MENTAL HEALTH

     The concept of mental health and adjustment are closely related. A person who possesses sound mental health may be said to be an adjusted person. Mental hygiene is a branch of science which deals with the mental health of the individuals.

Mental hygiene:

•    American psychiatric Association (1971) observes “Mental hygiene consists of measures to reduce the incidence of mental illness through prevention and early treatment and to promote mental health.”

•    Drever, James considers mental hygiene as “investigation of the laws of mental health and the taking or advocacy of measures for its preservation.”

•    Hadfield considers mental hygiene as “concerned with the maintenance of mental health and the prevention of mental disorder.”

•    Crow and Crow conceive mental hygiene “as a science that deals with human welfare and pervades all fields of human relationship.”

1. Mental health is “The ability of a person to his personal and social adjustment”

2. “The balanced state of physical and mental ability is mental health.”

          Mental health includes our emotional, psychological, and social well-being. It affects how we think, feel, and act. It also helps determine how we handle stress, relate to others, and make choices. Mental health is important at every stage of life, from childhood and adolescence through adulthood.

         According to Norma E.Cutts and Nicholas Moselly “Mental health is the various strains of the environment we meet in life and mental hygiene as a means we take to assure the adjustment.”

Common characteristics of a Mentally Healthy Person:

1.    Adaptable and resilient mind.

2.    Conscious control of life.

3.    Cheerful and optimistic outlook.

4.    Well-regulated instincts and habits.

5.     Emotional balance.

6.     Insight into one’s own conduct.

7.      Enthusiastic and reasonable.

8.      Normal sex-consciousness.

9.      Freedom from prejudice.

10.    Calm

11.    Good tempered.

12.    Socially adaptable.

13.     Definite philosophy of life.

14.    Capacity to think independently.

15.    Satisfied with the work or occupation.

16.    Realistic imagination.

Causes for poor mental health

1. Heredity: Due to variation in intelligence which is decided by heredity. The person will face many of the problems due to this.

2. Physical factor: Due to blindness, Duff and dumb, the variation of hormones in body leads to poor mental health.

3. Family background: Lack of adjustment at home, misunderstanding between parents, divorce, desertion separation, bad habits of parents etc.,

4. Diseases: Long period of  diseases like heart problems, lungs related diseases, stomach pain, toothache,  results in disinterest in studies leads to mental illness.

5. Personal reasons: Introvert behaviour, too much friendship, prejudice, selfishness etc.

6. School: Incomplete school administrative method, teacher’s misbehavior, lack of adapting suitable method of teaching, tuff examination system, school infrastructure.

7. Personal barriers: Failure in achieving academically, failure in reaching their ambitions.

8. Environmental problems: This type of problem arouses at home, neighbors, school, relations house, public places, which leads to mental illness.

The following are the main causes of mental illness of school children:

1. Disturbed Home Environment: It may be due to unhappy married life of parents, step mother or step father, emotional or drunkard parents and low moral or social standard of family.

2. Poverty: When poor children meet rich children in the school, they sometimes develop jealously, worry and inferiority complex which lead to emotional disturbance.

3. Faulty method of teaching: Faulty method of teaching does not motivate students. Lesson become dull and drudgery. Student begins to hate every process of education. Then there is emotional tension in their mind which leads to mental illness.

4. Strict Discipline: Some traditional schools impose strict discipline. Such schools are just like jails and the teachers are like jailors. Their students are always suffering from fear and constant worry. They have no peace of mind and tranquility of emotions.

5. Defective physical conditions of the schools: Schools with dark dingy classroom and without any provision of extensive lawns and playgrounds bring fatigue and boredom to students. They are soon fed up with the school and its activities.

6. Lack of equipment: In some schools, there is lack of furniture and proper equipment. Then there is over-crowding of pupils. In such conditions, pupils cannot work peacefully. There is always frustration and mental tension.

7. Lack of guidance: Some schools insist on the mastery of school subjects only without caring for the interest of the students. This leads to frustration and emotional disturbance. No guidance is provided to students, at the lower and higher stages. No aptitude tests are given. So the students are not advised to take up subjects and activities according to their mental inclination and interest.

Mental Health Hazards in the School/Causes

1. Lack of friendliness on the part of teachers.

2. Undue stress on scholastic and other competitions.

3. Defective system of evaluation-element of subjectivity and unreliability-loss of

     Confidence in the teacher’s marking.

4. Fear of failure resulting in tension.

5. Excess of homework.

6. Heavy curriculum and failure of the child to cope with it.

Symptoms of a mentally ill Child:

a) Physical symptoms: Drumming with fingers, facial twitching, nail biting,

      Restlessness, rocketing feet, scratching head, stammering, and vomiting.

b) Behavioural Deviations:  Aggression, bullying, hyperactivity, lying,

        Negativism. Poor school achievement and sex disturbances.

c) Emotional Symptoms: Persistent anxiety, intense conflicts and tensions,

          Fear, hatred, inferiority complex, extreme timidity, temperament and 

           Excessive worry.

Mental Disorders:

1) Irritability.   2). Depressed and pessimistic outlook.  3.) Abnormal interest in sex.   4.) Easily embarrassed in the presence of others.   5) Undeveloped habits and will.  6). Bad temper.  

7). Anxiety 8. Moodiness.      9). Lack of courage.    10). Impatience.    11). Full of prejudice. 

 12). Feeling of insecurity.   13). Feeling of inferiority.

Defense Mechanism

 A defense mechanism is one through the adoption of which an individual tends to defend his anxieties and inadequacies in life. It is a sort of ‘escapism’ from the realities of the situation for a while.’

1. Sublimation:  Sublimation of innate drives, emotions and instincts is considered to be one of the most significant and socially acceptable techniques. “If an individual’s conduct has met with interference it may be possible to resolve the resulting conflict by a substituted form of activity.

2. Repression: Repression implies denying oneself of some need-gratification with a view to escaping the pains of a frustrating situation. Repression may be defined as the unconscious process by which impulses or ideas which would be painful if their reasons were known are excluded from consciousness and direct motor expression. One gets temporary relief by pushing down the painful experiences into our unconscious mid. It is however, clear that there is a limit to it. The flow of energy may be checked for some time but excess of energy will burst out.

3. Regression: It is the process of going backward or retreating to the past. It is defined as “an unconscious back tracking.”  Either in memory or behavior which might have been successful in the past.” An adolescent who has been frustrated in fulfilling his needs, may cry like a child. An old man, by talking of the ‘good olden days’ shows the mechanism of regression. Regression is sometimes very helpful for the teachers when they talk of their old experiences. Regression in its extreme form may pose a serious threat to an individual.

4. Compensation: It is a process of making up deficiency of one area or trait development in another. A student who does not show satisfactory results in the academic work may compensate this in excelling in co-curricular work like games. The father, who wanted to be a doctor but failed, enjoys his son’s success as a doctor.

5. Identification: Hero worshipping by an individual is a sort of identification where an individual identifies himself with a popular hero or an actor; it is a process which may operate outside and beyond conscious awareness. In Identification, an individual seeks satisfaction in associating himself in some way with the success of others.

6. Displacement: An individual does something as a substitute for something else. An example of displacement may be found in the behavior of a student who is rebuked by his teacher, and when back home, he rebukes his younger brother or sister who in turn punishes the doll by throwing it away.

7. Rationalization: In this defense mechanism, an individual tries to justify his failure by giving some excuses. A student makes use of rationalization when he tries to blame his teacher for the hard paper or ‘out of course’ questions. He tries to disguise his weakness. A typical example is grapes are sour. This mechanism is usually resorted to by those who are more adept in verbal facility. This mechanism is usually resorted to by those who are more adept in verbal facility. This mechanism leads to self-delusion.

8. Projection: In this mechanism, an individual puts the blame of his own failure upon the shoulders of others or upon unfavorable factors in his environment. A student who is late in coming to school excuses himself by saying that the bus was late or running slow. The fact may be that he started late for school from his home. A player making a false stroke, projects his failure to something wrong with the racket. This mechanism should not be used too often.

9. Withdrawal or Seclusiveness:  In this mechanism, an individual tends to withdraw himself from the situation that causes failure or frustration. By doing so, he makes himself safe by running away from difficult situations. Frequent withdrawals from difficult situations may make an individual timid and weak in facing real life situations.

10. Sympathism: An example will explain this mechanism. A student who is not working hard may evoke the sympathy of his colleagues by telling them that he remains busy in attending to his father who is seriously ill. Such individuals’ tend to magnify their difficulties and try to evoke sympathy of other.

11. Day-dreaming:  While indulging in day-dreaming, the individual usually imagines about pleasant events. The imagining of unpleasant events is an exception. A limited amount of such fantasy serves as a constructive defense mechanism.

     There is a popular saying “Excess of everything is bad”. Similar is the case with the application of defense mechanisms.

They should be used within limits. They provide a temporary relief only against anxiety and inadequacy. They are not permanent remedies. Therefore, a close watch should be kept on our children and it is ensured they do not make frequent use of these defense mechanisms.

ATTITUDE

    The opinion and feeling that a person usually having about something.

The feeling of others towards an object or a person is called attitude.

CHARACTERISTICS OF ATTITUDE

1.       The person having good attitude possess interest, social behaviour and praising.

2.       Attitude is not inborn but imbibed or learnt characteristic.

3.       Attitude can be inculcated/adaptable.

4.       Attitude have different dimensions, intensity, general or specific.

5.       We can express attitude towards concept, person, place, object, whether it is right or wrong.

6.       It is not observed directly but can be identified by verbal and non-verbal behaviour.

7.       We can develop the attitude by the process of socialization.

Types of attitudes

1.    1.   Positive attitude.

2.     2. Negative attitude

IMPORTANCE OF ATTITUDE IN EDUCATION

1.       The process of socialization is the result of attitude.

2.       Need for the teacher to develop confidence among students.

3.       By understanding the attitude of the students, teacher can change the method and techniques of teaching.

4.       Attitude motivate and reinforce the students to learn positively.

5.       It helps the students to control their behaviours.

ANXIETY

        Anxiety is a common condition noticed in people of all age groups. It may be caused by a physical condition, mental condition, and effects of drugs or due to a combination of these.

Characteristics:

1.    They are in dispirited stage.

2.    There is no control over mind and intellectual.

3.    Become angry for silly things.

4.    Nonsense talk, showing uneasiness.

5.    Misery/grief, silent mood.

6.    Lack of proper sleep, and not interested in taking food.

Educational programme for anxiety persons

1.    Treat them with love and affection.

2.    Organizing co-curricular activities and encouraging them to participate in those activities.

3.    Suggest them to do yoga, meditation and exercises.

4.    Instruct them to have food and sleep at right time.

5.    Suggest them to read, write and do homework with mentally healthy students.

Characteristics of Anxiety Disorders

       Everyone experiences anxiety during times of stress, and our bodies are able to cope with this. Some people, however, experience anxiety during times that are not stressful and have no control over how their bodies are reacting to events that should not produce such responses. These people may be suffering from anxiety disorders, and a visit to a physician is in order. There are several characteristics of anxiety disorders that can be evaluated to determine if someone is suffering from an anxiety disorder, and a physician can use this information to prescribe a course of treatment to eliminate symptoms.

Excessive Worry

         The most common characteristic of anxiety disorders is excessive worry. If you suffer from anxiety, you may know that when you are constantly worrying that there is no reason for it, but you still can't stop doing so. You may be afraid to go out in public for fear of having an anxiety attack and may constantly worry about your health, your loved ones or finances.

Causes of Anxiety

          There are many external factors that may contribute to anxiety. These include: stress from school, stress in a personal relationship, stress at work, financial stress, stress that results from an emotional trauma such as the loss of a loved one, victimization by crime, a natural disaster, sexual abuse or physical abuse, side effects of medication, stress form a serious illness, intoxication with an illicit drug like amphetamines or cocaine, noticing symptoms of a severe medical illness, and lack of oxygen (as a result of emphysema, pulmonary embolism, altitude sickness)

Symptoms of Anxiety

There can be many symptoms associated with anxiety, some of the common ones are as follows:

•     Particular obsessions over stressful issues

•     Sleeping troubles

•     Feeling tense, jittery, restless or dizzy

•     Difficult focusing on anything else except a stressful matter

•     Being over cautious about everything

•     Not being able to concentrate

•     Being startled easily

•     Fluctuations in appetite

•     Having an omnipresent feeling of approaching disaster or danger

FRUSTRATION

•     A feeling of anger or annoyance caused by being unable to do something: the state of being frustrated

•     Something that causes feelings of anger and annoyance: something that frustrates someone

•     The act of preventing the success of something.

             In psychology, frustration is a common emotional response to opposition. Related to anger and disappointment, it arises from the perceived resistance to the fulfillment of individual will. The greater the obstruction, and the greater the will, the more the frustration is likely to be. Causes of frustration may be internal or external. In people, internal frustration may arise from challenges in fulfilling personal goals and desires, instinctual drives and needs, or dealing with perceived deficiencies, such as a lack of confidence or fear of social situations. Conflict can also be an internal source of frustration; when one has competing goals that interfere with one another, it can create cognitive dissonance. External causes of frustration involve conditions outside an individual, such as a blocked road or a difficult task. While coping with frustration, some individuals may engage in passive–aggressive behavior, making it difficult to identify the original cause(s) of their frustration, as the responses are indirect. A more direct, and common response, is a propensity towards aggression.

Causes for frustration:

1.    Internal causes: Illness, lack of confidence, disability, failure in learning, disappointment etc.

2.    External factors: Floods, Natural calamity, cheating, not getting social stratification, facing economic problems.

Remedies:

1.    Parents and teachers should tries to fulfil their desires.

2.    If they failed in reaching their goal, they should console them.

3.    Developing confidence, discipline, and positive attitude among children.

4.    Telling them the secret of success after identifying the failure.

Helping Children Handle Frustration

Here's how you can help children cope:

•     Identify how individual children express frustration and the activities (or social situations) that tend to elicit it.

•     Provide alternatives to unacceptable expressions of frustration.

•     Explain that everyone, including adults, feels frustrated sometimes. Talk about the process people go through of not being able to do something and then practicing and getting better at it.

•     Finally, help children develop a strategy of taking one small step at a time in approaching new things. Engage parents as team members, if appropriate.

               Remember to give lots of encouragement for small accomplishments. If a child reaches a plateau with a new task, celebrate how far she has come. Reassure her that, in her own time, frustration will diminish, reappearing occasionally as a signal of her hard work.

CONFLICTS

          Conflict refers to some form of friction, disagreement, or discord arising within a group when the beliefs or actions of one or more members of the group are either resisted by or unacceptable to one or more members of another group. Conflict can arise between members of the same group, known as intragroup conflict, or it can occur between members of two or more groups, and involve violence, interpersonal discord, and psychological tension, known as intergroup conflict. Conflict in groups often follows a specific course. Routine group interaction is first disrupted by an initial conflict, often caused by differences of opinion, disagreements between members, or scarcity of resources. At this point, the group is no longer united, and may split into coalitions. This period of conflict escalation in some cases gives way to a conflict resolution stage, after which the group can eventually return to routine group interaction once again.

•     Conflict is a process, having developed from their past interactions;

•     "An interactive process manifested in incompatibility, disagreement or dissonance within or between social entities."----Rakhim

•     A conflict may be limited to one individual, who is conflicted within himself (the intrapersonal conflict). ---Rakhim

•     Michael Nicholson defines it as an activity which takes place when conscious beings (individuals or groups) wish to carry out mutually inconsistent acts concerning their wants, needs or obligations.

•     Conflict is an escalation of a disagreement, which is its common prerequisite, and is characterized by the existence of conflict behavior, in which the beings are actively trying to damage one another.

        Conflicts can occur between individuals, groups and organizations; examples include quarrels between individuals, labor strikes, competitive sports, or armed conflicts.

ADJUSTMENT

     Adjustment means regulating, adapting or settling in a variety of contexts. In psychology the behavioural process of balancing conflicting needs, or needs against obstacles in the environment.

     “Adjustment is the outcome of the individual’s attempts to deal with stress and meet his needs, also his efforts to maintain harmonious relationships with the environment.”                                                                                                                                         ---Coleman James C

“Adjustment is a process to lead happy and well satisfied life in his/her environment”.

                                                                                                                -----Rachaiah.S

CHARACTERISTICS OF A PERSON HAVING GOOD ADJUSTMENT

1.  He is giving respect to others and himself.

2.   Aware of his ability/strength and limitations.

3.   Satisfied with his basic needs.

4.   Ability in facing problems in difficult situations.

5.   Having emotional balance.

6.   Not bother about day to day unnecessary issues.

7.   Aware and grasping of factual world.

8.  Following his own principles in his life.

9.  Taking his own decisions.

10. Having good opinions about others.

11.  Having matured thinking power and understanding.