Mental illness can have constitutional or moral causes, though constitutional causes are comparably rare in relation to moral causes, so most of us are responsi

Mental illness can have constitutional or moral causes, though constitutional causes are comparably rare in relation to moral causes, so most of us are responsible for our "mental health" as we are moral agents. By "moral causes", I mean the way we choose to live, what we choose to believe, what we reinforce through habit and so one--in short, things we can control insofar as we can control our own responses to circumstances. Classically, the path of virtue was the path to happiness because virtue is about the human good as proscribed by human nature, and while we are not guaranteed happiness in this life, we can certainly live in a manner that is worthy of a moral agent. We often either lack knowledge of what is virtuous, or we refuse to live in a virtuous way because it is uncomfortable or demanding or at odds with the sensibilities of those around us, regardless of the milieu. So we choose moral mediocrity (which can manifest as either laxity or rigorism). This is our fault. We have a duty to be virtuous, to strive for virtue. We cannot do it alone, but it is essential that this is what we choose to do. We will fail and fall along the way, but that is because we are a work in progress. Do not be discouraged. Do not fret about the vacuous commentary of others. That is just noise and distraction. Learn to suffer because without the ability to suffer, you can forget about mental health. Having written that, I recommend learning more about what the classic texts write about virtue (a good place to start are the four cardinal virtues[0]; there are others, but Rome was not built in a day). Have a look at this list[0] of virtues and vices and create a self-assessment. The first four pages concern the four cardinal virtues and various particular species, though I think it is best to read these in light of the book linked earlier as it helps get to the essential character of each virtue. [0] https://archive.org/details/fourcardinalvirt012953mbp https://archive.org/details/fourcardinalvirt012953mbp [1] http://www.sensustraditionis.org/Virtues.pdf http://www.sensustraditionis.org/Virtues.pdf