Spirituality and mental health

Awaz e Khawteen

“Taking care of your mental health and physical health is just as important as any career move or reasonability”

Mireille Guiliamo 

There is a saying it’s OK not to be OK. There is no health without mental health. It is as important as physical health and asking for help is normal part of life. Struggling is part of life, but supporting each other through challenging times is unique to humanity. Mental health includes our emotional, psychological and social well-being. It affects how we think, feel and act. It also helps to determine how we handle stress, relate to others and make choices. 

The pandemic has taken a toll on people’s mental health. It is understandable to feel scared, anxious or helpless during this trying time. As today we are celebrating mental health Day, let’s try to understand the value of spiritualism and mental health. Today is an opportunity to talk about:

·       Mental Health

·       How to break the stigma around it

·       And the necessity to speak up when struggling with a mental health issue.

Human experience in, health and disease, always has a spiritual dimension. Spirituality is accepted as one of the defining determinants of health and it no more remains a sole preserve of religion and mysticism. In recent years, Spirituality has been an area of research in neurosciences and both in the Understanding of psychiatric morbidity and extending therapeutic interventions it seems to be very promising.

The aspect of individual patient experience in health care has taken on greater role in contemporary times. Due to an increasingly diverse patient population, medical professionals are encountering individuals who utilize other forms of healing practices in addition to allopathic models of care. This is particularly relevant in mental health care, where concepts of “healing,” “well-being,” and “wellness” come to fore.

Spirituality, whether associated with particular religions or otherwise, has been practiced since ages and claims to offer answers to the “unsolved doubts.” The recent years have witnessed a surge of interest in spirituality and the advancements in neurosciences offer an opportunity to understand it from a more scientific standpoint and put it in proper perspective. Across cultures, spirituality forms an important part of belief systems of majority of the people. It affects the mental well-being and the understanding of mental illnesses. It seems important that mental health professionals should be aware of the ways spirituality affects the mental well-being of individuals in both health and disease states.

Spirituality being an integral part of most of the religious philosophies provides the value system for the majority of people and thereby influences their well-being. Recognizing this, the spiritual well-being, in accordance with the social and cultural patterns, was accepted as one of the important determinants of health by the World Health Organization during the 37^th World Health Assembly in 1984. Spiritual teaching has already found its place in the curriculum of many medical schools in the Western world. From a mental health perspective, spirituality seems to have a far greater role as these operate on the same ground – the brain or as some would like it call it the mind or the soul. In fact, there are studies that show positive as well as the negative impact of the spiritual and religious beliefs and practices on the physical and mental well-being of people who subscribe to spiritual or religious practices.

       The aspect of individual patient experience in health care has taken on greater role in contemporary times. Due to an increasingly diverse patient population, medical professionals are encountering individuals who utilize other forms of healing practices in addition to allopathic models of care. This is particularly relevant in mental health care, where concepts of “healing,” “well-being,” and “wellness” come to fore.

There is evidence  that a consideration of the spiritual needs of patients by the mental health professionals confers benefit to the patients. Unfortunately, there are many misconceptions about religion and spirituality prevalent even among the mental health professionals. In a recent survey, it showed that 45% mental health professionals felt that religion could lead to mental-health related problems.

The evidence for this is mixed at the moment-studies show positive as well as the negative impact of the spiritual and religious beliefs and practices on the physical and mental well-being of people. Interestingly, studies have shown that the level of therapeutic satisfaction of religious individuals varies with the religiosity of the clinician; being less with the non-religious ones. An integral part of the current medical and mental health training involves inculcating a more objective attitude in the professionals that implicitly involves keeping their religious and spiritual beliefs and practices out of the clinical milieu. However, due care has to be taken that mental health professionals do not impose or prescribe their religious or spiritual beliefs to their patients.

Mental health is important at every stage of life. Spirituality teach forgiveness, gratitude and compassion, which help people cope with challenging situations. Spirituality can play a significant role in a calming a person’s mind and giving one a positive attitude. The integration of spiritual beliefs and practices into the mental health care delivery system needs efforts both at the organizational and individual level. Sensitization of the trainees in the mental health profession to spiritual issues needs to be given an impetus. The focus of the training should be on understanding of spirituality as an important part of the individual seeking help and a thorough understanding of the belief systems of the people in the practice area.

Dr. Babli Parveen,

Historian & Assistant Professor of History (DU)