Mental Health
413
Just as a woman’s body can be healthy or unhealthy, so can
her mind and spirit. When her mind and spirit are healthy, she
has the emotional strength to take care of her physical needs
and those of her family, to identify her problems and attempt
to solve them, to plan for the future, and to form satisfying
relationships with others.
Almost everyone has difficulty doing these things at times.
But if the difficulty continues and keeps a woman from carrying
out her daily activities—for example, if she becomes so tense
and nervous that she cannot care for her family—she may
have a mental health problem. These problems are harder
to identify than problems in the body, which we can often
see or touch. Yet mental health problems need attention and
treatment, just as physical problems do.
This chapter describes the most common mental health
problems and their causes. It also offers suggestions for
how a woman can help herself or others with these problems.
➤ Good mental
health is just as
important as good
physical health.
Where Women Have No Doctor 2012