Figure 1:   black and white / on - off thinking

A little bit wider view to health and illness is to think it as a line. On the other end there is health / welfare and on the other end there is sickness / indisposition. Our current situation / condition is somewhere between those two ends on that line. (Figure 2). This kind of one-line-thinking is a very typical in health care.

Figure 2:   sickness - health -line thinking

A little bit more wider point of view to mental health is saying that there are three or four lines or levels:

- mental level

- social level

- physical leveland

- spiritual level.


B u t . . . We may get totally different outcome when we put all possible health and illness criterias on individual lines. In this case we use about 200 mental health-related attributes.

We can notice that "health" or "sickness" / "disorder" is not so simple one or stable condition.

We can notice that there are no completely healthy or no completely sick people.

So called mental health varies all the time in different factors. (Figure 3).

Figure 3:   dissatisfied - satisfied line thinking with about 200 alternatives

Too often we human beings with mental health diagnosis are defining ourselves too much and too comprehensively through that "disease". As if such a diagnosis would show that the whole of human existence is for example, "24/7 neurotic". Or diabetic ... Instead of the black-white definition it would be better to think that we live in more or less "grey" area.

I have tried to identify a wide range of mental health factors with the graph below.

Symptoms / tendencies are not "good / positive " or "bad / negative" in themself. Everyone defines their own value or importance for themselves.

Put one cross on each line and look in the end what you have got as a whole.

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User's Manual:

This holistic mental health form can be filled and used in many ways:

alone in my own peace, only to myself, without showing no-one

with someone close to me, when we can fill together the form and then we can discuss about the results

with the family, when we can fill all together the form and then we can discuss about the results

in therapy with my therapist, so they can be discussed together with the therapist.

Answers can also be used for various considerations, discussions, or self-introspection, ...

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For guidance:

Put only one cross on each horizontal lines

Check the four criteria on each horizontal lines for it which explains the best your actual situation

There are about 200 points in this form.

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The criteria used:

a good - good:
- I am completely satisfied with my life and the management of the situation
- My life or condition does not require any change in
- in numbers: 9 - 10 (if the scale length is 1-10 and in the 1 = worst, 10 = best)

good - bad
- I am largely satisfied with my life and the management of the situation
- My life or condition requires a low-or moderate change
- in numbers: 6 - 8

bad - a good
- I am not satisfied mainly with my life and the management of the situation
- My life or condition requires a high or a significant change
- in numbers: 3 - 5

bad - bad
- I am totally dissatisfied with my life and the management of the situation
- My life or condition requires a complete change or full renovation
- in numbers: 1 - 2

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The words used:

Use your own meaning for the term: what you think it means to you. Terms are not black or white, good or bad. They have a lot of different aspects and levels. For example, aggression can be seen as very useful power or harmful power or something else.

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