Executive Functions and mental health

Abstract

This research seeks to clarify the role that executive functions play in the treatment and prevention of psychiatric disorders. Mental health is a cornerstone for the development of societies, and it is affected to the problem of availability of an effective, lasting, and no-side effects treatment that help in mental disorder recovering which has been known to rise in terms of their forms and the number of sufferers around the world, especially in low to middle-income societies. This study, with an analytical descriptive approach, aims at shedding light on a recent trend in the treatment and prevention of mental disorders, especially in their early stages. The originality of this study lies in touching on functions that are rarely tackled in our societies, as a kind of prevention and treatment, by integrating them within the children’s school track, and developing training programs on them that take into account the local culture, intending to achieve a balanced psychological immunity in societies. This study has concluded the importance of the role of executive functions in the treatment of several mental disorders, in addition to the preventive role played by these abilities in limiting the emergence of some diseases despite the availability of genetic factors behind their emergence. Keywords: Executive Functions, Mental Health, Psychiatric Disorders, Cognitive Neuropsychology, Training programs