PROMOTING MENTAL HEALTH

Public mental health is the art and science of improving mental health and well-being and preventing mental illness through the organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, public and private, communities and individuals.
Mental health is vital to public health; mental well-being is profoundly important to quality of life and the capacity to cope with life's ups and downs. It is protective against physical illness, social inequalities and unhealthy lifestyles. There are now a large number of evidence-based approaches to promoting mental well-being and preventing mental illness, and these are growing daily.
As healthy lifestyles and social equality are underpinned by positive psychological functioning, the promotion of mental wellbeing can address both these public health agendas. Wellbeing, including mental wellbeing, is a valuable social goal in its own right and it has become an explicitly declared goal for government in many countries of the developed world.