random: on positive mental health

I always find it interesting to read about 'happiness' or 'positive mental well-being' (perhaps this is a subconscious attempt to try to dissociate myself from things like low grades and low bank accounts. tee hee)

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Anyway, excerpts from a science article in today's Saturday page, from The Straits Times (Measuring S'pore's mental well-being, p. D9):

"Mental health is more than just the absence of mental illness... [it is] a state 'of well-being in which the individual realises his or her abilities, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and fruitfully, and is able to make a contribution to the community' [emphasis mine]. ...

[Positive mental health] is more than a current emotional and psychological state; it is an estimate of the capability and potential of an individual to be mentally healthy...

Two philosophies have dominated [the] field of research [on positive mental health] - the hedonic and the eudaimonic vews. While the hedonistic approach refers to the pursuit of pleasure or happiness, eudaimonia lies in the actualisation of human potential and conveys the belief that well-being consists of fulfilling one's true nature. [emphasis mine]"

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