One of the upsides to the pandemic is that people have opened up to conversations around mental wellbeing. In fact, it seems like everyone is talking about mental health right now, but for most of us it is pretty intangible, and responses still seem to be limited to general terms - “fine/not fine (but not sure how else to describe it) ...” This week Dr Drea (UCLA) talks to Tom about how using a continuum model, perhaps a color scale, can help us recognize the shades and subtleties of mental health, and give us the tools to understand, and help others understand, where we’re at. Among professionals, the discussion around mental wellness is shifting from a binary model of diagnosis to a dimensional approach; one which could help us all reframe our own path back to active optimism.
One of the upsides to the pandemic is that people have opened up to conversations around mental wellbeing. In fact, it seems like everyone is talking about mental health right now, but for most of us it is pretty intangible, and responses still seem to be limited to general terms - “fine/not fine (but not sure how else to describe it) ...”
This week Dr Drea (UCLA) talks to Tom about how using a continuum model, perhaps a color scale, can help us recognize the shades and subtleties of mental health, and give us the tools to understand, and help others understand, where we’re at. Among professionals, the discussion around mental wellness is shifting from a binary model of diagnosis to a dimensional approach; one which could help us all reframe our own path back to active optimism.
More about the Five zone model of mental health / the mental health continuum
Full list of resources for mental health help
National Alliance on Mental Illness
More about the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM)
Listen to Mark Hunter on OIP
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