Mental health

Mental health encompasses emotional, psychological, and social well-being, influencing cognition, perception, and behavior. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), it is a "state of well-being in which the individual realizes his or her abilities, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and fruitfully, and can contribute to his or her community".^[1] It likewise determines how an individual handles stress, interpersonal relationships, and decision-making.^[2] Mental health includes subjective well-being, perceived self-efficacy, autonomy, competence, intergenerational dependence, and self-actualization of one's intellectual and emotional potential, among others.^[3]

From the perspectives of positive psychology or holism, mental health may include an individual's ability to enjoy life and to create a balance between life activities and efforts to achieve psychological resilience.^[4] Cultural differences, personal philosophy, subjective assessments, and competing professional theories all affect how one defines "mental health".^[5] Some early signs related to mental health difficulties are sleep irritation, lack of energy, lack of appetite, thinking of harming oneself or others, self-isolating (though introversion and isolation aren't necessarily unhealthy), and frequently zoning out.^[5]

^ "Health and Well-Being". World Health Organization. Retrieved 2023-08-09.
^ "About Mental Health". U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). 2021-11-23. Retrieved 2022-04-11.
^ "The world health report 2001 – Mental Health: New Understanding, New Hope" (PDF). WHO. Retrieved 4 May 2014.
^ Snyder CR, Lopez SJ, Pedrotti JT (2011). Positive psychology: the scientific and practical explorations of human strengths. SAGE. ISBN 978-1-4129-8195-8. OCLC 639574840.^{[page needed]}
^ ^a ^b "Mental Health". MedlinePlus. U.S. National Library of Medicine. Retrieved 2019-11-20.