October is celebrated as the mental health month. A time when Health services across the world will look at the importance of mental health in overall personal growth and well-being. The relevance of the mind-body-soul connection has long been established, in fact the field of mind and behaviour dates back to the ancient civilizations of Egypt, Persia, Greece, China, and India.
Ancient Greek philosophers from Thales to Plato and Aristotle had developed an elaborate theory of what they called psuche from which the first half of the word psychology was derived.
Swami Rama in his book ‘living with the Himalayan masters’ elaborates how the theory of self was very much part of ancient Vedic understanding, where great yogic sages would mediate on basic human emotions to attain spiritual enlightenment, giving them great powers over their mind and body.
Modern psychology thus has its roots in the disciplines of philosophy and physiology and in fact psychology was a branch of philosophy until the 1870á when it developed as an independent scientific discipline. Today, psychology includes other fields such as neuroscience, artificial intelligence, sociology, anthropology and humanities, nevertheless it still pursues to help humanity improve the quality of their mental health and well-being.
Unfortunately that is not how we view the discipline of psychology today. For most people mental health is about madness, about being abnormal. Even today thousands of years later we still hesitate to visit any mental health professional.
Somewhere we have branded our mental well-being as a taboo and discriminated against ourselves. We choose to suffer great amounts of anxiety and go to even greater amounts of pain than visit a psychiatrist.
We still do not view mental health with the same parameters as physical health. When we suffer a common viral infection we will ensure that we visit a physician and ensure that we are prescribed a long list of medication but when we are faced with some form of stressor that causes us to feel low or feel unsatisfied with ourselves we choose to ignore it until probably it manifests itself as a physical ailment.
‘Knowing oneself is the beginning of all wisdom’ states Aristotle. And rightly so.
Mental health is not about sickness alone, but about optimizing one’s life. Sometime all you need is a different perspective, a change in paradigm, to get the best of you. Sometimes you need to shift your gear and learn to relax. A counsellor trained in humanistic or existential approach can help a great deal.
It’s important to know that different problems require different solutions in a way. A support group is enough to help one cope with problems such as addiction.
A psychodynamic psychotherapist can help one explore emotions, examine avoidable issues, identify recurring patterns, challenge painful past experience, focus on difficult relationships.
Each individual no matter how sane or perfect he may seem to think he is, requires a retreat, stepping back a few paces so as to ask where I am going, what am doing with my life and how do I charge myself to proceed. We all have the potential to enjoy happy life. Why then do we choose to get stuck in unhappy relationships, frustrating jobs, and a life plan that is stagnating? Mental health involves all this and more.
Mental health is not about schizophrenia, depression and phobias alone but about productive living. While combining anecdotes from clients and therapists, Dr. Belinda Viegas Muller emphasis the importance of being happy. “Everyone seeks happiness yet we elude it by doing things without realizing the most important thing of all “What are the things you did today that make you happy”.
Talk therapy works and helps people with various symptoms, not only specific expressions... for example difficult relationships, which can be extended to the dynamics of difficulties at work, social relationships and extends to every human contact one makes. This kind of therapy helps us learn about ourselves in such a deep and broad way that we can utilise our understanding in a variety of situations; and further, that with the help of therapy, we also learn how to continue to learn more about ourselves even when we are no longer seeing our therapist.
Sometimes mental health may not require an intervention but a conscious awareness of the dos and don'ts of what brings one's mental equanimity. Research suggests simple things to maintain this balance. Exercising every day, in surroundings that are peaceful like a walk on the beach, or river, is best prescribed. Engaging in a hobby that you enjoy, where you do things so that you can have fun, talking to a friend, playing with your pet and meditating are some of the best ways to deal with life stressors.
