Mental Health Proceedings
What Is Mental Health?
Mental health includes our emotional, psychological, and social well-being. It affects how we think, feel, and act. It also helps determine how we handle stress, relate to others, and … See more
Mental Health Definition vs. Mental Illness (What's the Difference?)
Mental health does not mean the absence of mental illness. Yes, both relate to the functioning of the brain and the mind, but each has its own distinct definition.
One definition of mental illness is a dysfunction within the brain that negatively affects someone's thoughts, emotions, and/or behaviors and interferes in his/her ability to live a full life in society (Adult Symptoms of Mental Health Disorders). The dysfunction and distress of mental illness go deeper than just a negative reaction to even extreme life stressors.
A definition of mental health, on the other hand, is someone's state of emotional well-being. It's the subjective feeling of contentment and life satisfaction despite the problems, challenges, and upheavals of life.
The causes of mental illness are complex, of course, but having a diagnosable mental illness is outside someone's control. Mental health, on the other hand, is something that people have the ability to control—to work for and achieve.
Civil Mental Health Case
A civil mental health case is a legal intervention by which a judge, or someone acting in a judicial capacity, may order that a person with symptoms of a serious mental disorder, and meeting other specified criteria, be confined in a psychiatric hospital or receive supervised outpatient treatment for some period of time 1. It is also known as involuntary civil commitment 1.