Mental Health in Accordance to Ellis Approach
Hamid Nejat (M.A) and Hossein Azad(ph.D)
According to Ellis (1973), much uneasiness and derangement in people’s lives is because of irrational and unreal beliefs about themselves and their surrounding world. In other words psychic problems are a result of their false cognitions. In fact, we consider the world according to our own impression, whereas the world has no good or bad in itself. As a result, affections are due to human cognition. Irrational thinking comes from beliefs, attitudes, impressions, and opinions for which there are, must, ought, and should be absolutism to prevent affective and behavioral disorders. (Shafiabady and Nasery, 1995)
According to the cognitive approach mental health is adjustment to any aspect of life or good feelings about ones manner, especially when these conform with the standards of a society in which one lives. (Saatchi,2000)
There are ten kinds of irrational thinking according to Ellis’ idea: Demand for approval, high self-expectation, emotional irresponsibility, anxious over-concern, blame proneness, frustration reaction, dependency, hopelessness for change, perfectionism, and problem avoiding.
There is a relationship between irrational thinking and mental health according to some research.
(Starko and Timothy,1993; McLenan,1991; Hogg , James and Deffen Bacher, Jerry,1986;Taghi-Poor,1994).
The quarterly journal of Fundamentals of Mental Health
Volume : 1
Year : 2000, Winter
No.4