Mental Health and Psychology

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.

Mental health therapists in the past dealt mostly with psychological diseases and the health issues that came from it. Their focus was less on individual factors like motivation, positive thinking, happiness, and emotional resilience, and more on the manifested symptoms of mental illness.

George Vaillant, a pioneer in the field of positive psychology, said that old literary works on psychiatry and mental health have a myriad of discussions on anxiety, depression, stress, anger, and fear, and almost nothing about affection, compassion, and forgiveness (Vaillant, 2009). But this is all a matter of the past now.

With the advent of the science of happiness, or positive psychology, a significant shift in the focus of mental health research and practice has been noticed. Positive psychology has opened a new way of looking into problems. It recognizes happiness and well-being as an ‘essential human skill’ (Davidson).

As a composite of clinical psychology, positive science helps in understanding how we can work on enhancing our internal capabilities and make the best of our present. Rather than focusing on symptomatic therapy and treatment, positive psychology centers around emotional stability, expectation management, and fruitful thinking, which is why it is referred to as the ‘study of ordinary strengths and virtues’ (APA, 2001).

Positive psychology goes hand in hand with traditional mental health interventions. In this article, we will explore the semblance and the association between positive psychology and mental health and discuss how the combination of both is essential for the successful outcome of any psychiatric disorder.

Incorporating neuroscience in mental health had numerous benefits —

• Neuroscience made it easier for therapists and professionals to dig into the root causes of the disorder.

• It helped in promoting mental well-being, happiness, and quality of life.

• Neuroscience paved the way for early diagnosis and a brighter prognosis of any psychological treatment plan.

• It helped in understanding the relationship between the mind and the body with more accuracy.

• Neuroscientific research made way for extending the areas of research on mental health and happiness.