The topic of mental health was once a highly tabooed topic in our society.

Those who suffered with mental health problems were often shunned away from society and institutionalised, so that society was not in danger from these apparent crazy people. However, fast forward to the present years and it has become apparent that mental health is becoming an increasingly important factor within our society. Everyday more and more people are beginning to understand that maintaining good mental health is just as important as maintaining good physical health. Mental Health Promotion aims to achieve positive mental health for the greater community. Positive mental health gives us the tools to manage our lives efficiently and successfully. This essay endeavours to explain how the separation of biological from psychological and social factors have been a difficult obstacle in regards to not only mental, but behavioural disorders, how society views mental health and the stigma attached to mental disorders. Mental health is an issue that affects our every aspect of being. Mental health can affect how we feel about ourselves, how we feel about others and can have significant impact on not only our lives, but the lives of people we surround ourselves with. Indeed, mental health is major resource in leading a happy, healthy, quality-filled life. Whilst we may have an understanding about how mental health can affect our life, the question still remains unanswered - what is mental health? To many Australian residents, the term mental health is a daunting connotation by becoming confused with the term mental ill-health (Andrews, Hall, Henderson & Teesson, 1999). VicHealth (2007) suggests that mental health is the strength we need to lead healthy and active lives, to construct and achieve healthy goals and to interact with other people. Positive mental health will have positive repercussions in our lives; just as negative mental health will have negative repercussions. Mental distress is a term used to describe symptoms and experiences for a person life which they find mentally confusing and frustrating and is usually only a temporary reaction to life stressors. Mental distress could be caused by life situations such as the death of a loved one, lifestyle stress, lack of sleep and substance abuse such as alcohol and illicit drugs. Mental distress is not to be confused with mental illness, however. The Australian Government, department of Health and Aging (2007) suggest that mental illness is a significant health problem that affects not only how a person thinks and feels, but how they interact with other people. Mental distress impedes a persons ability to think, feel and behave, just at a lesser extent than those will a mental illness or disorder. Whilst mental distress and mental illness differ in severity, if mental distress is not dealt with effectively, then it could easily develop into a mental illness. Positive mental health is not just about the absence of illness (Parham, 2005) which is why implementation of mental health promotion is such a significant issue in not only Australia, but the world. Scientific evidence suggests that it is the interaction of biological factors along with psychological and social factors that are the key to mental and behavioural disorders (WHO, 2001). Each human being is a large, complex system that consist of smaller subsystems, which all merge together to create our experiences and perceptions. Our subsystems consist of our biological, psychological and social-cultural system (Myers, 2008). It is because we are such complex beings that most mental health professionals integrate a biopsychosocial - meaning biological, psychological and social approach during the dialogising and treating of a mental disorder. Evidence has suggested (Gatchel, 2000) your biological, psychological and social influences amalgamate together to influence how you see yourself and how you see other people, which in turn will affect your vulnerability and predisposition to mental distress and mental disorders. Today, scientists and those that work within the mental health industry realise that all behaviour, whether it be distorted behaviour or not, arises from the interaction of the biological, psychological and social influences (Myers, 2008). Myers (2008) also states that upon dialogise of a mental disorder, we must endeavour to look at each attribute for the different influences. For example, when looking at the attributes of the biological influences we must look at individual genes, brain structure and brain chemistry. We then must endeavour to connect these attributes with the psychological influences such as stress, trauma, learned helplessness and mood in relation to perception and memories and then we look at the social-cultural influences such as role in

society, social expectations and cultural definitions such as normality and disorder. We must establish all these factors before we can even attempt to make an accurate diagnose and treatment plan. The three aspects of the mental disorder can, and more importantly should be dealt with specifically (Burgress, 1953). For example, in diagnosing a physical illness, the doctors would have to take into account all factors, such as lifestyle, ethical background, mental state, lifestyle stressors and inherited tendencies as well as the physical symptoms presented to make an accurate diagnosis. If, for diagnostic purposes, these factors were use independently of each other, diagnose could not be counted on as being reliable. This is also the case of mental illness. A patient may be symptomatic of a psychological illness; however the symptom may actually have physical origin. In this case treating the patient for psychological illness will neither cure the psychological or physical aspects of the illness. That is why it is intrinsically important to make sure that all factors biological, psychological and social are checked before making a proper diagnose. This may be reason as to why the separation of the biological from the psychological and social factors have been such a hindrance to the true understanding of mental and behavioural disorders. In consideration that we are unable to justify any form of mental disorder by the biological symptom and influences alone, mental health promotion becomes stalled. When we need to take into account peoples social and psychological background, there can never be one main cause and effect for a mental disorder, which in turn can make the mental disorder hard to detect and cure, but even harder to prevent. To implement effective mental health promotion we must endeavour to target and improve individual behaviour and external environments as well as the biological factors. The World Health Organisation (WHO) believes that there is no health without mental health (Barry & Jenkins, 2007). Poor mental health can and often will result in poor physical health. Over the past two decades, promoters of mental health have been promoting that the body and mind are no longer two separate entities. Shona Sturgeon (The Patient Health International, 2005) stated that health is a complete state of wellbeing and that there can be no health without mental health. The Patient Health International (2005) suggests physical health can interfere with emotional health just as mental illness and disorders can often result in the neglect of ones physical health which can lead to serious illness and disease. The deterioration of physical health due to mental health can result either directly or indirectly (WHO, 2001). Mental health directly affects physical health with biological reasoning such as emotions effecting hormone changes throughout your body. The changes of hormones throughout your system can affect the immune system which increases vulnerability to physical illness. According to Lyn Walker and Louise Rowling (2007) there is a clear link between depression and developing a chronic physical illness such as heart disease and having a stroke. Mental illness can have a negative effect on physical health indirectly by influencing health behaviour such as healthy eating, adequate sleep and taking prescribed medications. If we could endeavour to promote that mental health is the foundation of a healthy lifestyle, perhaps the implications of promoting mental health would be lessened. One in five Australians will be affected by a mental illness or disorder throughout their lifetime, and yet less than half of them will actively seek treatment (Andrews et al, 1999) Many mental health professionals believe that it is the stigma that society has attached to mental illness that prevents people from seeking help. Whilst the stigma attached to mental illness has significantly lessened over the years, the term mental illness still generates prejudice, fear and a general misunderstanding. WHO (2001) defines stigma as a mark of shame put against an individual which results in rejection, discrimination and exclusion from society. The cause of the stigma is most likely to be linked to poor understanding of mental illness and many people being unable to relate to the experiences associated with mental illness. For many years those who experienced mental illness were kept away from society, which instantaneously places a stigma on the mentally ill. Many people do not associate mental illness as a legitimate medical condition, rather how you deal with your own experiences which further the stigma as people tend to blame you for your own disorder. People tend to equate mental

illness with reduced intellectual capabilities and abilities in general (Waghorn & Lloyd, 2005) this also creates another negative stigma with mental health which leads many people with mental disorders to believe that the mental disorder has place limitations on their life. Another theory and the most likely reason that people attach such a stigma to mental health is in regards to the media and the constantly portrayal mental health in a negative manner. Australians research has supported findings with how the mass media, mainly news and entertainment media portray mental illness in such a negative manor. The media presents a mentally ill person to be dangerous and unpredictable and are often associated with violent crimes, even though statistics clearly show no distinct correlation between mental illness and crime. People surveyed on the impact of media and their opinions all agreed that the media was their most influential source in determining their opinion on mental health (Francis et al, 2001). Francis et al (2001) commented that the media was promoting negative stereotypes of mental illness by frequently linking mental illness to violent behaviour. Studies show that more frequent use of modern technology which assists in the broadcasting of media is positively correlated with less tolerant attitudes towards suffering from a mental illness (Francis et al, 2001). Francis et al (2001) also commented on an informative study based in Germany which highlighted the fact that the media was the most important source of information in regards to mental health and that there was a higher recall of negative reports on mental health then there was on positive reports. Stigma is such a negative aspect of mental health promotion because the stigma may stop people from seeking help when they are experiencing mental health problems. To be able to implement mental health promotion in an effective way, we have to eliminate the stigma attached to mental illness. To begin to eliminate stigma, we need to correct the distorted views that society has on those mentally ill and destroy the negative stereotypes which show those who suffer a mental illness as violent. However, reducing stigma requires much more than simple promotion of positive mental health. To reduce stigma we must rely on community education and the willingness among individuals to challenge and remove the negative discourse. If the stigma attached to mental illness is not removed from within our society, the consequences could be dire. Mental health is an intrinsically important aspect of our being. Research tells us that having poor mental health has a negative effect on our entire being. The mind and body are no longer seen as two separate entities, they are now seen as two entities that work hand in hand to create a positive, healthy lifestyle. Having bad mental health can result in having bad physical health and vice versa. To be able to implement mental health promotion and understand mental and behavioural disorders we must recognize that it is not necessarily our genetics that influence our health, but rather a combination of our biological, psychological and social-cultural influences. We must also endeavour to remove the stigma that has been placed on mental health by society and the media. To be able to promote the need for positive mental health and mental health in general we need community understanding and awareness, however this cannot be achieved with eliminating the negative stereotypes in regards to mental illness. Promoting positive mental health may seem difficult with so many implications, but it is not impossible and with more people everyday realising the need for positive mental health, a society that accepts and embraces mental health is not so much a dream of the distance future, but a reality of the present.

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