CONCEPT OF MENTAL HEALTH HYGIENE, MENTAL ILLNESS AND MENTAL HEALTH: The Indian concept of mental health is traced

back to Anther Veda which provides detailed information on mental disorders and their treatment whereas in Western countries, the Concept of Mental health is comparatively recent one. Mental hyg iene and mental health are terms, which are often confused by people. Mental hyg iene and mental health may be distinguished as means and ends. Mental hygiene is a science that deals with the process of attaining mental health and preventing mental illness in society. It covers all phases of life from the birth till dea th of the person. Thus mental hygiene is a systematic body of knowledge, which a ims at attaining mental health. Clinicians, psychologist and educationalists def ine mental hygiene from various viewpoints. According to crow and crow (1951), m ental hygiene is a science that deals with human welfare and provides all fields of human Relationships Hatfield (1952) considered mental hygiene as it is conce rned with the maintenance of mental health and the Prevention of mental disorder . According to crow and crow, Following are the three major purposes of mental h ygiene: 1. Prevention of mental disorder through up Understanding of the relationship th at exists Between total personality development and life Experience 2. Prevention of the mental health of the person and of the group. 3. The discovery utilization of therapeutic measure To cure mental illness. Thus mental hygiene mainly aims at the establishment of mental health of the peo ple (Mother, 1983). In other words mentally healthy person is from in his Intent ions and is least disturbed by strain ofday-to - day Life. Thus this concept tax es a Gestalt like of the persons. It includes the concept of personality behavio r, character all in one. In Other words mental health may be defined as the beha vioral Characteristic of the person. A mentally healthy person shows Homogeneous organization of desirable attitudes healthy values, correct self - concept and a scientific perception of the world as a whole. Thus, it is an attitudinal conc ept. It further presents a humanistic Approach towards the understanding as well as Assessment of the personality. Several other psychologist have Defined menta l health in a similar tone (Erickson, 1936, Rogers,) 1969, Hurlock, 1972. Some d egree of tolerance and appreciation of cultural differences. In nutshell, we can say that personality of the person Acts as a whole. Person is born with several innate potentialities and Dispositions for performing various functions. For a healthy life of the person, the full expression and co-ordination of all these f unctions are very essential. But this co-ordination can be achieved only through the direction towards common end or aim of the mentally healthy personality Thus there are these requirements of mental health, that is full, expression Harmonization and the direction towards common and of the native as well As acquired potentialities. It is also necessa ry for mental health that all Dispositions like the organs o f the body must wor k completely and harmoniously. If those potentialities such as rage, sex, ambiti on, etc function completely but independently of the rest of the personality hea lth rather mental chaos and unhappiness and it will ultimately lead to the psych oneurosis or other types of mental disorder. Thus mental health is dynamic and n ot static concept, it is the function of the whole organism towards an end, not the attainment of a certain state it is not stagnation but a harmony of movement Living and active (Hatfield, 1960). It is a condition of psychological Maturity a relatively constant personal and social functioning with a maximum effectiven ess and satisfaction. Besides these it also includes positive feeling and attitu des toward the Self and toward other persons. In literature, the term mental illness is also used frequently in context of mental health. It was once used Synonymous With mental disorder but now ordinari ly restricted to Disorders Involving brain pathology or severe personality Disor ganization (Coleman, 1976).It is generally agreed by the psychologists that ther e is no Clear cut Distinction between mental health and mental illness And there fore are mentally health after show symptoms of Depression imaginary illnesses a nd lose their tempers. Likewise, Persons who are mentally ill often experience p eriods in which there is a relative absence of such symptoms (Whittaker, 1970) s

omething happens with the physical health of the person. Almost All "health" per sons have occasional cold, allergy, fever and so On. Thus, health whether mental or physical is a relative Phenomenon, According to Whittaker (1970), Following are the continuum underlying mental health and mental illness:1. Sel f- Knowledge, 2. Self-Esteem, 3. Feeling of security, 4. Ability to accept and affection 5. Satisfaction of bodily desires, 6. Ability to be productive and happy 7. Absence of tension and hyperactivity. Besides insight, emotional maturity, philosophy of life, Ability to succeed, sel f - respect, etc. Are other important Characteristics of the mentally healthy as well adjustment Person (Kuppuswamy, 1974).