UNDERSTANDING THE ESSENCE OF MENTAL HEALTH IN THE CONTEXT OF A COMPREHENSIVE APPROACH

Abstract

The article analyzes the negative impact of the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine on the mental health of Ukrainians. The authors study the essence of mental health based on the results of scientific developments in medicine, psychology and social work. Current trends in the study of mental health in Ukrainian psychology are highlighted: the impact of mental health on the life of an individual in general and in the context of wartime challenges in particular. The main provisions of the integrated approach are indicated, from the point of view of which mental health should be considered as a multi-determined and complex-structured phenomenon, which is studied from the perspective of interdisciplinary research and is the basis of well-being and quality of human life. The positions of scientists regarding the essence of health at the biological, psychological and social levels are summarized, the common tendency of which is the understanding of this phenomenon as a condition of human wellbeing in general, successful adaptation to changing living conditions and realization of the life potential. There is a tendency in the scientific resources to equate the concept of “mental health” with “mental health”, “psychological health” and “spiritual health”. The authors analyzed the views of scientists on the essence of mental health, which has two essential features: the absence of mental disorders and the mental well-being of an individual, which is the basis of the realization of a person’s life potential. The article examines the essence of psychological health, which characterizes a person’s personality as a whole and demonstrates its connection with higher manifestations of the human spirit. It is pointed out the need to understand spirituality as an essential sign of the psychological health of an individual. The authors of the article consider mentality to be the basis of mental health, while it presents the general spiritual attitude of an individual to his/her own well-being and the well-being of others. The essence of mentality as an integral characteristic of the individual is highlighted. The authors summarized the positions of scientists regarding the criteria of mental health affecting the social-psychological, individual-psychological and valuemeaning spheres of the personality. The article states that, in addition to mentality, mental health is based on two system-forming components: the balance between the emotional, psychological, social and spiritual well-being of the individual and the state of harmony of the person with the surrounding world and with himself. The unity of these components contributes to the successful adaptation and spiritual orientation of the individual to himself and others.