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UNIT 2
Lesson 6
There is no single definition of
“good mental health” that everyone
accepts. So it isn’t surprising that
there is no foolproof formula for good
mental health.
Still, a majority of people would
agree that a mentally healthy person
feels content—most of the time.
But even “being content” is hard
to define. Generally speaking, it
means many things: feeling love,
satisfaction, and joy; freedom from
worry or overwhelming hardships;
simply having peace of mind.
Psychologists tell us that
contentment is a result rather than a
cause. Their studies of mentally
healthy people show four important
causes, or conditions, that make
contentment possible:
WORD SEARCH
EVERYDAY LIVING WORDS
Good Mental Health
1. Self-respect (liking and honoring
yourself as a good and worthy
person)
2. Self-acceptance (admitting your
own limitations as inescapable
conditions of being human)
3. Self-control (the ability to
discipline your own emotions and
behavior)
4. Awareness of others (understanding
that, like you, everyone
else has strengths and weaknesses,
and wants to feel worthwhile)
The words “most of the time” are
crucial. Mentally healthy people do
have troubling emotions that cause
them problems. But their realistic
understanding of themselves and
other people provides contentment
most of the time.
1. What eight-letter noun in the reading
means “more than half”? ___________________________
2. What nine-letter compound word in the
reading means “troubling circumstances
that are not easy to bear”? ___________________________
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