What is meant by mental health?
Although mental health could be viewed as follows: “In common usage the term mental health often mean psychological well-being and mental illness”(Schwartz & Schwartz, quoted by Callicutt & Lecca, 1983:5), the focus in this paper is a positive one. Mental health viewed on a continuum is not equal to zero, but on average more than zero over time (Kirsten, 1994:131). Any thing less will mean a stale no-growth situation, or mental illness. Mental health as a positive term needs to echo the same sentiments as Schlebush (1987:111) in the context of health psychology: “If health is defined in negative terms i.e. simply as the absence of disease, treatment of the diseased patient becomes the primary objective. Should it, however, be defined in positive terms, i.e., as an individual s biopsychosocial functioning, a more comprehensive programme of healthcare delivery with emphasis on promotion and maintenance of health becomes obvious. The health professional s approach, therefore can be one of
