deviation from ideal mental health

Question 1

define deviation from ideal mental health

Answer 1

occurs when someone does not meet a set of criteria for good mental health

Question 2

what is the set of criteria Jahoda 1958 suggested we need to have good mental health?

Answer 2

• no symptoms or distress
• rational and can perceive ourselves correctly
• self actualise
• cope with stress
• a realistic view of the world
• good self-esteem and lack of guilt
• independent
• successfully work, love and enjoy leisure

Question 3

STRENGTH; a comprehensive definition

Answer 3

• Jahoda’s criteria easily distinguish mental health from illness
• covers most of the reasons we might seek help
• leads to individual mental health being discussed in a meaningful way
• provides a checklist from which we can assess ourselves

Question 4

LIMITATION; not equally applicable across all cultures

Answer 4

• some of Jahoda’s criteria are located in the context of the USA and western Europe
• the concept of self-actualisation would be dismissed as self-indulgent in much of the world
• difficult to apply the concept of ideal mental health from one culture to another

Question 5

limitation - criteria

Answer 5

very demanding criteria
what if a person doesn’t meet 2 requirements
Difficulty of meeting all criteria, very few people would be able to do so and this suggests
that very few people are psychologically healthy.