Mental Health – As Above Normal

Mental Health as Above Normal

Freud dismissed mental health as “an ideal fiction” and the study of normal adaptive behaviour did not begin to be researched until after WWII.
Johoda 1958 suggested that a mentally healthy person was:

• In touch with their own identity and feelings.
• Future orientated and invested in life.
• Be psychologically resistant to stress.
• Be autonomous, perceive reality without distortion, be empathic.
• Able to work, love and play, be efficient in problem solving.

Astronauts have been studied as exemplars of the above normal concept of mental health.

They have been found to:

• Have exemplary work records
• Be competent at loving
• Come from intact happy small town families
• Be married with children
• Be venturesome but not accident prone
• Be able to tolerate close interdependent relationships
• Be able to tolerate extreme isolation
• Be trusting of others
• Be uncomplaining under discomfort
• To strongly experience both positive and negative emotions
• Not to be introspective and seldom dwelled on inner emotions but could describe them if asked
• Be aware of the feelings of others
• Avoid interpersonal difficulties

This description is the same as happy people and has been discussed elsewhere.