“Mental well-being,” “flourishing,” “thriving,” “positive mental health”: these terms are widely used in research, health care, workplaces, schools and public policy. But they are not consistently understood or defined. A new study aims to help define the term “positive mental health.” Having a more consistent definition would allow for more comparable research and policies and practices better able to support and facilitate positive mental health.

While it is commonly agreed that positive mental health is more than happiness and life satisfaction, the specific scope is not commonly agreed upon. To build a consensus definition, researchers engaged a diverse, multidisciplinary, international panel of 122 experts from 11 disciplines, including psychiatry, medicine, clinical psychology, public health, sociology, economics, philosophy, nursing, theology, health psychology, and positive psychology.

The experts participated in a multi-step process to build a consensus. They evaluated proposed dimensions of positive mental health and determined which should be included. The experts were in especially strong agreement (more than 90% rating them as important or essential) on six dimensions:

• Meaning and purpose
• Life satisfaction
• Self-acceptance
• Connection
• Autonomy
• Happiness

An additional 13 dimensions reached at least 75% agreement, yielding consensus across a total of 19 dimensions of positive mental health. The additional dimensions included acceptance, competence, sense of community, belonging, positive view of people & society, social contribution, engagement, development, optimism, self-congruence, fun, vitality, and activities and functioning.

In other words, being mentally well is not simply about feeling happy. It is also about feeling that life has meaning, accepting oneself, and having close and caring relationships. “Positive mental health isn’t a single feeling, but a combination of how we feel, how we function and how we connect with others,” lead author Matthew Iasiello, Ph.D., said in a statement.

The researchers suggest this definition:

“Positive mental health is a personal and subjective experience, where we are content with our lives, feel good, function well, and view ourselves favorably.

Our level of positive mental health can vary over time, and is influenced by the way we adapt to the problems and opportunities we face. It’s impacted by many factors such as our environment, life experiences, cultural background, biology, and behaviors.

Many people have some level of positive mental, and we can improve it by taking action using a variety of means, even when we experience a mental health condition.”

While positive mental health is related to mental illness, it is distinct from it. A person can live with a mental health condition and still experience many aspects of positive mental health and well-being, such as meaning, connection, self-acceptance, or other elements. Similarly, the absence of a diagnosable mental health condition is not the same as mental well-being.

The authors note several limitations and areas for further consideration. For example, factors that drive mental well-being, such as housing or physical health, and the outcomes of positive mental health can be intertwined in multiple ways. Experts also raised the issues of cultural and contextual variability and encouraged the inclusion of “non-Western, indigenous, and linguistically diverse perspectives to address the Western bias in existing models.”

This categorization “marks an important step toward standardizing positive mental health research by providing a shared language for researchers, clinicians, and policymakers,” the authors note. It provides a foundation and more consistent starting point for building stronger evidence and more targeted approaches to improving mental well-being.