What is Mental Well-being?
What is Mental Wellbeing?
Anna Enright, DNP,PCNS-BC
Promoting mental health involves practicing skills that improve our mental wellbeing. What is mental wellbeing? As a Psychiatric practitioner, I was trained to diagnose and treat mental health problems with the goal of helping my patients get back to baseline. This notion totally changed when I was introduced to the work of Dr. Martin Seligman, often referred to as the father of Positive Psychology. Why stop at baseline?
Dr. Martin Seligman is a leading authority in the study of Positive Psychology. His work adds to the disease model of traditional psychology by shifting the focus to what makes life worth living. The goal of positive psychology is not only to improve ill health, but also to build strengths and make life more fulfilling for everyone. Dr. Seligman’s model of well-being, PERMA, came out of his work with soldiers. The PERMA model has five core pillars: Positive emotion; Engagement and flow; Relationships/authentic connections; Meaning/Purposeful existence; Achievement.
I love this model because it fully defines the areas which, if skillfully attended to, will improve our overall mental wellbeing. The basic idea is that to work towards a state of mental wellbeing, we must first understand what a fulfilling life consists of. According to Seligman, a fulfilling life can be achieved by practicing skills to increase connection to the five core pillars of PERMA.
Using inquiry to assess each component of PERMA and increasing the awareness of where more attention is needed will allow us to practice the skills to enhance and strengthen that particular pillar. The PERMA model can be applied to anyone seeking a more balanced and peaceful life.
Building self-awareness by inquiry
Positive Emotions: Are we naturally optimistic or do we often approach problems with a negative lens?
Engagement: Are we engaged in work and play, or do we often feel disconnected?
Relationships: Do we have caring people in our life who are supportive and help us grow?
Meaning: Where do we get our sense of purpose and meaning?
Accomplishment: Do we have things that we are working towards? What are we good at?
Over the coming months HiddenCruX (HCX) will unpack skills such as learned optimism, compassion, gratitude, courage, growth mindset and the means to increase present-moment experiences , all of which have been shown to enhance wellbeing. These are skills we can all cultivate, to increase our capacity to show up to each moment as our best selves. If you are an athlete, increasing the pillars outlined in the PERMA model will enhance your capacity to a peak performance state. What does wellbeing mean to you?
If you are interested in learning more:
Seligman, M. E. (2006). Learned optimism: How to change your mind and your life. Vintage.
Seligman, M. E. (2012). Flourish: A visionary new understanding of happiness and well-being. Simon and Schuster.
Seligman, M. E. (2018). The hope circuit: A psychologist's journey from helplessness to optimism. Hachette UK.
