Promoting Mental Health And Wellbeing

Introduction

World Health Organization (WHO) define mental health as the state of well-being where a person discovers his or her own potential, can work fruitfully and productively, he or she is able to adapt to the normal stresses of life and he or she is able to make a contribution to the community. North Western Health Board (NWHB) state that mental health has an effect on personal feelings towards other people and how individuals feel about themselves. Mental health affects our day-to-day skills such as maintaining relationships with other people, interacting with people around us and whether it is the family relationship or intimate relationship. Mental health also affects how people deal with different life issues. Changes such as losing a job or bereavement in-person life have a different impact or affect people differently. There is three level at which the risk and protective factors operate. These three levels include structural, social and individual factors. According to the North Western Health Board (NWHB), every level is reinforced and supports each level hence enhancing them. By strengthening individuals we are trying to promote self-esteem and develop their skills and abilities, such as developing skill help them build and maintain relationship and interaction with other people. The main objective of promoting mental health is to enhance wellbeing and has become an important challenge for many governments (Ruddick 2013). The ultimate benefit of having a healthy population is improving the country economy through increased productivity. The historical economic indicators of well-being require to be substituted with more subjective measures that analyze how individuals feel and think about life (Andrews and Withey 2012). The individual thought about his well-being may be affected by his or her financial situation though

Bacon (2010) state that individuals often perceive non-financial factor more important. Nurses are required to uses every opportunity to promote the health of a patient. Some time nurses are not sure to promote the mental health of an individual and hence have a negative on the physical wellbeing. There is a great need to promote mental health as it has an effect on nation performance. The case of early intervention and prevention of mental illness have not been given greater emphasis in many countries. Mental and physical health are inextricably related and one will always have an impact on the other. This has been proved in the treatment of common mental health illness such as depression and anxiety and dietary management and exercise regimes are incorporated into the patients’ treatment plans (Ruddick 2013). Diverse ranges of activities are involved in mental health promotion. These activities can be targeted at community, family and individual level and the government needs to develop initiatives and policies mental health promotion. Determinants of mental health and well-being To develop the approach for promoting mental health and wellbeing one is required to understand the factors that affect mental health. Apart from financial security mental health is affected by structural factors such as individual coping skills, social support, employment, and housing. The other factor is the lifespan. The mental health and wellbeing issues of older people are unique compared to that experience to young energetic people. Old people are affected by issues of retirement and old age illness. Understand the factors that affect the mental health and wellbeing of individuals on are able to develop the strategies of dealing will such issues. Mental health of individuals is also affected by the severe fiscal crisis in the nation. Majority of young people are unemployed and hence have a high chance of getting mental illness (Tough and

Fekete 2017). For the unemployed people, they are struggling to pay their mortgages and pay bills. Some of the time people are stressed by their inability to meet their daily bills and hence lead to a mental health problem (Green 2011). Social isolation is another huge effect on person mental health. People who live alone and independent faces a high risk of long-term care. Social isolation leads to loneliness. In case an individual is long-term care they are likely to depend on their relative or other people to look after them and take care of them. This may affect their life which in long term may lead to depression. According to the World Health Organization (2014) people are social beings and should interact with one another and hence isolating them to society may affect their mental health. Violence and abuse can also have a huge impact on mental health. An abuse includes both physical and emotional abuse such as bullying and has a severe impact on the life of a person. Currently, a lot of bullying happens in social media where people are bullied and they suffer emotionally. Abuse and violence result in depression and stress and in some instant people end up committing suicide or killing their partners.

Strategies for promoting mental health and well-being

A number of initiatives have been established to promote healthy mental and wellbeing. This includes creating awareness of developing mental well-being and resilience. People should be allowed to know more about mental health as this may help them develop strategies for avoiding stress and depression. Building capacity of the geographical or cultural community to share information, identify most relevant needs, identify common interest and implement actions to establish mental resilience and wellbeing. Thriving communities include individuals who are lead change and empowered. These individuals are the most affected by negative social situations and trauma. Capacity building on the community is a continuous process of enhancing dialogues to identify shared challenges and solution, promote leadership, educate one another and evaluate their results. It is the role of the government to enhance community capacity building and hence making the individuals more adaptive to the severe economic and social condition. Capacity building helps in stress management and hence ensures that there are fewer issues of depression among individuals within a given society (Mechanic and Olfson 2016). Capacity building also helps individuals have the requisite skills job market and hence increase their productivity in the country.

Preventive strategies can be effective in reducing the severity and preventing mental health and wellbeing condition such as post-traumatic disorder and depression. Prevention strategy support treatment of mental health illness and also delays its onset. Institute for mental health have developed several strategies to prevent mental illness also they know mental illness have a great impact on the cost of health.

Giving also plays a critical role in promoting wellbeing. This includes sharing material items with people and also active participation in community social activities. Volunteering and community involvement is related to positive feelings and functioning. Sharing skills and resources, helping people and teamwork promote self-worth and result in positive emotional influence (Mental Health Foundation 2015). Giving helps people develop a sense of purpose, self-worth in adult and social recognition in children and adolescents.

There is a strong relationship between physical activities and well-being as well as depression and stress management. Every person is required to engage in physical activity irrespective of gender or age. Physical activities increase the ability to provide mastery and coping with adverse conditions. Staying active helps in encouraging social interaction hence reduce anxiety and depression (Brown and Learmouth 2014)

Another strategy to promote mental health and well-being is continuous learning. Continuous leaning leads to children positive cognition and social while in older order person it leads to improved self-esteem, staying involved in life and increased social interactions. In adults, learning involves goal setting which promotes well-being (Mental Health Foundation, 2015). Mental health is enhanced when people are focused on formulating goals and when aligning their goals with their personal values. Learning does not involve formal education only but all other techniques of acquiring knowledge. Skill development increase both physical and mental awareness and hence enhances wellbeing. People can engage in short courses to enhance well-being. When learning one need to be open-minded so as to embrace and accommodate all values of different people. Aligning oneself with personal values helps in behavior change (Sharma and Bransuem 2013). Strategies for enhancing well-being include gratitude, forgiveness, and establishment of meaning.

People are social beings and need people to associate with and being valued. Being linked to individuals is basic across all ages and relationships in life. Socialization plays important role in preventing mental disorder. Helpful social connections are supportive, encouraging and meaningful for they develop a huge network which is important creating a sense of self-worth. Relating with people involves providing time and space to strengthen and broaden social networks.

Physical activities and social inclusion

People should involve themselves in physical activities such as walking and jogging. Physical activities increase the level of satisfaction among people (Mitchell 2013). People can engage in forming excise group where they meet occasionally for team building. Physical activities can be conducted in the evening or in the morning. Working or jogging should be done according to the age or health condition of individuals. Walking plays important role in promoting physical health. People should, therefore, avoid staying idle and dominant. Such activities help in creating positive moods and emotion hence making the feel sociable (Brown and Learmouth 2014). Group participation helps in avoiding loneliness and hence enhancing mental health.

Social connection plays important role in enhancing peoples resilience. People and community with strong resilience have a strong association with their environment and hence high social network. The community should support older people socially during adverse conditions. The social support comes from friends, neighbours, and families (Worden 2018).

Social inclusion is the ability for older people to access available opportunities. The government should develop policies that discourage discrimination and inequality. All people require to be engaged in all project irrespective of their social condition, age or gender hence improving their confidence and self-determination. Social inclusion enhances social cohesion and promotes their attitude of the environment (Sharma and Bransuem 2013). This help in promoting creativity and innovation among people and hence promoting productivity.

Reducing Discrimination and Stigma

Local community and the government should carry out ant stigma campaigns. Public awareness on the issues that affect different groups of people like should be conducted including those infected with the HIV virus. Ant sigma campaign helps in creating confidence and reduces depression through social activities (Lasalvia et al. 2013). There should be a direct connection between stigmatized persons and the general public to promote their self-worth. Nurturing confidence and self-esteem of stigmatized people encourage them to explore and learn new things. They are also encouraged to participate in various development projects in the community hence reducing discrimination against them. Order people and persons with disability should be provided with the safe surrounding to help them develop self-confidence and self-esteem (Conner et al.2010). People should avoid criticism and sarcasm to those people at all cost.

Mental Health Problems reduction

The community should encourage mental health programs. People with stigma should be engaged in programs to educate them on how to promote mental health and wellbeing. They should also be provided with free access to health service that helps them learn how they should live so as to avoid depression. They should be encouraged to engage in activities that help them learn more about healthy living. Seminars and workshops can be used to challenge them to engage themselves in learning activities. Public gathering helps person lower stress level. The working environment should be improved to reduce depression and anxiety (Beckett and Taylor 2010). The task given should be easy to handle and also motivating.

Evaluation

This involves process gathering and analysing data about the activities, characteristics, and outcomes of the program. The objective of the evaluation is to judge a project, improve its effectiveness and inform it viability to the decision makers. In this case, it is important to evaluate different players of mental health. The activities involved should be evaluated to measure whether they promote mental health.

Conclusion

Mental health and wellness is a key indicator in promoting productivity. Today different people including order, a person with disability and people facing violence suffer various mental health and well-being issues. Stress, discrimination, stigmatization, dementia, and depression are some of the issues that cause mental illness. To avoid such issues one should connect, take notice, keep learning, engage in physical activities and give back to the community. One should also reduce mental health problem, reduce stigma and discrimination, and enhance physical activities and social inclusion. Finally, funds for promoting mental health and well-being should be increased.

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References

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