Mental Health: A Philosophical AnalysisMental health issues are a growing concern in our modern Western society. This is part of an increasing interest in questions about health, quality of life, personal development, and self-fulfilment. However, most of what has been written so far has had its focus on mental illness or disease, the negative side of the coin, and few attempts have been made to discuss more thoroughly, from a philosophical perspective, what it is to be mentally healthy. The present book is such an attempt. The author's aim is to analyze, philosophically, the notion of `positive mental health'. In so doing a number of ideas found in the literature are presented and discussed. The author also raises some important methodological questions. The final result of the analysis is a formal and a material reconstruction of the concept of "positive mental health". The book will be of value to all professionals within the health care sector, in particular to psychiatrists, clinical psychologists, and psychotherapists. It will also be of interest to philosophers and social scientists working with health questions. |
Contents
CHAPTER 1 | 1 |
12 Purpose | 3 |
13 A structural synopsis of this book | 4 |
14 Method | 6 |
15 The significance of an analysis of the notion of positive mental health | 8 |
16 What is the mental? | 9 |
17 On possible causes of mental health | 10 |
PSYCHIATRY AND POSITIVE MENTAL HEALTH | 15 |
54 NORDENFELTS HOLISTIC THEORY | 88 |
541 A critique ofNordenfelts theory | 89 |
55 CONCLUSION | 93 |
56 PESTANAS THEORY OF MENTAL HEALTH | 94 |
AN ANALYSIS AND A QUASIEMPIRICAL INVESTIGATION OF SOME MENTAL ABILITIES | 97 |
612 The concept ability | 100 |
613 A choice of mental features to be further discussed | 102 |
614 Wellbeing and the absence of illbeing | 103 |
211 Concepts of health and disease | 16 |
212 Conclusion | 25 |
22 PSYCHIATRIC DIAGNOSTICS AND POSITIVE MENTAL HEALTH | 26 |
221 The Diagnosis of Mental Disorders | 27 |
222 Conclusion | 34 |
PSYCHOANALYSIS HUMANISTIC PSYCHOLOGY AND POSITIVE MENTAL HEALTH | 35 |
312 The goals of psychoanalysis and analytic psychotherapy | 37 |
313 Freud Kohut Kernberg | 38 |
312 Conclusions | 40 |
32 HUMANISTIC PSYCHOLOGY | 41 |
322 Conclusion | 44 |
MARIE JAHODA S CURRENT CONCEPTS OF POSITIVE MENTAL HEALTH | 47 |
411 Mental health as absence of mental disease | 48 |
412 Normality | 49 |
42 SIX GROUPS OF CRITERIA FOR POSITIVE MENTAL HEALTH | 50 |
422 Growth development and selfactualization | 52 |
423 Integration | 53 |
424 Autonomy | 54 |
425 Perception of reality | 55 |
426 Environmental mastery | 56 |
427 Some general comments | 59 |
43 A DISCUSSION OF THE CRITERIA PROPOSED BY JAHODA | 60 |
432 Growth development and selfactualization | 65 |
433 Integration | 68 |
434 Autonomy | 70 |
436 Environmental mastery | 72 |
44 CONCLUSION | 77 |
THEORIES OF HEALTH | 81 |
52 REZNEKS THEORY | 82 |
53 BOORSES BIOSTATISTICAL THEORY | 83 |
531 A Critique of Boorses theory | 84 |
532 Conclusion | 87 |
62 COGNITIVE ABILITIES | 104 |
621 Memory | 105 |
623 Rationality | 107 |
624 ProblemSolving Capacity | 114 |
625 Flexibility and Creativity | 117 |
63 FEELINGS | 122 |
64 SELFRELATED ATTITUDES | 127 |
642 Selfconfidence and Selfesteem | 129 |
65 AUTONOMY | 130 |
66 SOCIAL ABILITIES | 133 |
662 The pragmatics of communication | 136 |
68 SUMMARY | 137 |
681 Potentiality and actuality | 138 |
682 Syndrome | 139 |
TOWARD A MATERIAL THEORY OF ACCEPTABLE MENTAL HEALTH | 141 |
711 The ability of practical rationality | 142 |
772 The ability to cooperate | 147 |
713 Conclusion | 150 |
THE VALUE OF A CONCEPTUAL ANALYSIS FOR MEASURING MENTAL HEALTH | 153 |
812 A manual for assessing progress in psychotherapy | 157 |
82 HEALTHMEASURING INSTRUMENTS | 161 |
821 The Mental Health Inventory | 162 |
822 The General Health Questionnaire | 165 |
83 CONCLUSION | 166 |
CONCLUSION | 167 |
92 TWO POSSIBLE OBJECTIONS | 169 |
922 Morality | 170 |
923 Personality | 171 |
BIBLIOGRAPHY | 173 |
| 179 | |
| 181 | |
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Common terms and phrases
ability to co-operate ability to reach able abnormal acceptable mental health adaptation argue autonomy basic vital goals behavior Boorse Boorse's Carl Rogers chapter characteristics claim cognitive communication concept of positive conclusions condition correct perception creativity criteria criterion defined definition diagnoses discussed disease disorder DSM-IV emotions empathy epistemological rationality example feel flexibility fully mentally healthy function Furthermore healthy person high degree holistic theory Ibid ill-being important goals individual instance instruments interpret Jahoda Jakobsson justified beliefs kind Kohut logical Maslow means mental abilities mental features mental illness mentioned necessary for reaching Nordenfelt normality normative one's Ottosson Pedophilia positive mental health possible practical rationality problem problem-solving proprioception psychiatry psychoanalysis psychotherapy question reach basic vital reach vital goals relation requirement Rogers schizophrenia seems self-confidence self-esteem self-fulfillment self-knowledge sense sexual situation social specific suggestion symptoms theoretical theory of health therapy tion unhealthy well-being
References to this book
Rationality and Compulsion: Applying Action Theory to Psychiatry Lennart Nordenfelt No preview available - 2007 |