Mental Health 101

What is mental health?

• The ability to enjoy life: happiness, life satisfaction, subjective well being

• Dealing with life’s challenges: the ability to cope and grow with daily challenges by engaging or disengaging with issues we face

• Emotional well being: experiencing and regulating positive emotions in a manner that maximizes their benefits and minimizes negative aspects

• Spiritual well being: feeling connected to something larger than oneself, having a sense of meaning in life

• Social connectedness and respect for culture, equity, social justice, and personal dignity: creating an environment where mental health can flourish

Different people view mental health differently.

It’s important to understand that different communities have different ways of understanding their experiences with mental health and what we call mental illness. Across the world, many people have their own language, symptom categories, and healing systems that are not rooted in clinical medical language, and models of Western psychology. In order to best support someone, we must understand the person’s worldview, who they are, what they believe, and their understanding of what is causing the problem (and what will help).

Here are four examples of different ways we can understand mental health and illness:

The medical model

• People struggle or become sick due to their impairments or differences.

• The problem is located inside of the body and the focus is on fixing, treatment and curing.

• The medical model looks at what is “wrong” with the person and not necessarily what the person needs.

• Individuals are responsible for their health issues, while environmental and social factors are not seen as the main problem. 

The social model

• The social model emerged in opposition to the dominant medical model. 

• Mental health problems are caused by the way society is organized, rather than by a person's impairment or difference.

• It looks at ways of removing barriers that restrict life choices for those with mental health issues through creating social and environmental change through policy, accommodations, and other rights-based strategies. 

• When barriers are removed, people with mental health issues can thrive, live more interdependently, and gain equality in society – with more choice and control over their own lives.

• Related to neurodivergent – which means anybody whose brain/mind operates outside of what is considered to be the norm or typical.

Liberation Psychology

• Focuses on how social, political, and economic factors (what is happening around us) affect mental health and well-being. It aims to understand how issues like oppression and inequality influence people’s experiences and contribute to mental health problems. Important parts of this approach include:

  • Historical memory: Remembering and understanding our cultural and ancestral history is important for healing.

  • Recognizing oppression: It's important to identify and name the struggles people face, to share experiences, and to understand why problems are happening

  • Social change: Liberation psychology connects mental health with the goal of creating a more just society. When we fight for social justice, we are also improving the mental health of ourselves and our communities.

Indigenous Healing Modalities

• Indigenous views of mental illness can differ greatly among cultures and communities, but they often have some common beliefs rooted in cultural, spiritual, and community values.

  • Holistic approach: Viewing mental health as part of a bigger system that includes physical, emotional, spiritual, and social aspects. Everything is connected, so if one part is out of balance, it can affect the others.

  • Community connection: Mental well-being is closely linked to relationships and community. Healing practices often involve support from family and friends, as well as participation in community activities.

  • Traditional healers: These healers use culturally specific methods, such as rituals, ceremonies, herbal remedies, ancestral connection and spiritual guidance, to help with mental health issues and restore balance based on their cultural traditions.

Stigma and Ableism

Stigma: Negative attitudes towards people who are labeled with or perceived as having a mental illness or those who are struggling with their mental health.

• Mental health struggles being seen as a weakness 

• Therapy being seen as something for the “crazy” 

• Being told “Solo echale ganas” or “para que terapia?” 

• Talking about personal struggles being seen as selfish or unnecessary 

• Beliefs around keeping family problems within the family 
  

Ableism = stigma in action (stigma with power)

The belief (and practices and policies that follow) that some bodies and minds are worth more and are more valuable than other bodies and minds based on what they can do, how they think or move, and what they can produce. We can also internalize ableism. 

[Check out the definition of ableism written by Talila Lewis and other Black Disabled organizers]

The experience of being diagnosed

• Capacity to help and/or harm

• We can agree or disagree with a diagnosis

• Can feel mix of emotions: relief, understanding, confusion, fear, apprehension, etc.

• Access to treatments that are supportive, helpful medications, and useful accommodations

• Access to harmful treatments/medication, increase in negative encounters with others due to diagnosis

• Changes in ways we view or perceive ourselves, and impacts on our interpersonal relationships

• Systemic barriers impact many people’s ability to obtain a diagnosis that feels accurate to them

• Many people do a degree of self-diagnosis before obtaining an “official” one

• Self-diagnosis is about research, introspection, and reflection

• A professional diagnosis does not “make an experience real.”