Mental

Hygiene
SUBMITTED BY:
Dacallos, Ashley Jeigh
2nd year - BS Psychology
SUBMITTED TO:
Mr. Jahaziel Llantada
Saturday (1:00pm-4:00pm)

What is Mental Hygiene?

 The phrase mental hygiene, means care of mind. Like any other
science, mental hygiene has a specific object for study and this object.
Mental Hygiene is the science and practice of maintaining and
restoring mental health.
Mental Hygiene is that phase of psychology which deals with the
attainment and preservation of mental health. It also refers to the
development and application of a set of practical principles directed
towards the achievement and maintenance of the psychological wellbeing of human organisms. It deals with the science and practice of
maintaining and restoring mental health, and of preventing mental
disorder through education, early treatment, and public health
measures. It also deals with the preservation of mental and emotional
health.
Mental Hygiene studies measures and means for creating, protecting,
and strengthening mental health and preventing mental diseases. The
theoretical foundation of mental hygiene includes social and general
psychology, psychotherapy, social psychiatry, and the physiology of
higher nervous activity. It emphasizes social measures such as
improvement of working and living conditions, the systematic
inculcation of active, socially valuable attitudes in adolescents, and
vocational guidance to promote the practical application of these
attitudes.

What is Mental Health?

Mental health is a level of psychological well-being, or an absence of a
mental disorder.
Mental Health is the adjustment of individuals to themselves and the
world at large with a maximum of effectiveness, satisfactions,
cheerfulness, and socially considerate behavior, and the ability to face
and accept realities of life.

 is a state of well-being in which the individual realizes his or her own

potential, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work
productively and fruitfully, and is able to make a contribution to her or
his own community.
Mental health includes our emotional, psychological, and social wellbeing. 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. Over the course of your life, if you
experience mental health problems, mood, and behavior could be
affected.
Many factors contribute to mental health problems, including:
Biological factors, such as genes or brain chemistry
Life experiences, such as trauma or abuse
Family history of mental health problems

The Importance of Mental

Health
Mental health improves the quality of life.
Mental health strengthens and supports our ability to:
have healthy relationships
make good life choices
maintain physical health and well-being
handle the natural ups and downs of life
discover and grow toward our potential
It involves how we feel, think, act, and interact with the world around
us.
It is about realizing our potential.
It is coping with the normal stresses of life.
Its about living well and feeling capable despite challenges.
It is being able to see all your abilities and weaknesses together,
accepting them, and doing your best with what you have.

 It helps us in developing our weaker areas and regularly reminding

ourselves of the things were comfortable with and proud of.
It can help you learn new skills, build confidence, and see your own
experiences in a different way.
Mental health is what helps you look at the situation realistically, take
action when you can make changes, let go of things you cant change,
and recognize the helpful supports in your life.
It recognized what influences our emotions, discovering how our
emotions affect the way we think or act, taking action when our
emotional response isnt helpful, and learning to accept our emotions
even the difficult ones.

Common
Illness in
Children

 Anxiety Disorders
Children with anxiety disorders respond to certain things or situations with
fear and dread.

Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)

Children with ADHD generally have problems paying attention or
concentrating, can't seem to follow directions, and are easily bored.

Disruptive Behavior Disorders

Children with these disorders tend to defy rules and often are disruptive in
structured environments, such as school.

Pervasive Development Disorders

Children with these disorders are confused in their thinking and generally
have problems understanding the world around them.

Eating Disorders
Eating disorders involve intense emotions and attitudes, as well as unusual
behaviors associated with weight and/or food.

Elimination Disorders
Disorders that affect behavior related to using the bathroom.

Learning and communication Disorders

Children with these disorders have problems storing and processing
information, as well as relating their thoughts and ideas.

Affective (mood) Disorders

These disorders involve persistent feelings of sadness and/or rapidly changing
moods, and include depression and bipolar disorder.

Schizophrenia
This disorder involves distorted perceptions and thoughts.

Tic Disorders
These disorders cause a person to perform repeated, sudden, involuntary (not
done on purpose), and often meaningless movements and sounds, called tics.

Common
Illness in
Teenagers
Anxiety Disorder
Adolescence with anxiety disorders typically experience intense fear, worry, or
uneasiness that can last for long periods of time and significantly affect their lives.

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)

Children with ADHD have impaired functioning in multiple settings, including
home, school, and in relationships with peers.

Autism Spectrum Disorders (Pervasive Developmental Disorders)

Cause severe and pervasive impairment in thinking, feeling, language, and
the ability to relate to others.

Bipolar Disorder

Also known as manic-depressive illness, is a serious medical illness that

causes shifts in a person's mood, energy, and ability to function.

Borderline Personality Disorder

Is a serious mental illness characterized by pervasive instability in moods,
interpersonal relationships, self-image, and behavior.

Depression
People don't feel sad at allthey may feel lifeless, empty, and apathetic.

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

So extreme that it can overwhelm their coping mechanisms and create
intense feelings of fear and helplessness.

Schizophrenia
Having delusions and hallucinations.

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD)

Obsession refers to recurrent and persistent thoughts. Compulsions refer to
repetitive behaviors and rituals.

Tourette's Syndrome
is characterized by multiple motor tics and at least one vocal tic.

Common
Illness in
Adult
Mood Disorders
These disorders involve persistent feelings of sadness or periods of feeling
overly happy, or fluctuations from extreme happiness to extreme sadness.

Psychotic Disorders
It involves distorted awareness and thinking.

Eating Disorders
Eating disorders involve extreme emotions, attitudes, and behaviors involving
weight and food.

Impulse Control and Addiction Disorders

Personality Disorders

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD)

People with impulse control disorders are unable to resist urges, or impulses,
to perform acts that could be harmful to themselves or others.
The person's patterns of thinking and behavior significantly differ from the
expectations of society and are so rigid that they interfere with the person's normal
functioning.

People with OCD are plagued by constant thoughts or fears that cause them
to perform certain rituals or routines

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

Anxiety Disorders

Dissociative Disorders

People with PTSD often have lasting and frightening thoughts and memories
of the event, and tend to be emotionally numb.
An anxiety disorder is diagnosed if the person's response is not appropriate for
the situation, if the person cannot control the response, or if the anxiety interferes
with normal functioning.
People with these disorders suffer severe disturbances or changes in memory,
consciousness, identity, and general awareness of themselves and their
surroundings.

Somatic Symptom Disorders

A person with a somatic symptom disorder experiences physical symptoms of
an illness or of pain, even though a doctor can find no medical cause for the
symptoms.

How to Prevent Mental

Illness?
Be the change you want to see in the world and help those around you when they go through lifes
inevitable ups and downs. When you notice one of the events in the above list in someones life, even
someone you arent that close to, make the effort to go out of your way to show them that you care
and they are not alone. Ravi Iyer

Pay attention to warning signs.

Work with your doctor or therapist to learn what might trigger your symptoms. Make
a plan so that you know what to do if symptoms return.

Get routine medical care.

Don't neglect checkups or skip visits to your health care provider, especially if you
aren't feeling well.

Get help when you need it.

Mental health conditions can be harder to treat if you wait until symptoms get bad.

Take good care of yourself.

Sufficient sleep, healthy eating and regular physical activity are important.

 Find support.

Do not hesitate to confide in someone if you are experiencing difficulties. Health

professionals can also help and support you. Avoid isolating yourself if you have
symptoms of mental illness.

Adopt measures to maintain good mental health.

Do not hesitate to change your habits by following advice for maintaining good
mental health. These changes will not cure you, but they will help you eliminate
factors that worsen or maintain your condition.

Overcome prejudices associated with mental illnesses.

Some people do not consult either because they fear being judged by others, or
because they believe it is impossible that they have a mental illness. Mental illnesses
are not a personality weakness but conditions that can be cured.

What
Did
I
Learn
In
This

Subject?
Hi! Im Ashley Jeigh Dacallos. 2nd year student whos currently taking
up Bachelors of Science in Psychology. Yes, I am studying human behavior I
mean the behavior of living organisms just like human. I actually dont know
if I should make it an essay form, but it feels more comfortable doing it in
narrative form so now, I have these things to share and its about what Ive
learned during prelims to semi-finals from one of my subjects which is Mental
Hygiene.

Lets start during our preliminary days, Ive learned the difference
between mental hygiene and mental health. That what mental hygiene
means is maintaining and restoring mental health while mental health is like
being physically healthy wherein you know how to deal with your emotions
and how to adjust yourself in certain situations. Ive also learned what are
different types of mental illness or health problem a person has. Ive
discovered the different signs and symptoms for those mental illnesses.
Which is very helpful to distinguish if one person is already mentally ill or it is
just for that moment. And the ways to protect and to improve our mental
health. Like for example, to improve our mental health, during those times of
hardship we must be optimistic about what will happen, we must have hope.
Accepting of oneself is also important because that will help us to know our
strength and weaknesses and how to embrace it. Staying connected with our
relatives or loved ones will help us to release such negativity and will make
us realize that we are loved. That is one of the reason why we should be
thankful because we have those people to support us. Now, we must know
what is the purpose of our life in order for us to know what goal are we going
to set. And we know what will be our goal, it is time for us to believe in our
ability in handling whatever life throws into our way. And as I have said,
mental health is just like our physical health, therefore we must exercise
regularly because Ive learned that exercise boosts levels of healthpromoting neurochemicals. Ive also learn childs mental disorders, how to
determine if what the child is experiencing is considered as disorders or just
nothing. How to prevent it due to its level which is the primary prevention
which aims to prevent disease before it even occurs, the secondary
prevention where it detects a disease in its earliest stages before symptoms

appear and to stop progression, the tertiary prevention where it aims to

soften the impact of an ongoing illness that has lasting effect. I know its too
much for the preliminary so lets go to the next paragraph.
Well unlike our preliminary days, our midterm days are different. It is
much more confusing because it is about the common disorders in children
and teen. Identifying mental disorders in children is crucial for the fact that
they can be naughty, defiant, and impulsive from time to time. But there are
children that we can notice is having hard time dealing with their group of
friends, on the way they perform at school, even on their own house and if
they are acting on the way for their age. Ive also learned during that these
mental disorders that a person has experienced during childhood stage
maybe brought until their teenage years which has also an effect to their
lives such as having hard time making new friends, dealing with their friends,
making conversations and being relied to. Of course we know that they dont
think exactly the way a normal people do, they do things differently, but
somehow we must not limit them instead we must help them to learn and to
become able on doings things that a normal people can do.

After our midterm days, lets go to the semi-final days wherein the last
lesson that our professor has taught us is about what teenage people always
talked about, love. On these days I just dont learn what does love means. Of
course love has many definition, but for me, what love means is when Jesus
died for us to be saved. Ive learned some tips on choosing my partner. In
life. Where it is not just a simple relationship, but a covenant relationship
with God as the center and foundation of it. That we must not make choices
out of fear because it leads to confusion, that we must be careful on entering
a relationship because we will be investing energy and time that cannot be
regain. And definitely we must find someone where we can be who we are.
No pretensions, no secrets. Because Ive realized that having a person youre
comfortably with is a best feeling that you feel so safe being with that
person, that no matter how you look, how you eat, how you talk, how you
walk, even if you sleep talk will still love you. Ive also learned why there are
unsuccessful marriage and to make it short? It is simply because they dont
know exactly what marriage means and they are not ready for such bigger
responsibilities.

Again, these are the things that I have learned in this subject which is
Mental Hygiene. And as a student, I must not stop digging to learn more from
this subject.