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Mental health and emotional stability are very important factors in everyday life. In order to improve emotional mental health, one needs to understand the present status of one's mental health in the context of developing resilience and fortitude in dealing with the dynamic environment. Our emotional mental health has a direct bearing on our personal and professional productivity.
Keywords: Optimism, Mental health, screening tool.
Optimism, an important aspect of mental health index is the power, the central force within an individual which propels him towards higher accomplishments. The word optimism is derived from the Latin word, "optimus" which means "best". Optimism has been defined by Martin Seligman (1991) as being proactive in reacting to the problems with positive attitude and confidence and effectively working towards the same. Thus, optimism is the innate belief system of an individual and it suggests that an optimist would always looks for the best and is positive that good things will certainly happen. Optimism is also a major dimension of emotional intelligence which may lead to enhanced Quality of life and mental health of an individual.
Optimism is an indicator of a positive thinking process and about consequences when in the midst of dealing with stress and adversities (Schier & Carver, 1985). Higher levels of optimism have been linked to higher levels of well-being (Karademas, 2007), higher levels of knowledge, risks associated with heart attacks (Schweizer and Koch 2001) and higher levels of exercise and lower levels of body fat and coronary risk ( Shnek, et.al 2001).
To measure optimism an assessment tool with sturdy psychometric properties "Optimism Index Oi 1.1" has been developed by Padmakali Banerjee. The Oi identifies an individual's core strengths...