By Irina Fiksman, MD

But what constitutes good mental health? This question is not at all easy to answer because the notion of good mental health is both vague and culture dependent. The mere absence of mental illness is not synonymous with good mental health, and a great deal of misery is both caused and experienced by people with no diagnosable mental illness.

The Surgeon General defines good mental health as "the successful performance of mental function, resulting in productive activities, fulfilling relationships with other people, and the ability to adapt to change and cope with adversity." That certainly applies to a wide continuum of emotional states, and one can hardly mark the beginning point of that continuum.

What we can do, though, is identify the “markers” of good mental health. They are pretty consistent for people of all cultures who are leading satisfying and fulfilling lives.

Below are the indicators of good mental health. The more of them you can find in yourself the better your mental health is.

You can do a great deal to strengthen your mental health by strengthening the foundation it’s built upon.