What is good mental health?

[Geoff-Allen]

Greetings one & all!

Hope you are enjoying your time with us here at the forum.

Have you ever asked yourself what are the signs of good mental health?

Here's a list of "symptoms" from John Watkins in “New Paradigm“ from June 2000 –

Honesty with self and others

Gentleness, humility, patience

Respect for the feelings and needs of others

Compassionate concern for self and others

Spiritual awareness and sensitivity

Loving kindness and generosity

Openness, flexibility, tolerance, non-judgement

Reverence for the natural world

Enjoy your evening!

 

[PoetPhilosopher]

For me good mental health is:

-Peace and being serene

-The capability of admitting you're wrong

-A balanced view of law and order and heartfelt justice

-Demonstrating kindness

 

[chinu]

What is good mental health?

Answer: Good mental health is -- that what accepted by the majority of people.

Followed by this short story
​

A powerful wizard, who wanted to destroy an entire kingdom, placed a magic potion in the well from which all the inhabitants drank. Whoever drank that water would go mad.

The following morning, the whole population drank from the well and they all went mad, apart from the king and his family, who had a well set aside for them alone, which the magician had not managed to poison.
The king was worried and tried to control the population by issuing a series of edicts governing security and public health.

The policemen and inspectors, however, had also drunk the poisoned water, and they thought the king’s decisions were absurd and resolved to take no notice of them.

When the inhabitants of the kingdom heard these decrees, they became convinced that the king had gone mad and was now giving nonsensical orders. They marched on the castle and called for his abdication.

In despair the king prepared to step down from the throne, but the queen stopped him, saying:
‘Let us go and drink from the communal well. Then we will be the same as them.’

The king and the queen drank the water of madness and immediately began talking nonsense.
Their subjects repented at once; now that the king was displaying such wisdom, why not allow him to continue ruling the country?

 

[MonkeyFire]

Non-violence.

 

[Geoff-Allen]

If anyone was after a meditation for better mental health you could do a LOT worse than this -

Joy is an intrinsic attitude of mind that includes gladness of the heart, softheartedness, and tenderness that supports a capacity for appreciation, contentment, and gratitude. Just as our hearts can tremble in the face of suffering, they can also tremble in the face of happiness and beauty. Its affective tone is gladness, aliveness, and vitality. It is associated with a range of emotions, including contentment, wonder, radiant pride, gratitude, and delight.

Empathy is as central to the cultivation of joy as it is to compassion. When we encounter pleasant states, empathy can blossom into appreciative joy, contentment, and gratitude.

Read the full article below -

Sparking Joy: A Mindfulness Practice for Everyday - Mindful

All the best!

 

[Mindmaster]

Answer: Good mental health is -- that what accepted by the majority of people.

Not really, good mental health wouldn't include many states of mind that modern people are involved with. The short list:

1) Worry (Your constant rekindling of your past stupidity doesn't have value, and you don't remember it 100% right. You just think you do.)

2) Anger (This is like worry, but it's someone's 'fault' and that person has to pay. I can't think of a worse way to waste your time.)

3) Dishonesty (W/self + others. It also creates the inability to live your truth or trust anyone because you think they're lying as well. In fact, this is the first thing I think about when people accuse me of lying. It doesn't matter whether you can be caught or not.)

4) Laziness (Things aren't going to fix themselves unless you're rich. Do them now so you can stop worrying about them or being angry.)

5) Pettiness (Being involved with a lot of activities that actually do nothing for anyone. You're not doing something critically important to your existence or growth because you have to watch a stupid show on Netflix.)

6) Vanity (Other than a minimum base level of appearance requirements wasted time. Hygiene and function clothing perfectly fine, and not on this list.)

7) Ego / Arrogance (Presumption that your version of the truths of the world are better than someone else's and you're some how superior. Whether it's politics, religion, or some other matter it's endemic.)

All of these things are perfectly acceptable by modern society, but all of them create negative mental states that make you miserable.

 

[chinu]

Not really, good mental health wouldn't include many states of mind that modern people are involved with. The short list:

1) Worry (Your constant rekindling of your past stupidity doesn't have value, and you don't remember it 100% right. You just think you do.)

2) Anger (This is like worry, but it's someone's 'fault' and that person has to pay. I can't think of a worse way to waste your time.)

3) Dishonesty (W/self + others. It also creates the inability to live your truth or trust anyone because you think they're lying as well. In fact, this is the first thing I think about when people accuse me of lying. It doesn't matter whether you can be caught or not.)

4) Laziness (Things aren't going to fix themselves unless you're rich. Do them now so you can stop worrying about them or being angry.)

5) Pettiness (Being involved with a lot of activities that actually do nothing for anyone. You're not doing something critically important to your existence or growth because you have to watch a stupid show on Netflix.)

6) Vanity (Other than a minimum base level of appearance requirements wasted time. Hygiene and function clothing perfectly fine, and not on this list.)

7) Ego / Arrogance (Presumption that your version of the truths of the world are better than someone else's and you're some how superior. Whether it's politics, religion, or some other matter it's endemic.)

All of these things are perfectly acceptable by modern society, but all of them create negative mental states that make you miserable.

Of course, all this is also responsible for bad mental health. But, result appears on later stages. Nobody cares for tomorrow, only today is important for everyone.

 

[Mindmaster]

Of course, all this is also responsible for bad mental health. But, result appears on later stages. Nobody cares for tomorrow, only today is important for everyone.

Yes, but the funny thing is people convince themselves they live for today but do all of that stuff. For example, worry = past/future, anger = past (most of the time), etc... Most people can't live in the now at all due to their web of anger and worry. But, they're arrogant enough to believe they are.

You really don't live in the now with those attachments.