How Does Spirituality Enable People To Deal With Life Struggles
Mental health problems can arise in a number of ways. Sometimes, the reason is genetic and at other times, its environmental. In both these situations, the end result is that the individual feels burdened. They feel as if they cant cope with their daily lives.
While mental health problems should always be taken to a therapist or a psychiatrist, spiritual paths enable people to lead better every day lives. When it comes to therapy, the mental health expert will help you recover from your issues and help you find coping mechanisms that suit you. The spiritual path adds to that progress through a lifestyle that will help you grow into your highest potential.
Spirituality and mental healthrecovery work together to help the person find meaning and purpose in their life.
Mediation Effect Of Spirituality Between Fear And Mental Health
Table 7 presents the results of hypothesis testing for the indirect path. The findings in Table 7 concluded a significant indirect effect of spirituality on the relationship between fear and mental health . The results confirmed that spirituality is a mediator that completely mediate the effects of fear on mental health, and thus it supports H4.
Table 7. Mediation effect result.
Coronavirus disease pandemic is impactful on peoples life due to several reasons such as lockdowns and associated isolation , fear of worthlessness, and fear of infection . Two of the critical antecedents of such mental health problems might include fear of COVID-19 and spirituality. Thus, this study aimed to investigate whether fear of COVID-19 is related to spirituality, spirituality is related to mental health, fear of COIVD-10 is related to mental health, and whether spirituality mediates the relationship between fear of COVID-19 and mental health. In this regard, this study reports three main results: fear of COVID-19 significantly impacts on spirituality, spirituality significantly impacts on mental health, and c) spirituality mediates the relationship between fear of COVID-19 and mental health.
Relationship Between Fear and Spirituality
Significant Relationship Between Spirituality and Mental Health
Relationship Between Fear and Mental Health
Limitation
Improvement
Alex: Crazy In The Usa Healer In Africa
To test his belief that the shamanic view of mental illness holds true in the Western world as well as in Indigenous cultures, Dr. Somé took a mental patient back to Africa with him, to his village. He says:
I was prompted by my own curiosity to find out whether theres truth in the universality that mental illness could be connected with an alignment with a being from another world.
Alex was an 18-year-old American who had suffered a psychotic break when he was 14. He had hallucinations, was suicidal, and went through cycles of dangerously severe depression. He was in a mental hospital and had been given a lot of drugs, but nothing was helping. The parents had done everythingunsuccessfully, says Dr. Somé. They didnt know what else to do.
With their permission, Dr. Somé took their son to Africa. After eight months there, Alex had become quite normal, Dr. Somé reports. He was even able to participate with healers in the business of healing sitting with them all day long and helping them, assisting them in what they were doing with their clients He spent about four years in my village. Alex stayed by choice, not because he needed more healing. He felt, much safer in the village than in America.
The last that Dr. Somé heard was that Alex was in graduate school in psychology at Harvard. No one had thought he would ever be able to complete undergraduate studies, much less get an advanced degree.
Dr. Malidoma Patrice Somé.
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Have You Been Ignoring Your Spirit
The truth is, some people are repelled by treatment programs that emphasize spiritual wellness. They may have had negative experiences with religion in the past. Yet, addressing spiritual wellness works as a therapeutic endeavor for many people. People who are spiritually inclined may benefit from a program that takes an open-ended approach to spiritual health. Programs that do not attempt to instruct a person about how or what to believe can be beneficial because each person can supply their beliefs while learning about how to connect with them better.
The benefits of spirituality in mental health are personal. In a group therapy session, one persons way of viewing spiritual wellness is going to be different from anothers. Therapists note that when people feel more in tune with their spirit, they feel more confident and more empowered. These feelings have a decided benefit for mental health recovery. In this sense, spiritual awakening can have a positive impact on mental illness.
When working with a therapist, a person may be encouraged to participate in practices or activities that foster spiritual health. Aside from meditation and yoga, a person might be encouraged to learn other techniques that support mindfulness. Some people listen to podcasts about spiritual health or meet with support groups that feature a spiritual focus.
Why Mental Illness Is Not Spiritual Weakness
As for why mental illness is not spiritual weakness, this isnt a spiritual shortcomingits a biological issue, Dr. Nelson said. There is no spiritual weakness. God meets us in our weakness and does not judge us by our works or moods We have the minds that God gave us, just like bodies. And, just as some peoples minds have been stigmatized in religious communities, so have some peoples bodies, Dr. Nelson said. As a case in point, he referred to the Old Testament belief that menstruating women were unclean and therefore must be cast out of the community during menstruation.
The belief that mental illness is spiritual weakness is false for another reason, too, according to Dr. Nelson. It is based on the fallacy that there is a divide between mental and physical health. The church like the rest of society has often maintained this false separation. Dr. Nelson explained that only until quite recently did we understand that physical and mental health are intimately connected and need to be understood and treated as integrated parts.
Because we havent understood mental illness in its full expression, physical and mental health were separated, Dr. Nelson said. We can do the same with spiritual health and see there being something wrong with a mental illness, as in the person who has it must have done something wrong.
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Relationship Among Fear Spirituality And Mental Health
According to behavioral explanations, spirituality and health are much related because of people behaviors, motivation, belief, attitudes, and thoughts. Physical and mental health are related to psychosocial variables, such as stress, lifestyle behaviors, and health-related cognitions. This helps us to understand how the practice of faith and spiritual path may import impact on psychological health. Individual prayers or worship may produce solution for emotions such gratitude, humility, forgiveness, and some of them be fear of doing bad things. As conclusion, the connections among mental health, spirituality, and fear are described .
Major Discrepancies Between The Clients And Professionals
Giver and taker of intrinsic and extrinsic needs
At the communal level, clients and professionals understood the components of spirituality in a similar way, but perceived the roles they played in illness recovery in different ways. Clients tended to regard the connections to others and religion as sources of fulfilment of their intrinsic needs for love, care, and acceptance. Some of them even viewed themselves as providers who could use their experiences to help others. Professionals, on the other hand, regarded these connections as more functional, such that clients could obtain social support from others, which in turn could help stabilise their mind and symptoms. However, when the connections were perceived as apparitional experiences, it could be a hindrance to early treatment and medication adherence. Professionals also regarded clients as recipients and beneficiaries. These discrepancies may be due to the role and training that professionals have in psychiatric settings. Professionals tended to regard clients different resources as a means to help fix the clients malfunctions, rather than the clients desires for the most fundamental and essential human needs. Clients, not the mental-health providers, should be the recipients of help and care.
Characteristics of schizophrenia
Cultural influences
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How Can People Invest More Time In Their Spirituality And Mental Health
Treatment centers that offer a more holistic treatment program often feature programs and therapies that address spirituality. For instance, restorative yoga is an activity that both believers and non-believers can benefit from. The primary focus is mindfulness. Some participants may use the reflection time to become more attuned to their spiritual lives. Someone else may use the time to quiet their mind in order to focus on the present. Theres a benefit either way.
Therapists help individuals find ways to focus more on their spiritual and mental health. They recommend exercise. They recommend taking a break from technology. They recommend a wide range of activities that encourage calmness and positivity. Stress is a major trigger for mental health symptoms, so its important to set aside time to escape from stress. These periods of escape can be incredibly healing. Once a person returns to their life, they may feel more in command of their feelings, stronger, and more capable of coping in healthy ways.
Mental Health As It Relates To Spiritual Health
There have been few studies that specifically address the relationship between religion and depression or a specific mental health disorder. Yet, more than half of psychiatrists today are open to discussing matters of spirituality with patients. Its clear that religion has had both negative and positive effects for patients with mental health conditions. Many psychiatrists have been quick to point out that religion has played a destructive role for some people. They also note that spiritual beliefs and practices provide a meaningful way to cope with some mental health symptoms.
The best treatment centers, of course, tailor treatments to meet the needs of each individual. So, a person who is not religious may find a religious focus to be intrusive and ineffectual. Many of these centers, however, define spirituality quite loosely theyre purposely vague because they are aware that some people will have fairly rigid beliefs in an organized religion while others may view their spiritual life in the context of the natural world or through the lens of their own individualized beliefs. If these beliefs, formally organized or not, have a positive impact on a persons ability to cope, they can offer real benefits for recovery.
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What Kind Of Research Was This
This was a cross-sectional study aiming to examine the association between a spiritual or religious understanding of life and symptoms or diagnoses of mental health problems and substance abuse. Cross-sectional studies are useful, but their main limitation is that they cannot prove cause and effect, only that two things are in some way related. This study was not designed to be able to tell us whether spirituality actually causes differences in mental health, only whether they are related.
Are My Health Professionals Aware Of Spirituality And Religion
Your recovery should be based around things that are important to you and things you believe in. This is called a meaning centred approach.
Talking about your personal beliefs and values with professionals can help them to understand you better. This can have an impact on your treatment plan.
Some organisations, such as The Janki Foundation, focus on helping professionals to understand the importance of spirituality in healthcare.
The Royal College of Psychiatrists have a spirituality special interest group for psychiatrists. The forum is there to help psychiatrists to explore spiritual challenges that can come with mental illness. The forum also helps psychiatrists to learn how to best respond to patients spiritual concerns.
You can find more information about The Janki Foundation and the Royal College of Psychiatrists specialist groups in the Useful contacts section at the bottom of this page.
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A Sacred Ritual Approach To Mental Illness
One of the gifts a shaman can bring to the Western world is to help people rediscover ritual, which is so sadly lacking. The abandonment of ritual can be devastating. From the spiritual view, ritual is inevitable and necessary if one is to live, Dr. Somé writes in Ritual: Power, Healing, and Community.
To say that ritual is needed in the industrialized world is an understatement. We have seen in my own people that it is probably impossible to live a sane life without it.
Dr. Somé did not feel that the rituals from his traditional village could simply be transferred to the west, so over his years of shamanic work here, he has designed rituals that meet the very different needs of this culture. Although the rituals change according to the individual or the group involved, he finds that there is a need for certain rituals in general.
One of these involves helping people discover that their distress is coming from the fact that they are called by beings from the other world to cooperate with them in doing healing work. Ritual allows them to move out of the distress and accept that calling.
If these are approached as things that are blocking the human imagination, the persons life purpose, and even the persons view of life as something that can improve, then it makes sense to begin thinking in terms of how to turn that blockage into a roadway that can lead to something more creative and more fulfilling.
How Can I Plan In Case I Lose Mental Capacity
You may not have the ability to make decisions or explain your choices to healthcare professionals. This is known as losing mental capacity. You may lose mental capacity if you are unwell. This could be short term or long term. Not everyone who is unwell will lose their mental capacity.
When you have mental capacity, you can make an advanced statement to say how you would like to be treated if you lose capacity. An advance statement is a general preference about your treatment and care.
You can explain what your values, beliefs and views are as part of your advanced statement. This information will be useful if people have to make best interest decisions for you in the future. Such as decisions about your daily care. People will only make decisions for you if you lack mental capacity to make them for yourself.
An advanced statement isnt legally binding, but healthcare professionals should still make a practical effort to follow your wishes.
For more information see our webpages on the following:
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Mental Health And Spirituality
Mental health and spirituality are interconnected. Research cited by the National Alliance on Mental Illness associates many benefits with an active spiritual and religious life. They include things like:
- a community that offers a sense of belonging, social support, and connection
- rituals that help people cope with difficult experiences and give a sense of routine, structure, and stability
- teachings that encourage healthy practices like forgiveness and gratitude
- mindfulness that can inspire meaning and self-expression
- self-awareness and a sense of connection with oneself and ones surroundings
Exploring Spirituality In Mental Health: Social Worker And Psychiatrist Viewpoints
Abstract
This paper discusses the viewpoints of four psychiatrists and four social workers practicing in mental health. These participants were individually interviewed for the purposes of understanding how spirituality was being incorporated into helping/health practice with people who have serious mental illnesses. Overall, the qualitative analysis demonstrated that the participants perspectives were consistent with the literature in social work and spirituality. For example, participants advocated for a diverse conceptualization of spirituality and believed that an incorporation of spirituality into helping/health practices led to more effective processes. One finding that may be specific to mental health practice was the usefulness of understanding a clients spiritual beliefs and practices in order to better understand their mental illness. Given many mental health consumers/survivors desire for a greater integration of their spirituality in their recovery process, practitioners and researchers are encouraged to consider how the incorporation of spirituality into mental health practices may be fostered.
Introduction
Current Literature and Research in Mental Health and Spirituality
The Research Process
Spirituality in Mental Health Practices
Conceptualizations of spirituality:
Rationales and methods for incorporating spirituality into mental health practices:
Challenges regarding the incorporation of spirituality:
Discussion and Conclusion
References
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Shakespeare On Disease And Divinity
We can also look further back to great literature to see that a spiritual solution was seen as the cure for what today are mostly seen as mental health problems.
In Shakespeares tragedy Macbeth, Lady Macbeth is agitated, anxious, unable to eat, rest or sleep. She is irritable, restless and discontent.
Macbeth sends for a doctor to cure his wife. When the doctor arrives he swiftly recognizes the source of Lady Macbeths problem.
He says: This disease is beyond my practice More needs she the divine than the physician.
So the debate about mental health illness and spiritual sickness is ongoing. Although there are many people who are today regarded as having important knowledge such as Carl Jung, Gabor Maté and Wayne Dyer among many others who talk about a spiritual solution at least being a part of the answer to many of todays mental health problems.
Therapy will always be of great help to anyone who is struggling or suffering in any way. Our expert Tikvah Lake team use proven successful treatments that can treat anyone with all types of mental health illnesses and emotional disturbances.
We can include an introduction to the Twelve Steps. We make sure that everyone has one-on-one therapy every day, which we have found to be the most effective way to help someone.
From virtually everywhere in our luxurious mansion you can see our beautiful tranquil lake. We are in the ideal natural setting for recovery.
Contact us today to see how we can help you or someone you love.
