deviation from ideal mental health

• we all have certain things we need to be mentally healthy, with these we are normal. however, if we dont have these it can lead to mental illness and result in abnormality
• carl rogers 


  he believes all we need as humans is unconditional love, particularly when we're children. this means we recieve love and affection from our parents with no conditions, they love us for who we are no matter what. if we recieve unconditional love, we have high self esteem. we need to be regarded positively by significant people in our lives. if we recieve conditional love, we have low self esteem. we spend our lives constantly changing ourselves to please others, to gain their acceptance and love.
• Maslow


  believed that humans are motivated by certain things. a normal person should strive to achieve this. he believed someone was abnormal if they didn't want to achieve these. he suggested a hierarchy of needs. as humans we have basic needs that must be met, as you go up, these help people grow and achieve.
• outline the hierarchy of needs

  from bottom to top:

  -> physiological needs [shelter, warmth, water, food etc]

  -> safety needs [personal security, employment, health, property]

  -> love and belonging [friendship, intimacy, family, sense of connection]

  -> esteem [respect, self esteem, status, recognition, freedom]

  -> self actualisation [ desire to become the most that one can be]
• Jahoda

  6 criteria that needed to be fulfilled for ideal mental health:

  -> positive attitude towards self

  having good self esteem

  -> self actualisation

  being in a state of contentment, being the best you can be

  -> autonomy

  being independent

  -> resistance to stress

  being able to cope with stress

  -> environmental mastery

  able to adapt to new situations

  -> accurate perception of reality

  having a balanced perception of the world, not being overly negative or positive
• johoda said for ideal mental health, an individual should meet all of these
• evaluate the deviation from ideal mental health:

  + focuses on mental healthiness rather than illness

  + holistic - it looks at different aspects of mental health, such as a persons physical, social, cognitive and emotional needs

  + it allows for goal setting - it adopts a positve approach to mental health - anyone can attain it as long as they do certain things, like set themselves goals and have a sense of purpose

  + this approach has led to counselling which is often which is often very helpful
• evaluation of the deviation from ideal mental health:

  -> hardly anyone actually difficult for actualisation - it is very difficult for most people to achieve their goals

  -> based on western ideals of individualism

  -> what an individual needs to be happy

  -> individual differences - assumes we all need the same things but we all have our own specific needs

  -> culturally specific - some countries have other priorities such as food / water