2

There was a proposal for a Mental Fitness Stack Exchange. The site made it to private beta, but was closed after 6 days due to lack of activity.

Should questions concerning mental health be on-topic in Health Stack Exchange?

I realize there have already been example questions posted (1, 2, 3, 4) but I thought we should discuss it explicitly.

Proposal: Health

2 Answers 2

Reset to default
4

I think mental health questions should be on-topic.

Certainly the description (Q&A site for physicians, doctors, medical specialists, dietitians and anyone with health-related questions) would seem to include them. And I can't think of any good reasons to bar people with mental health questions from this site.

It would also help make the site stronger by increasing the size of the community.

Another point is that questions could be related to both "physical" and mental health. For example,

  • @foregon's question: What are the health benefits of spending time at the beach (on the sand, in the ocean, in the sun)?
  • @Wossname's question: Do different macronutrients (protein, carbohydrate, fat) have different effects on hunger?

I believe that there haven't been many mental health questions since there was a separate proposal for that when this proposal started.

3

Since mental health can and does translate to physical health, (and countless studies in the professional literature demonstrate this), I do believe they are, and should be, on-topic.

Mental health is different from psychology in that it is 'psychological well-being'. Compare that to psychology itself which is the 'study of mental functions and behaviors'.

So yes I think it is very on topic, so long as it has a clear focus on mental health and well-being - not merely behavioural analysis or principles.

Good to ask this!

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .