Mental hygiene

Mental hygiene is a field that deals with the development and promotion of mental health. It is in fact a set of measures, practices and knowledge about ways of living and behaving that make it possible to preserve and maintain psychological and psychosomatic health. This discipline examines the biological and social conditions that influence the development and maintenance of mental health.

Prevention

Primary

• Eliminating negative social phenomena,
• seeking out and helping those at risk,
• a mentally healthy and balanced person is able to experience a sense of contentment and happiness while being physically and mentally fit,
• the mentally balanced are more resilient to illness,
• psychosomatic illnesses - at least a third (ulcus, asthma, hypertension),
• personal qualities characteristic of mental health can be cultivated and developed,
• balanced person, has friends, likes, successful in relationships,
• proper daily routine, sleep, diet, lifestyle.

Practices promoting mental hygiene

• Don't suppress your feelings and talk about them,
• include breaks in your working hours,
• separate your work life from your personal life,
• avoid personal experience of work problems - relationality,
• not being afraid of change,
• anticipate stressful situations and actively accept them,
• maintain a good social background and relationships with other people,
• finding meaningful work activities,
• learn to organise your time,
• learn to be assertive,
• believe in their own abilities and self-esteem,
• learn to relax.

Secondary

• Active search - depopulation of persons with incipient mental illness,
• treatment,
• often has a place in a GP's surgery,
• symptoms of incipient neurotic illness: difficulty falling asleep, headache, tachycardia, balance disturbances, chest heaviness, weight loss in young girls,
• it's important to think about the psyche, the patient doesn't think about it, refuses it.

Tertiary

• Reducing the consequences of the disease.

Chronic stress

• Atrophy of dendrites of hippocampal pyramidal cells, have receptors for glucocorticoids, poorly regulate their levels → glucocorticoids rise.

Signs of burn-out

• Subdepression, depression, concentration and memory disorders, fatigue, dissatisfaction with life, sleep disorders.

Supporting your own mental health

• Deepen self-knowledge,
• Accept your traits,
• care for the quality of relationships,
• interests.

Links

Source

• BENEŠ, Jiří. Studijní materiály [online]. [cit. 2009]. <http://jirben.wz.cz>.

References

• LINHART, Jiří, et al. Slovník cizích slov pro nové století. 1. edition. Litvínov : Dialog, 2003. ISBN 80-85843-61-7.

• Wikipedie. Stres [online]. The last revision 19.10.2010, [cit. 2010-11-03]. <https://cs.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Stres&oldid=5971173>.

• KMEŤOVÁ, Alexandra. Epidemiologie kardiovaskulárních onemocnění. Přednáška pro studenty 1. LF UK. Ústava hygieny a epidemiologie 1. LF UK.