Some questions re: life in rural Arizona?

For people who have never experienced any diagnosable mental health issues, what has your life been like?

• This question is for people who have never experienced mental health issues on any diagnosable level. Examples (but not an exhaustive list) of such issues are anxiety, depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, and personality disorders like borderline personality disorder and narcissistic personality disorder. In other words, this question is for people who have been pretty happy their whole lives and haven't experienced any extreme symptoms (even if you have had "normal" periods of not being happy). (Prefer answers from people who are pretty sure they haven't had mental health issues, as opposed to from people who might have had them but never had them diagnosed.) What has your life been like, from childhood till the present? Please include as much information as you're willing to. Also, please include as much demographic information as you're willing to, such as countries you grew up in and have lived in, gender, approximate age, cultural background, ethnicity and/or race, socioeconomic background and current status, your professional field, types of geographical places you've lived (city/rural/what region of countries), etc. (Only as much as you're willing to include, and you can be vague (e.g. "I'm from Asia" instead of "I'm from Taiwan") if you prefer.) Other questions I'm curious about, which people can answer as they feel comfortable, include: what were your parents were like, and what was your relationship with them like? What were some significant experiences in your life? What were you like socially throughout your life? What are your political beliefs? Philosophical beliefs?  What are the worst things you have ever experienced in your life? What are the best things you have ever experienced in your life? What is your personality like? Anyway, I'm asking not necessarily to learn "lessons" from these people.. I'm asking more because I'm curious if there are certain life factors that correlate with people not having mental health issues. (Not because I think those people are better, but because I'm curious about the life causes of mental health issues / people not having mental health issues.) Again, please share as much as you're willing to share and comfortable with sharing.

• Answer:

  I believe I am one of the many lucky individuals who are blessed with sound mind and good health. As far as I understand good mental health is the state of mind which enables an individual to have a balanced thought process and evaluate various situations and circumstances of our life and respond in a manner which promotes individual and social growth. I believe that people who walk into our life and circumstances that we fall into are governing factors which shape up and sustain our mental health, but everything starts from our initial years and especially it starts with our parents. The way parents deal with their child, the moral and ethics that are inculcated during the initial growing stages, the love,affection and bonding that a child experiences, the support and motivation that a child receives for each of his small successes and major setbacks during his growing phase determine the mental constitution of an individual. Basically I believe that if we lay a perfect base, then we are in for a wonderful building. Belief in God is yet another important factor that cannot be undermined, If we learn to believe in God and understand that universe runs on his commandments and everything( whether good or bad) that happens has a reason. If we are taught to accept things as they come and let things go which are not meant for us, then we stand in a much better situation in terms of mental health. The biggest attribute that leads to mental problems is the obstinate characteristics of an individual and that needs to be toned down and controlled in our initial years. If we learn to be flexible in our thoughts then we can handle complex situations much better. In my case I was fortunate enough to get great parents who from my childhood were always there with me through thick and thin of my life, they taught me, they encouraged me when I did something commendable, chided me when I did something wrong, taught me to believe in God and humanity. I have an elder brother who was supportive, who was protective and gave me good company and good advice. We used to play together and even sometimes we had quarrel but then it was all fun. Our family was very fond of animals and we had quite a few pets. We had dogs,we had mongoose ,we had cows and it seemed so much fun during my childhood. I used to play with them and they were very playful and affectionate, they loved to be with us and I enjoyed their company. I could feel their joy and i could experience their pain and overall it was so good to have them around us. In my school, I had such great teachers and wonderful friends and I never felt like missing school even for a single day. As I grew up I came across various kinds of people and each one of them taught me something in terms of good and bad experiences, but I have learnt to be flexible in my thought process, hence I let loose the bad experiences and retain the good ones. I believe that lot depends on how we are conditioned to take failures and disappointments in life, If we are ready to accept them as they come and then move on for some new experiences, then we depict good mental health.There is a wonderful quote which I always cherish and believe that If we take down some wisdom from it, then we would take life more positively.