WHAT IS MENTAL HEALTH?

BY RUTENDO MAGUZE (Pharmacist)
10/12/24

According to the WHO, “mental health is a state of mental well-being that enables
people to cope with the stresses of life, realize their abilities, learn well and work well,
and contribute to their community. It is an integral component of health and well-being
that underpins our individual and collective abilities to make decisions, build
relationships and shape the world we live in. Mental health is a basic human right. And it
is crucial to personal, community and socio-economic development.

“Mental health is more than the absence of mental disorders. It exists on a complex
continuum, which is experienced differently from one person to the next, with varying
degrees of difficulty and distress and potentially very different social and clinical
outcomes.

“Mental health conditions include mental disorders and psychosocial disabilities as
well as other mental states associated with significant distress, impairment in
functioning, or risk of self-harm. People with mental health conditions are more likely to
experience lower levels of mental well-being, but this is not always or necessarily the
case.” (1)

DETERMINANTS OF MENTAL HEALTH
There are multiple circumstances that can affect mental health. This can include how
we are as individuals and the environments that we live in. These circumstances can
either strengthen or weaken our mental state. Risk factors include:

- Social drivers such as experiencing interpersonal and institutional
discrimination
- Lack of access to housing, healthcare, education
- Lack of access to employment and economic opportunities
- Adverse childhood experiences and other types of interpersonal violence
- Social isolation
- Poor emotional well-being or coping skills
- Ongoing or chronic medical conditions, such as a traumatic brain injury, cancer
or diabetes
- Use of alcohol or drugs (2)

Being exposed to these risk factors does not necessarily guarantee poor mental health.
As healthcare professionals, most of us are in the business of dealing with ill-health on
a near daily basis. It would be a miracle to say that each of us in community pharmacy
have has never experienced a negative outcome with a patient, from harassment from a
client to the death of a patient. There can also be toxic work environments with
unprofessional co-workers or harsh superiors. Then there is the risk of burn-out due to
the long 10–12-hour workdays for most community pharmacists. (3) All these work
stressors, along with the above listed risk factors can negatively affect our mental
health.

It is this important to know what poor mental health is, be able to identify when we are
experiencing it and take steps to rectify it. It is equally important to understand the
source or basis of the mental disorder to better deal with it, for example, a mental
disability cannot be “rectified”, but techniques can be learned and accommodations
made to be able to adapt with the disability to function in general society.

Finally, we must not be afraid to reach out for help. Just like you cannot heal a broken
bone by yourself, so does the outcome of mental health treatment depend on the help
of mental health professionals and those around you. Do not be afraid to remove
yourself from what negatively affects you and closer to people who are willing to help. It
is a journey to recovery, make sure you have the right tools and the right people around
you.

REFERENCES
1. https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/mental-healthstrengthening-our-response accessed 06/12/2024
2. https://www.cdc.gov/mental-health/about/index.html accessed 06/12/2024
3. https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/healthcare/risk-factors/stress-burnout.html
accessed 06/12/202