Journal of Psychology & Psychotherapy
Open Access

The Quadratic Model of Mental Heatlh

Per Eisele^{* *}Correspondence: Per Eisele, Department of Social Work, Linnaeus University, Växjö, Sweden, Email:

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Introduction

The mental health continuum is a valuable tool that allows individuals to assess and monitor their mental wellbeing through various factors. By providing a comprehensive picture of mental health beyond simple categories of "healthy" or "unhealthy," it offers a more nuanced understanding and helps individuals identify areas for improvement. This approach can promote a more holistic approach to mental health care and encourage individuals to actively engage in their own mental health management.

It is intriguing to consider exploring the mental health continuum alongside a new struggle continuum scale that incorporates aspects of languishing, flourishing, surrendering and struggling. By utilizing a quadratic model and identifying four distinct factors at the corners of the square-depressed, anxious, content and joyful-it may provide a more nuanced and comprehensive framework for evaluating and understanding mental health and wellbeing across various dimensions. This approach could potentially offer a deeper insight into the complexities of mental health experiences and inform more targeted interventions or support strategies.

Integrating the mental health continuum scale with a new scale measuring struggling, specifically the inclination to either surrender easily or persevere in the face of challenges, could offer a more holistic assessment of an individual's mental health and resilience. By considering not just one's current mental state but also their approach to adversity, this combined approach may provide a more nuanced understanding of how individuals navigate and cope with life's difficulties. It could also inform personalized interventions or support strategies that target both mental health status and coping mechanisms, enhancing overall well-being and resilience [1].

Description

The successful confirmation of the quadratic model on a normal population through results of chi-square, correlation and t-test analyses is a promising development. The fact that the two scales can effectively identify individuals across the spectrum of mental health states-from depressed and anxious to content and joyful underscores the potential utility of this integrated approach in assessing and understanding mental health experiences. This robust validation further highlights the applicability and relevance of this model in research or clinical settings for its ability to detect and differentiate various mental health states within a population [2].

New research, for example Germanier R, and Puhr R explored the lived experiences of faculty as they negotiated the challenges of synchronous and asynchronous, remote and HyFlex delivery. Using a phenomenological analysis (IPA) to determine whether, and to what extent, faculty flourished or languished over a twoyear period the researchers found among our participants, a prevalence for flourishing, with only one of the eight languishing. Although the trajectory of the participants’ lived experiences was similar, there were wide-ranging and distinct paths to flourishing [3].

The implications of these study results are significant regarding the choice between mindfulness and activity-based interventions. With the ability of the two scales to effectively detect individuals experiencing a range of mental health states, including depression, anxiety, contentment and joy, decision-makers in healthcare settings may now have valuable insights to inform the selection of appropriate interventions. The nuanced understanding provided by these scales could help tailor interventions to individuals based on their specific mental health needs, potentially leading to more targeted and effective treatment outcomes. Ultimately, such findings contribute to advancing personalized mental health care and support strategies [4].

The research article by Eisele proposes a surrender-struggle continuum as an additional component to the mental health puzzle, aiming to enhance the understanding of well-being. By incorporating both the mental health continuum and a new scale measuring struggling, the study suggests a quadratic model that distinguishes between anxious, depressed, content and joyful individuals. The results of the study show potential implications for interventions, such as mindfulness-based interventions for anxious individuals and activity-based interventions for depressed individuals. Further research and comparisons with established inventories, like the beck depression inventory-II and beck anxiety inventory, are recommended to validate the proposed model.

The concept of psychological well-being, as outlined by Ryff and Keyes through dimensions such as autonomy, environmental mastery, personal growth, positive relations, purpose in life and self-acceptance, sheds light on the multifaceted nature of wellbeing beyond subjective measures. It emphasizes the importance of personal growth, positive relationships and a sense of purpose in fostering emotional well-being. Additionally, the inclusion of social well-being in the mental health continuum underscores the significance of community involvement and societal connections in enhancing individuals' overall health and wellbeing [5].

The inclusion of social well-being in the mental health continuum represents a significant advancement in well-being research, highlighting the importance of community involvement and the sense of contribution to society for individual health. Believing in societal progress and the inherent goodness of humanity can positively impact well-being by fostering feelings of hope. Understanding and making sense of the societal structures individuals are part of also play a crucial role in shaping mental health outcomes, as highlighted in the quadratic model of mental health.

The surrendering-struggling continuum, as inspired by concepts like optimism, goal-orientation, locus of control and self-efficacy, sheds light on how individuals cope with challenges and maintain their well-being. The study by Aghababaei et al. emphasized the role of religiosity, belief in science, hope and purpose in life in subjective well-being. While some individuals remain optimistic and goal-oriented in the face of adversity, categorizing them as joyful or content, others may experience anxiety or depression based on their levels of well-being and struggles. This proposed quadratic model aims to better categorize individuals' mental health status by considering their surrendering and struggling tendencies alongside well-being levels [6].

The concept of a surrender-struggle continuum is proposed to address a potential gap in understanding mental health. By introducing this continuum, it may complement existing models and provide further insight into the complex interplay between surrendering to challenges and actively struggling against them. This addition could enhance our comprehension of mental health by acknowledging the different ways individuals navigate and cope with adversities, thus contributing valuable insights to the broader mental health discourse.

Conclusion

The utilization of the mental health continuum scale along with a new struggle scale, as proposed by Keyes, aimed to create a quadratic model that could differentiate between anxious and depressed feelings. By categorizing individuals as anxious or depressed based on their well-being and struggle scores, this model sought to enhance our comprehension of mental health by distinguishing between feelings of contentment and joy. This approach may offer valuable insights into the nuances of wellbeing and mental health outcomes.

References

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