mental health

Well-being and soundness of mind, not only in terms of intellectual abilities, but also in terms of the capability to deal with everyday problems, and the capacity to get on well with other people and to form and sustain relationships.

In psychoanalysis, much prominence is given to the importance of the relationship between a child and its mother and, since the publication of John Bowlby's Maternal Care and Mental Health (1951), a considerable body of research by psychologists and ethologists has confirmed that a warm, intimate, and continuous relationship is essential to a child's intellectual and social development and mental health.

Separation from, or loss of, the mother, or surrogate mother, can retard the development of language and intellectual skills as well as severely disrupt a child's emotional life. In puberty and adolescence, the important developmental factor is membership of a peer group. Through peer-group relationships the young person establishes his or her identity. When a crisis arises, the mentally healthy person is normally able to cope. However, a crisis in the life of a person whose emotional and social development has been inadequate will bring distress and can often result in instability and mental illness.