In his Introduction to Thich Nhat Hanh’s book The Energy of Prayer, Dr. Larry Dossey says that prayer is once again returning to hospitals and clinics. He tells us that there is an increase in the number of medical schools in the United States offering courses that address spirituality and its correlation to health. Medical students are being trained to take spiritual histories from patients. This shift is important, because numerous studies reveal that people who practice a religious or spiritual path, regardless of the one they choose, live longer and have a lower incidence of major diseases than those who do not. This is encouraging because the medical industry has for years discredited spiritual practices and firmly asserted that they have no place in what is considered a wholly scientific field.
Spiritual Awareness and Mental Health
Practitioners from mainstream medicine and the sacred traditions would agree that there is a direct relation between the progression and outcome of the symptoms of mental illness and the care that is received.
However, while mainstream psychiatry is quick to apply the label mental illness, adherents of the sacred traditions would in many cases consider the patient’s illness to be a direct result of the mind and/or soul’s inability to process an overwhelming inundation of archetypal information that does not fit into the individual’s already existing framework of thinking, as they do not harmonize with their culture’s construct of truth.
The spiritually inclined might attribute the cause of illness to spiritual disorientation and therefore lean on spiritual practices for comfort and healing. Allopathic medicine, on the other hand, attributes most mental illnesses to a biochemical imbalance; it is, for the most part, resistant and often opposed to spiritually based treatments and inclined to reach for medications when treating symptoms.
Because of this myopic perspective, allopathic medicine is ill-equipped to guide the patient from ordinary exterior awareness into the deeper realms of interior awareness where mental illness is, from a spiritual perspective, believed to originate. In the process of adhering to a narrow viewpoint, it inadvertently abandons patients in a dark, unstable, and disorienting reality that can deteriorate into an endless list of physical ailments.
Allopathic medicine often denies the existence of a connection between the body and mind, but the study Constituting the Outlines of a Philosophy of Ayurveda: Mainly on Mental Health Import demonstrates the interdependent and inseparable relationship between the body and the mind. The study claims that physical ailments are a direct result of an imbalance in the "function of life sustaining factors," and that mental disorders are in turn the product of errors in judgment represented by grief, fear, anger, vanity, hatred, and other volitional transgressions that are considered psychiatric disorders according to Ayurveda philosophy.
Conventional medicine’s primary response to these behaviors is brain altering psychopharmaceuticals which only mask symptoms. And yet, in their book Pseudoscience in Biological Psychiatry: Blaming the Body, Colin Ross and Alvin Pam claim, “Despite vigorous laboratory investigation, no psychiatric disorder has thus far been 'cured' by medication."
Studies show that spiritually based therapy – regardless of the religion or sacred tradition that is practiced – assists the healing process and allows it to unfold naturally. The results are often successful and permanent and benefit not only the mind but the body as well. The literature reveals that when mental illness is approached from a spiritual perspective, recovery without the use of medications is not only encouraged, it is possible.
It is important to note that the practices taught in sacred traditions have been used successfully for thousands of years, as Mantak Chia points out when talking about Taoism. The fundamental teaching in his book Healing Light of the Tao: Foundational Practices to Awaken Chi Energy is learning to conserve the energy within the body. According to Chia, interactions with the world tend to drain and weaken the system leaving the individual vulnerable to physical and mental instability and illness. The practices of this tradition are aimed at ensuring the individual retains vital energy to make it through the journey that lies ahead. This, among other foundational teachings, is at the core of all the sacred traditions.
Not one tradition teaches to expend energy endlessly and needlessly for the sake of the world without turning inward to reenergize.
In a three month study of mental illness at a temple in India, researchers observed an interesting disregard for allopathic medicine. While a clinic was nearby in the same village, Hindu patients chose to put their faith in the healing power of the local temple. The following was quoted as a “typical” response after their stay, “I feel much better now. My fears have come down, and I am able to do small jobs here. If at all I have any problems, I will come back here." Families and caregivers reported that of the people that had sought help at the temple, 70% had improved and nearly 10% had experienced a full recovery. These numbers might not seem high, but compared to the recovery rate on psychopharmaceuticals, and in a field that claims these brain-altering drugs are necessary for any improvement to take place, they are impressive.
A qualitative study Religiosity/Spirituality and Health: A Critical Review of the Evidence for Biological Pathways revealed that individuals who stand in relation to whatever they consider divine, experience lower blood pressure, better lipid profiles, better immune function, lower stress hormone levels, and differential patterns of brain activity.
The opposite is occurring when an individual is in a disturbed state. The damaging effects of stress on the heart - a hypersensitive and signal generating organ - is cumulative and detrimental to the whole being.
In Healing with Form, Energy and Light: The Five Elements in Tibetan Shamanism, Tantra, and Dzogchen, Tenzin Wangal Rinpoche gives a simple formula for well-being. He says that anxiety can be alleviated through ritual, meditation, love, massage, exercise, or even just a hot bath. He believes that "anything that addresses this imbalance on any level will have an effect on every level."
In Ayurveda: Secrets of Healing, Maya Tiwari shares this beautiful insight, "In cleansing body, mind and heart we are signaling our intentions to replenish the natural energies that are connected to the universe. In turn, the cosmos sends its healing agents to our aid. The expression of our intentions is one of the most powerful ways that the human can interphase [sic] with the universe. When our intent is clear, and it is of a positive nature, it serves to help us heal and grow."
Cause to Celebrate
Whether the perplexities of mental illness are the creative fabrications of a healthy brain, a genetic mishap, or a chemical or emotional imbalance, it is important to acknowledge that reframing mental illness in a spiritual context removes the stigma of mental illness, provides hope and a sense that the individual can do something to help themselves and stabilize without medication. More importantly, it addresses the truth of the situation which is that the problem often has its roots in the spiritual.
Fortunately, mental illness and spirituality are increasingly being considered compatible in modern therapeutic settings. I believe that spiritual and religious practices and rituals can assist in the prevention of mental illness, improve outcomes in established cases, and help an individual cope with associated symptoms. I am pleased that the mental health field is beginning to accept that ancient rituals and practices such as meditation and prayer have their place in a clinical setting and that it is now exploring and successfully applying them when patients ask for them to be a part of their treatment.
References
Balodhi, J. (1987). Constituting the outlines of a philosophy of Ayurveda: Mainly on mental health import. Indian Journal of Psychiatry, 29(2), 127-131.
Brownlee, S. (2007). Overtreated: Why Too Much Medicine Is Making Us Sicker and Poorer. New York, NY: Bloomsbury.
Chia, M. (1993). Healing Light of the Tao: Foundational Practices to Awaken Chi Energy. Rochester, VT: Destiny Books.
Glasser, W. (2004). Warning: Psychiatry Can Be Hazardous To Your Mental Health. New York, NY: HarperCollins Publishers.
Grof, S. & Grof, C. (1989). Spiritual Emergency: When Personal Transformation Becomes A Crisis. New York, NY: Jeremy P. Tarcher/Putnam.
Kliewer, S. (2004). Allowing spirituality into the healing process. The Journal of Family Practice, 53(8), 616-624.
Nhat Hanh, Thich. (2006). The Energy of Prayer. Berkeley, CA: Parallax Press.
Perry, J. (1999). Trials of the Visionary Mind: Spiritual Emergency and the Renewal Process. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press.
Raguram, R., Venkateswaran, A., Ramakrishna, J., & Weiss, M. (2002). Traditional community resources for mental health: a report of temple healing from India. BMJ, 325, 38-40.
Ross, C. & Pam, A. (1995). Pseudoscience in Biological Psychiatry: Blaming the Body. New York, NY: John, Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Seeman, T., Dubin, L. & Seeman, M. (2003). Religiosity/spirituality and health: A critical review of the evidence for biological pathways. American Psychologist. 58, 53-63. doi: 10.1037/0003-066X.58.1.53.
Szasz, T. (1961). The Myth of Mental Illness: Foundations of a Theory of Personal Conduct. New York, NY: Dell Publishing Co., Inc.
Tiwari, M. (1995). Ayurveda: Secrets of Healing. Twin Lakes, WI: Lotus Press.
Wallace, B. & Shapiro, S. (2006). Mental balance and well-being: Building bridges between Buddhism and Western psychology. American Psychologist, 61(7), 690–701. doi: 10.1037/0003-066X.61.7.690