Maintaining Mental Wellbeing

Question 1

Protective Factors

Answer 1

Protective factors: influences that enable an individual to promote and maintain high levels of mental wellbeing.
1. Reducing the risk of low levels of mental wellbeing or developing a mental health disorder
2. Increasing the likelihood of high levels of mental wellbeing.
Protective factors do not guarantee high levels of mental wellbeing, but rather they may help to improve an individual’s mental wellbeing.

Question 2

Biological Protective Factors:

Answer 2

Biological Protective Factors: stem from brains or bodies and help to maintain or promote mental wellbeing.

Question 3

Adequate Nutritional Intake and Hydration

Answer 3

● Having adequate nutritional intake and hydration means eating a good amount of a variety of different foods and ensuring we drink enough water to maintain good physical health and feel mentally well as a result.
● An adequate diet needs to be ‘balanced’, with minimal amounts of food high in fat, salt and sugar and more vegetables, fruit, grains and plenty of water.

Question 4

Adequate Sleep

Answer 4

Adequate Sleep: waking feeling refreshed, ready for the day and feeling positive about ourselves and our abilities
● Sleep needs vary → adequate sleep is not dependent on getting a certain amount of sleep
● Thoughts, feelings and behaviours are impacted by what happens when an individual sleeps

Question 5

Psychological Protective Factors

Answer 5

Psychological protective factors: mental processes that can maintain and promote mental wellbeing.

Question 6

Cognitive Behavioural Strategies:

Answer 6

Cognitive Behavioural Strategies: techniques drawn from CBT to identify, assess and correct faulty patterns of thinking or problem behaviours that may be affecting mental health and wellbeing

These techniques can be used to address…
Dysfunctional thoughts (cognitive distortions): habitual ways of thinking that adversely impact on mental health.

Question 7

Cognitive Component

Answer 7

● Identifying dysfunctional feelings and thoughts (cognitions) about the issue.
● Replacing these dysfunctional feelings and thoughts with more functional ones.

Question 8

Behavioural Component

Answer 8

● Identifying dysfunctional behaviours relating to the issue.
● Developing and maintaining more functional behaviours relating to the issue

Question 9

Meditation

Answer 9

Meditation: practice of sitting for a period of time in quiet stillness, attention turned inward and focused on something specific.
Meditation can improve:
● Improve emotional reactity
● Reduce the likelihood of rumination (repeatedly considering negative
thoughts)
● Reduce stress and improve memory

Question 10

Social Protective Factors

Answer 10

Social protective factors: influences that exist in an individual’s social environment that can maintain and promote mental wellbeing.

Question 11

Social Support

Answer 11

Social Support: the assistance, care or comfort provided by people to each other, typically to help them cope with a stressor or mental health issue.
● These people may not be professionals, but rather, anyone that prodes stable, on-going relationship