Consider this analogy: mental health is not a painting on the wall to be stared at but a piece of clay on a potter’s wheel to be shaped and reshaped into something we like the look of. The clay is always there, and the wheel is constantly turning, which means our hands must continually be working. This analogy suggests that mental health is:
- not static or fixed but fluid and malleable
- our responsibility to shape and reshape
- subject to change, requiring ongoing attention and effort
- not something we can leave alone and expect to remain in perfect condition.
Just as a potter’s hands must constantly be working to shape the clay, we must actively engage with our mental health to maintain and improve it
Better Mental Health
This analogy also emphasises the idea that we have control over our mental health, and like a potter shaping clay, we have the power to mould it and our well-being. By taking an active role, we can work towards achieving better mental health aligned with our personal values, goals and preferences. Overall, this analogy serves as a reminder that mental health is not a passive state but an ongoing process that requires effort and self-awareness. It highlights the importance of consistently working to create a positive and fulfilling life.
There are, of course, more formal definitions of mental health, such as the one used by the World Health Organisation: “… a state of well-being in which the individual realizes his or her own abilities, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and fruitfully, and is able to make a contribution to his or her community.” However, we feel our metaphorical definition adds an active component.
Mental Health Problems
Understanding and positively transforming mental health conditions and problems means individuals and services (private, NHS or voluntary sectors) must rise to the challenge of being great sculptors and see good mental health as an outcome of attempts to ‘sculpt’ critical areas of our lives into good shape. Acquiring this vital skill must be an ambition for anyone, be they individuals, health professionals or those required to offer some level of support, such as teachers.
So what is our mental health ‘clay’ made of? We suggest it is made up of the principal areas that dominate all of our lives:
- ourselves: identity, role and status; self-esteem and self-worth
- home and family life
- relationships – personal and professional
- work, career and professional development
- health & wellbeing
- financial
- lifestyle
- social
- cultural
- environment
- past, present and future.
Instead of focusing solely on individual types of mental illnesses and diagnoses, such as anxiety disorders, forms of depression or post-traumatic stress disorder, this understanding promotes a different mental health approach, one encouraging us to look beyond labels and categories to causes and responses. The causes will be found in one or more of the areas listed above, which, once identified, makes it possible to develop appropriate responses.
Good mental health, poor mental health
My mental health and yours will reflect the state of the above areas, which means it will be good when these areas are positive and poor when they are negative. This understanding encourages us to:
- know what we want the above areas to look like.
- compare how our areas are with how we want them to be.
- be able to transform (sculpt) our desired vision for our areas into a reality.
Our approach emphasises the active role we must play in mental health promotion and prevention. As individuals, partners and families, we need to think, behave, feel and relate (our potter’s tools) in ways that can transform our lives at home, at work and in the social spaces we spend time in.
Mental health care
Why is our piece of clay in good shape or falling apart? And what are we doing to ensure the former and avoid the latter? Understanding mental health in a way that allows us to live enjoyably and resiliently requires that we see it:
- as a piece of clay on a potter’s wheel that we need to sculpt into something we like the look of
- an outcome of our attempts to align a positive vision of our lives with a positive reality
- more than a label or a diagnostic category.
What should you do next?
We hope you have enjoyed our blog. If you would like to find out more about our IMPACT Model approach or feel you might wish to work with us here at Conversations With Impact, we’d love to hear from you. Please follow the links below to take some next steps: