
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- Information
- A Handbook for the Study of Mental HealthSocial Contexts, Theories, and Systems, pp. 125 - 134Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2009
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