RELIGION AND GENERIC AS RECD
“If god did not exist, it would be necessary to invent him”. Voltaire
“…I may live without air and water but not without him… blast my beliefs in
God and I am dead.” Gandhi
I have chosen the topic of religion and mental health for this oration.
The definition of mental health (WHO) includes the concept of spiritual
health, but the profession has not given it much emphasis because we wish
to remain scientific and reject religion and spirituality as areas beyond
the realm of science. We need to understand that drugs may treat the body
and brain but may not be effective for discontent, negativity, etc.
Spirituality is needed for total treatment. This presentation will focus on
exploring the application of these precepts in day-to-day clinical practice.
I will start this oration by reciting a story many of you might have
read or heard. A middle-aged lady went to church every day and used to cry.
One day the priest asked her what made her so unhappy. She informed him
that her husband is extremely sick, and she is praying to God to make him
better. The priest asked her whether she believed in God. The lady replied,
“Yes”. The priest told her, that she should leave the decision about her
husband to God and should request God to do what is best for her husband.
This advice reduced the anxiety and she felt better. This story is
important for us for two reasons.
Faith- This lady had faith in God but wanted him to do what she desired.
This also meant that her faith was partial, as she could not trust God to
do the needful.
Selfishness- This lady wanted that her husband should get well as it
would make her life easier but did not consider what is better for her
husband.
Faith is always associated with doubts. I will illustrate it with
another story. One person was stuck in the mountains at night. He decided
to go down using a rope. It was freezing cold, and he started praying to
God to help him. Some- times later God told him not to worry and leave the
rope. He felt that if he let go of the rope he will fall and die, so he
kept holding the rope. The next morning people saw that the man died
holding the rope and he was just a few feet from the ground. This again
reflects the doubt /faith conflict.
Selfishness is a matter of one thinking what is good as decided by
self, without the consequences of , thinking that what lie in the future,
even with what one sought, would descend him down. The story of the Golden
axe desired out of selfishness, later forfeited even his own iron axe.
We should become more scientific and conduct experiments to
demonstrate that various religious practices are in fact beneficial for
health. The last few decades have seen remarkable progress in this area.
Vahia13-14 studied the role of yoga in psychiatric disorders. Gangadhar15
and his group are actively studying different aspects of Yoga especially
Sudarshan yoga with positive results. Patients with psychotic illness tend
to do better with add-on Yoga.16 Many other workers described the effect of
Islam on mental health.17-18.A study on belief systems in Delhi found that
God’s punishment for their past sins (39.6% rural, 20.7% urban, 5.2%
professionals) was responsible for mental illness. Many persons in all
three groups believed that daily worshipping and keeping fasts can reduce
the bad effects. 39.4% of people in rural areas, 34.4% in urban areas, and
4% of professionals believed in the bad effects of ghosts/devils/witches.
25% of the rural respondents even claimed to have come across a person
getting cured this way, but only 14% of the urban respondents did.26.1% of
Rural,31.6% of urban and 11.5% of professionals believed that these
diseases can be treated by faith healers or Tantriks. We have focused on
this research in detail as it shows a large part of our population still
believes in the role of God, bad deeds, and faith healers in mental
illnesses. A few professionals also share this belief.
Many researchers20-23 demonstrated that children with religious
backgrounds did better in avoiding drug abuse, delinquency, and other
psychiatric problems. Neeleman and King 24 surveyed the psychiatric
practices of 231 psychiatrists in London. 73% had no religious affiliation,
28% had a belief in God, 61% believed that religion can protect against
mental illness, and 48% asked patients about their religious practices.
Baetz et al. 25 surveyed 1204 psychiatrists and 157 psychiatric patients in
Canada. 54% of psychiatrists believed in God, 47% asked patients regarding
their religious beliefs, and 55% consulted clergy for the management of
patients. Among the patients, 71% believed in God, and 24% preferred
psychiatrists who were religious. In an Australian survey, a large majority
of patients with psychiatric illnesses wanted their therapists to be aware
of their spiritual beliefs and needs and believed that their spiritual
practices helped them to cope better.26 In a 12-year follow-up of all
articles appearing in the American Journal of Psychiatry and Archives of
General Psychiatry, 72% of the religious commitment variables were
beneficial to mental health; participation in religious services, social
support, prayer, and relationship with God was beneficial in 92% of
citations.27 Similar findings were reported in a review of the Journal of
Family Practice. 28 This review is cited from Verghese.
Sat sangatve…..Bhaja Govindam Verse – 9
सत्संगत्वे निस्संगत्वं, निस्संगत्वे निर्मोहत्वं।
निर्मोहत्वे निश्चलतत्त्वं, निश्चलतत्त्वे जीवन्मुक्तिः ॥९॥
Satsangatve nissangatvam nissangatve nirmohatvam,
nirmohatve niscalatattvam niscalatattve jivanmuktiH.- 9
Through the company of the wise or the good, there arises non-attachment;
from non-attachment comes freedom from delusion; where there is freedom
from delusion, there is abidance in self-knowledge, which leads to freedom
while alive.
We seem to be swept away by the current of life and in the process, lose
our focus on the true goal. The ninth verse tells us how to maintain that
focus. Satsangatve nissangatvam – The sanga or company of the wise, or of
good people is called satsanga. The importance of satsanga is talked about
thrice in Bhaja Govindam because the company we keep is extremely
important. The mind requires a suitable atmosphere to grow, in much the
same way as a little plant does. As a sprout, it is very delicate and
requires a lot of care and nurturing. Our mind is also like this sprout. It
has to be taught and trained to follow certain values and priorities so
that we get a proper perception of life. Satsanga, or the company of those
who are good and have wisdom and insight exerts a positive influence upon
us. We need an inspiring atmosphere in order to maintain our enthusiasm in
a conducive and positive manner. The mind is very delicate and is like a
fine instrument that must be treated with care. Therefore, be careful about
what you are exposed to. We should keep ourselves away from undesirable
influences.
A stalwart of Indian Psychiatry and my esteemed teacher Prof.
N.C. Surya31 offered a simple three- point definition of mental health
based on the Indian cultural tradition: “Each culture provides positive and
negative cues and modes of reaction leading to an integrative and creative
behaviour in the culture. It also provides how positively and negatively to
meet threatening changes. But, in all cultures most of the people can only
represent the negative or lower levels of behaviour – so to say, a vast
majority become reflex victims of their own culture. Only a minority are
the reflective, conscious representatives of the best in their culture, so
to say the leadership. The codes are provided by religion, philosophy, and
such other structures. Moreover, some cultures are statistically
oriented.”. ……. The Indian culture pays attention to the ideal norm of its
culture and striving toward that ideal is considered, by even the average
person, as an important component of sound mental health. The signs of good
mental health; (is) the degree to which you have an inner sense of comfort
in as many situations as possible is the measure of your mental health;
(ii) the faces of your intimate associ- ates are an index of your level of
mental health. The more unhappy and tense they look, or the happier and
more relaxed they look in your presence is the minus and plus of your store
of mental health; (iii) your account may be very poor in the above two, but
the degree and duration of your aspiration and effort to change for the
better is the most posi- tive index of the state of your mental health.”
The multi-layered concept of mental health is the only practical solution
in our culture. This is an especially important paradigm and should be the
cornerstone of our efforts in developing positive mental health.
KR Various thoughts included din the article where religion and faith
with or without selfishness, attained the broad spectrum of quality
finally, expanding by itself, in touching the final principles Hinduism
evolved. Whether atheist or theist, whether stone decorator or the idol
worshipper, the belief transforms the clay to a godman. KR IRS 13 9 23
--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups
"Thatha_Patty" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email
to [email protected].
To view this discussion on the web visit
https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/thatha_patty/CAL5XZorSkp%2Btt3HeLt7yvE-hOLgnmjVC_NQmft9oscEOcPVgzA%40mail.gmail.com.
