For this question, I will depict individual characteristics (our thinking and emotions) and environmental factors (our sense of security), and cite some interesting clinical psychological disorders as counterexamples. Finally I will give a summary at the end.
1. A mentally healthy person’s thinking is controlled by consciousness. Many people may feel that thought and consciousness work in tandem, but this is only for normal people. For people with mental illness, much of the thinking is not under conscious control and causes great difficulty in their lives. People with schizophrenia often experience hallucinations (mainly hearing), where they hear one or more voices in their ears that are not there but are actually “perceived” by their hearing for the schizophrenic. Sometimes we see people on the side of the road walking and talking to themselves, as if they are talking to the air, or even cursing and shouting out of nowhere. In addition to hallucinations, schizophrenia positive patients may also experience paranoia, claiming to be Jesus or the Jade Emperor. A psychologist once experimented with two patients who were convinced that they were Jesus and were locked in the same room for six months, but both remained true to their views, as if they did not care about the other’s claim to be Jesus. This extreme paranoia is also a sign of pathological thinking.
2. A mentally healthy person has a dynamic balance of emotions. We will be particularly happy because we passed an exam or our boss got a raise, but this happiness will not last long (although at the time we will feel that we have been happy to the sky), our happy mood will soon return to a normal value; we will feel sad because of a breakup or the death of a loved one, and even once feel that it is the end of the world, but after a few weeks, our mood will gradually return to a normal level. Mental ill health manifests itself in periods of prolonged depression and demoralization, and may also manifest itself in a state of persistent hyperactivity (mania). In clinical psychology, these are referred to as mood disorders. The best known of the mood disorders is depression (also known as monomanic disorder), in which the person feels persistently depressed, with reduced interest and diminished energy. People with depression have difficulty returning to a normal mood and can only stay at a low level for long periods of time. The vast majority of people with depression can only improve their mood state by taking medication.
A mentally healthy person feels secure and less anxious. Anxiety is a sign of nervous tension, and our nerves are often tense and anxious because we feel in danger. These dangers come not only from external circumstances, but also from the moral codes we uphold (especially when we are about to cross a moral line). Phobias are a manifestation of a lack of environmental security. Major phobias such as fear of heights, fear of blood, fear of the deep sea, and fear of specific objects such as snakes and spiders are due to a perceived threat from the external environment. Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is characterized by obsessive thoughts and compulsive behaviors, such as ritualistic behaviors such as constantly washing hands or repeatedly checking doors and windows. Compulsive disorder may result from certain life events, such as interpersonal tensions, divorce, etc. The patient may not be able to get rid of thoughts in his or her mind (which are likely to come from moral censure, such as impurity) and may force himself or herself to do things that he or she does not want to do in order to relieve the tension. For example, a woman who has experienced sexual assault may repeat the act of bathing in order to get rid of the “dirty” and avoid “unclean” thoughts. Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a more severe manifestation of anxiety and fear in which the person has experienced or witnessed the traumatic experiences of others, such as car accidents and the death of family members.
4. A mentally healthy person is highly socialized. This means that he is free from the self-centered way of thinking of young children and accepts the moral code and behavioral norms given by society. His thoughts and behaviors do not deviate from the normal level of society and are accepted by the current culture. It is important to measure one’s behavior by society’s standards. For example, dancing naked around a fire may be acceptable behavior in some tribal cultures (e.g., some kind of courtship ritual), but if we saw it in the streets of China, we would take it as a sign of mental abnormality. Society’s standards of judgment are dynamic and evolving. Although it sounds somewhat socially subjective, I would like to share the example of homosexuality here. Homosexuality was often seen in the past as a manifestation of a psychosexual disorder and was considered a mental illness. In medieval Europe homosexuality was even considered to be demonically possessed.
In 1533, King Henry VIII enacted a law imposing the death penalty for sodomy, which became the basis for many subsequent anti-sodomy laws establishing the death penalty. Homosexuality has also been treated as a form of mental illness.
It was not until 1973 that the Board of Directors of the American Psychiatric Association voted to remove homosexuality from the disease classification. Since then, there has been a growing separation between homosexuality and mental illness, and this trend has gradually spread to different countries. China made a similar decision in 2001. Nowadays, LGBT (Lesbians, Gays, Bisexuals and Transgender) are becoming more and more normalized and are no longer seen as pathological. Although these phenomena have a long way to go before they become part of mainstream culture, society will at least not use some form of legal or moral judgment to put these people to death or send them to a psychiatric hospital.The End Human psychology and behavior range from healthy to pathological, more like the sun’s spectrum from red to purple, with no clear line between the two adjacent colors. Mental health is always relative, and every normal person has more or less fluctuating thoughts and emotions, and often feels anxious (as seems to be the norm for contemporary people).
Our psychological changes are always designed to adapt to the natural and social environment, to avoid fear, anxiety and moral judgment, and thus to protect our own development and reproduction. Returning to the topic, what does a mentally healthy person look like? I believe that a healthy psyche should be self-adaptive, i.e., constantly adjusting and modifying to achieve the best possible state of being able to adapt to the current environment. A psyche that has lost its ability to adapt is destined to gradually slip to the very point of pathology.
