What Is “Mental Health”? [no one ever DEFINES it]

What is “Mental Health”. We talk about it all the time whether it’s at our place of work, at school, or on all sorts of media outlets. People are often talking about mental health and mental health challenges.

But if you try to find an actual definition of mental health, it becomes difficult.

So what does everyone mean when they say mental health? In this post, I try to understand how we can define mental health, why we struggle to talk about it in such vague terms, and why it’s an important definition for us to consider.

Hi, I’m Stuart, and I’m a registered social worker who provides psychotherapy services in private practice. I have a passion for working in the mental health field and enjoy what I do for a living. It’s fulfilling for me to offer a service to society that many people find valuable, especially since I was so confused on what my career path would be when I was younger and searching.

However, one of my biggest frustrations in the mental health field is that no one really ever defines it.

What do we mean when we say mental health?

Honestly, take a moment and think about how you would answer that. If someone learning English were to ask you for the definition, what would you provide them as the answer?

Kind of tricky, right?

You’re not alone, a lot of us in the mental health field have become accustomed to the vagueness of this term and don’t give it a second thought. It’s a shame, but it’s the reality, in my opinion.

If you prefer video format, I’ve also made a YouTube video for this blog post, you can check it out here.

Finding a Definition for Mental Health

While making this blog post and the YouTube video for it, I sat down and approached trying to find the definition from a place of naivety (that’s the Existential Therapy framework in me). I did research on various websites from mental health organizations.

I checked out discourse over on places like Reddit and Quora, and even watched some videos by therapists. But I kept having the same situation present itself, people use the term mental health without clarifying what they mean by it.

So, since I work in this field and have an awareness of more in-depth resources in the field of mental health, I decided to check out the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM). This is sort of “the book” for mental health.

The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, often known as the “DSM,” is a reference book on mental health and brain-related conditions and disorders. The American Psychiatric Association (APA) is responsible for the writing, editing, reviewing and publishing of this book.

Cleveland Clinic

The DSM is where we get all our mental health terms from, such as:

• Bipolar Disorder
• Generalized Anxiety Disorder
• Personality Disorders
• ADHD
• Substance Use Disorders

There are actually almost three hundred disorders and mental illnesses covered in this book. It also has almost one thousand pages aimed at defining all of these disorders and illnesses.

However, there is no definition for “mental health”.

That’s right, the book that defines so much of our mental health “world” doesn’t even define mental health. Kind of odd, isn’t it?

That could leave us to assume that mental health is simply the absence of having all of the listed disorders in the DSM. However, what many people fail to recognize, even those working in the mental health field is that the DSM is not a scientific book. It’s not rooted in objective evidence.

To make this point a bit more clear, here is a quote from Canadian Psychologist Brad Peters:

Many people are surprised to learn that the DSM is an atheoretical method of categorization – meaning that its classification system does not claim to be supported by any particular theory of psychopathology, by scientific research, or by psychobiological evidence of any kind. One would also think that in order to determine what is “abnormal,” you would first need to define “normal.” However you will find no such definition in the DSM. The diagnostic categories of the DSM are instead determined by the professional consensus of a comparatively small group of psychologists and psychiatrists that essentially “vote” on which labels will be included in the most current version of the DSM. This process can be influenced significantly by mainstream cultural assumptions, generational and historical differences, and sociopolitical attitudes. It may shock many people to know, for example, that until 1973 homosexuality was considered a mental disorder.

bpeters.ca

The truth of that quote is becoming more and more recognized in mental health, as there is a growing shift towards looking at a person’s “psychological flexibility” instead of a label describing symptoms.

Ok, so we’re back to square one. Why can’t we define mental health?

Mental Health Is Subject, Not Objective

The DSM and other similar literature are attempted, in many ways, to “medicalize” mental health. Our physical health is treated objectively with medicine. If we start developing conditions like diabetes, we go to our health care provider and have tests run like blood work, and we get an objective answer that clearly proves we have diabetes.

Our society and culture want this for mental health as well.

And I’m not saying we shouldn’t want this. Having certainty and “truth” is a very comforting thing for us. Humans don’t do well with ambiguity. We don’t lack uncertainty, or not be in control. And when we are forced to face these aspects of existence, it’s really uncomfortable.

But mental health is ultimately subjective. The DSM isn’t proposing that if you meet the list of criteria you do, in fact, have that disorder. And I would certainly expect that to be the case.

Up until 1973, the American Psychiatric Association had classified “homosexuality” as a “sociopathic personality disturbance” in the first edition of the DSM. In DSM-II, published in 1968, homosexuality was reclassified as a “sexual deviation.”

Reference

I think most people would agree that it’s a good thing that the DSM no longer classifies homosexuality as some sort of disorder or abnormality. But this also further shows the lack of scientific rigor in the DSM. The fact that it even was in there, and then later got “voted” out, goes to show the lack of objectivity for its classification system.

A Definition for Mental Health

I was, after many search results and endless internet rabbit holes, able to find a definition and workable answer to the question of mental health from Brad Peters, who I quoted just above. His answer resonates deeply with me, and I want to share it here in this post, as I have yet to find a better definition for mental health.

Brad Peters, a Halifax Psychologist, states on his personal psychology website, that he defines mental health as:

I believe a workable definition of mental health can involve a person’s ability to think, to act, and to feel, in ways that are open and flexible; if those qualities are met, in my opinion, the individual is likely to be adaptive. It therefore involves broadening one’s capacity to think less rigidly and more creatively, to feel with greater depth and intensity, and to act in ways that challenge old patterns to open up new possibilities for living.

bpeters.ca

I think this is a fantastic definition of mental health and it’s the one that helps guide my work as a therapist. It helps to move away from pathologizing people and their challenges and moves towards helping people develop more fully as a person so that they can experience themselves and their life on a deeper level.

And, if that is achieved, it would most likely be the case that they could be deemed “mentally health”.

Final Thoughts

The next time you are in a conversation or situation where mental health is being discussed, consider interrupting it and asking for the person(s) to take a pause and define what they mean by mental health.

I’m not suggesting this to make everybody uncomfortable or feel ignorant, quite the contrary. I think it opens up a discussion for people to really consider what is meant by that term, and it can help them understand how they can start making changes to improve their overall sense of well-being.

So I hope you found this post helpful, and of course, don’t forget, take care of your mental health 😉.