Supporting Mental Health Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Supporting Mental Health - Essay Example Understanding the biological make up, environmental factors and providing quality programs that promote the child’s healthy mind are all supportive of mental health. A biological factor which contributes to the child’s mental health involves the genetic influence. A number of genetic disorders had created mental retardation. A child is considered retarded if he has an extremely poor performance in any standardized intelligence tests. However, not all forms of retardation are inherited. One form could reside in the impairment of the brain and nervous system as a result of trauma or an imbalance in the body’s neurotransmitter chemicals in transmitting messages to and from the brain. Others could be caused by failure in the genetic code to produce necessary enzymes for important metabolism promoting mental health. A child who is free from all of these biological misfortunes may have a healthier mind. Although, there is strong hereditary evidence influencing the chil d’s mental health, the same applies to the effect of the environmental factors. Santhrock and Yussen (1984) in their book explain that environmental factors like home and education may likewise have an impact on the child’s mental health. Home environment which constitutes the family could enrich or damage the child’s mental health.