Spirituality and Mental Health

Finding Meaning

Giving and Receiving Love

Encountering Hope

“Spirituality is the search for meaning through the inner journey which is mediated through relationships;

- sometimes with each other,

- sometimes with nature and

- sometimes with God.”

Harriet Mowat – harriet.mowat@mowatresearch.co.uk

“It is the spirit of human beings which enables and motivates us to search for meaning and purpose in life, to seek the supernatural, or some meaning which transcends us…”

CW Ellison, as quoted in Swinton

“ …it’s a quality which goes beyond religious affiliation, that strives for inspiration, reverence and awe, even in those who do not believe in any god.

‘Nursing Concepts for Health Promotion,’ Murray & Zentner

“ What’s important is to appreciate that our spirituality,- our search for meaning, hope, purpose in life, and our means of transcendence can’t be treated apart from the whole- because its an integrative force which vitalises and permeates every dimension of the human person. CW Ellison, as quoted in

Swinton,

Spirituality from participants perspective

“Spirituality is about having a connection to something greater than yourself and trusting in my life that things will work out.”

Annie“My understanding of spirituality is that it is who we are. It is our essence that is what it is. It has nothing to do with what we look like. It is our essence. It is who we are.” Betty

  “Something that you believe in, faith gives you strength and it is all positive. And for me also angel, I believe in angels.”

Carly   “My spirituality is important to me; it is a way of life. I receive strength from my spirituality and it enables me to live each day.”

Effie

Whereas Debbie, was not really sure what spirituality was nor did she believe that she had a spirituality, stating that she took part in the study because  “…. nothing else had helped and maybe this could help me deal with my obsessions.”

Debbie

Perhaps Debbie’s search for what might help her cope with the difficulties and “obsessions” was her spiritual journey at this stage in her life.

That very night in Max’s room a forest grew and grew– and grew until his ceiling hung with vines and the walls became the world all around

And an ocean tumbled by with a private boat for Max and he sailed off through night and day and in and out of weeks and almost over a year to where the wild things are.

... And made him king of all the wild things. ‘And now,’ cried Max, ‘let the wild rumpus start!’

The wild things roared their terrible roar and gnashed their terrible teeth and rolled their terrible eyes and showed their terrible claws but Max stepped into his private boat and waved good-bye

We can view Mental illness as:

Clinical Experience -

Social Experience -

Lived Experience -

Spiritual Experience -

Schizophrenia is a brain disease,… It exhibits symptoms of a brain disease, symptoms which include impairment in thinking, delusions, hallucinations, changes in emotions, and changes in behaviour. And, like cancer, probably has more than one cause. E. Fuller Torrey Surviving

Schizophrenia.• How we view the person

• How the person may view the self

• Treatment and care

As a Clinical Experience

A Personal Response:

“I cannot think of anything more destructive of one’s sense of worth as a human being than to believe that the inner core of one’s being is sick – that one’s thoughts, values, feelings, and beliefs are merely the meaningless symptoms of a sick mind…What the concept of mental illness offered me was scientific proof that I was utterly worthless, and would always be worthless. It was just the nature of my genes, chemistry and brain processes – something I could do nothing about.”

John Modrow – How to become Schizophrenic

A social experience:

“Mental health problems are social experiences - open to various forms of interpretation, abuse and manipulation.”

J.Swinton-Cultural Issues

-Gender issues

- Impacting on the person, family members and friends

Mental illness is a profound crisis of personal meaning.

This crisis of personal meaning entails;

-a loss for the person of their sense of place and belonging in world, their connectedness with others

.

- Old purposes and meanings no longer exist.

It raises questions of -identity, self-worth, values, belonging, trust, purpose and direction in life.

“You know, if I wasn’t made in God’s image and likeness I don’t know what I would be like.”

“So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them” RSV Genesis 1 :27

“We are not human beings on a spiritual journey.

We are spiritual beings on a human journey.”

Pierre Teilhard de Chardin

Spirituality has to do with

- the ultimate questions of life,

- the meaning of personhood

- and the search for identity and

personal integrity

Spirituality - concern for the wholeness of life in which

• the person longs for meaning and purpose

• to give and receive love

&

• to experience hope

Who am I? Why am I in this world?

What is going to happen to me & my friends? How can I save the situation?How can I atone for my mistakes and sins?

Boisen,A. The Exploration of the Inner World

“Some forms of Mental Illness are

the persons attempt to resolve a

problem of the soul.” Boisen,A. The Exploration of the Inner World.

“““Just as symptoms like fever & cough are not diseases but rather the body’s attempt to fight an infection, so too psychiatric symptoms like anxiety & depression are not themselves diseases but rather the soul’s attempt to resolve an inner conflict- by forcing us to pay attention to the unconscious…” Frattorelli, E. Healing the Soul in the Age of the Brain

What gives this person’s life meaning?

What is it that sustains them amid this crisis?

A Spiritual Response:

Art work by Noel Factor

To enter the lived felt situation