The mental environment refers to the sum of all societal influences upon

mental health Mental health encompasses emotional, psychological, and social well-being, influencing cognition, perception, and behavior. It likewise determines how an individual handles stress, interpersonal relationships, and decision-making. Mental health ...

. The term is often used in a context critical of the mental environment in industrialized societies. It is argued that just as industrial societies produce physical

toxins A toxin is a naturally occurring organic poison produced by metabolic activities of living cells or organisms. Toxins occur especially as a protein or conjugated protein. The term toxin was first used by organic chemist Ludwig Brieger (1849–1 ...

and

pollutants A pollutant or novel entity is a substance or energy introduced into the environment that has undesired effects, or adversely affects the usefulness of a resource. These can be both naturally forming (i.e. minerals or extracted compounds like oi ...

which harm humans physical health, they also produce psychological toxins (e.g. television, excessive noise, violent marketing tactics,

Internet addiction Problematic internet use or pathological internet use is generally defined as problematic, compulsive use of the internet, that results in significant impairment in an individual's function in various life domains over a prolonged period of time. ...

social media Social media are interactive media technologies that facilitate the creation and sharing of information, ideas, interests, and other forms of expression through virtual communities and networks. While challenges to the definition of ''social medi ...

) that cause psychological damage. This poor mental environment may help explain why rates of mental illness are reportedly higher in industrial societies which might also have its roots in poor educational environment and mechanical routinised life present. Magico-religious beliefs are an important contribution of such communal settings. Delusions such as these rooted from childhood are often hard to completely regulate from a person's life. The idea has its roots in

evolutionary psychology Evolutionary psychology is a theoretical approach in psychology that examines cognition and behavior from a modern evolutionary perspective. It seeks to identify human psychological adaptations with regards to the ancestral problems they evolv ...

, as the deleterious consequences of a poor mental environment can be explained by the mismatch between the mental environment humans evolved to exist within and the one they exist within today. "We live in both a mental and physical environment. We can influence the mental environment around us, but to a far greater extent we are influenced by the mental environment. The mental environment contains forces that affect our thinking and emotions and that can dominate our personal minds." - Marshall Vian Summers

References

{{Reflist Mental health Evolutionary psychology

See also

References