ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the concepts of mental health and mental ill-health; it explains the mental state examination and identifies some of the causes and vulnerability/protective factors that can affect mental health. The concept of 'mental illness' has little meaning without a concept of mental health against which one may measure or gauge mental illness. Most people experience some small or large difficulties or problems at one time or another during the course of their life. The chapter offers a selection of commonly used mental health terms that can be useful to know. Mental disorders are classified into diagnostic categories that are defined in terms of patterns of signs and symptoms, the course the disorder takes and its 'usual' outcome. The chapter illustrates the basic contents of the human mental state. It also illustrates the content of the mental state examination (MSE). Mental health problems are often the result of the complex interaction of biological, social and personal factors.
