deviation from ideal mental health

Question 1

who is the key researcher for DIMH?

Answer 1

Marie Jahoda

she created this definition because there was so much disagreement about what abnormality is

Question 2

what did Marie Jahoda focus on?

Answer 2

not concerned with what makes someone abnormal

focused on what it means to be normal; once we have a picture of psychological wellbeing then we can identify what deviating from this is

Question 3

what are Jahoda’s 6 criteria for ideal mental health? how many do you need to have to be classed as having good mental health?

Answer 3

1. we are able to resist stress
2. we are rational (have realistic perception of ourselves and world)
   3.we can self-actualise (fulfil potential)
3. we have good self-esteem
4. we are autonomous (independence)
   6.we can successfully work, love and enjoy our leisure (mastery of environment)

MUST HAVE ALL CRITERIA

Question 4

how is DIMH a positive definition?

Answer 4

focuses on positives of human behaviour (what is normal) rather than what’s negative (abnormal)

Question 5

how is DIMH culture-bound?

Answer 5

certain elements of the definition may not apply to all cultures, so it is showing cultural bias by only taking UK and USA (individualist cultures) into account

so lacks generalisability

e.g. self-actualisation not applicable to collectivist cultures as seen as self-indulgent

Question 6

how does DIMH have extremely high standards?

Answer 6

expected to meet all criteria to have good mental health

very few people would meet all criteria and it can be disheartening to strive for

e.g. not everyone has self-actualised YET but this doesn’t mean they have a disorder

Question 7

how can we counter that DIMH has extremely high standards?

Answer 7

it is a comprehensive definition

covers pretty much every reason why we may seek help for mental health and provides a useful checklist against which we can assess people