Promotion of Well-Being in Person-Centered Mental Health Care

Abstract

An understanding of the mechanisms of personality development provides a systematic way to promote health as an integrated state of physical, mental, social, and spiritual well-being. Individual differences in personality are causal antecedents of the full range of psychopathology. The maturation with integration of personality appears to be an important mechanism by which diverse modalities of treatment promote wellness and reduce illness. First, the authors review the relationship between personality and a wide range of psychiatric disorders. Second, the authors evaluate the impact of character structure on a wide range of measures of well-being, including positive emotions, negative emotions, life satisfaction, perceived social support, and perceived health. Third, the authors describe a practical and inexpensive clinical method for facilitating the maturation and integration of personality based on an understanding of the processes of human thought, which underlie changes in personality and well-being.

Figure 1

The Nonlinear Dynamics of Shifts in Brain States Differing in Level of Well-being or Integration of Information Content. (Reproduced with Permission of the Washington University Center for Well-Being.)

Figure 2

Variation in Negative Affect as a Function of Character Profile.

Figure 3

Variation in Positive Affect as a Function of Character Profile.

Figure 4

Variation in Life Satisfaction, Perceived Health, and Perceived Social Support as a Function of Character Profile.

Figure 5

Comparison of Percentage of People in Each Character Configuration Who are in the Top One-sixth (“Best Health”) and Bottom One-sixth (“Worst Health”) of the Total Israeli Sample on the CHI.