Psyche & Soul 31: ENHANCING MENTAL HEALTH: 7 MORE SIMPLE PRACTICES

 Podcast link

https://anchor.fm/boscom/episodes/2-31-Psyche--Soul--69-epka22

Hello, this is Jose Parappully, Salesian priest and clinical psychologist at Sumedha Centre for Psychospiritual Wellbeing at Jeolikote, Uttarakhand, with another edition of Psyche & Soul. 

In the last podcast I presented 7 simple practices that can help us enhance our mental health and wellbeing. In this weekend’s podcast I present seven more simple but very effective practices. 

1.    Laughter

Laughter is an ever available means to enhance our mental health and wellbeing. Laughter and mental distress cannot go together. Every time we laugh, more oxygen courses to our organs, blood flow increases, and stress evaporates. In fact, just thinking about having a good laugh is enough to lower our stress levels.

When we watch some silly videos or comedy films, laughter flows effortlessly. Norman Cousins, American journalist, author and professor, healed himself of a painful and rare form of spondylitis that rendered him immobile, staying in his hospital bed and watching comedy movies and reading humorous books – also lots of vitamin C- rather than taking medication. “Hearty laughter is a good way to jog internally without going outdoors” he wrote.

2.    Time with Pets

Spending some time with pets boosts our energy level and creates good mood. When we play with them, we take our mind off our problems. And when we take care of them, we are focused on something outside ourselves. This can be very therapeutic. Even if we don’t have a pet of our own, we can occasionally spend some playful moments with those our friends or neighbours may have.

When we pet our dog or cat, for example, even for just a few minutes, our body releases feel-good brain chemicals like serotonin, prolactin, and oxytocin. At the same time, it decreases the amount of the damaging stress hormones.

3.    Time with Friends

Even if we don’t or can’t afford to have pets, we can always have good friends. Spending time with friends energises us and fills us with positivity. When we spend time with people or causes we care about, it provides us with meaning and contentment, which boosts our wellbeing.

4.    Mindfulness

Mindfulness can mean meditating or simply stopping to observe or listen to something with love and attention. We can do anything with mindfulness, being fully focused on whatever we are doing or is happening in the here-and-now, including mundane activities like dish washing and sweeping! However we do it, studies show mindfulness reduces stress, relieves pain, and improves our mood.

Meditation is a mindfulness practice that takes us, when done regularly, into the deep place from which all our intentions and activities flow and provides us with self-knowledge, which in turn provides insights about the source of our dis-ease and invitation to make shifts in our intentions, attitudes and behaviour that will enhance our wellbeing. Regular meditation can change parts of our brain related to emotions, learning, and memory.

5.    Restful Sleep

Sleep, besides providing us the needed rest, restores and rejuvenates. Good, restful sleep makes our mind and body feel better. It keeps us in a better mood, sharpens our memory and focus, and helps us learn new things better and faster.

It has a positive impact on our health.  It repairs our body tissues, boosts our immune system, builds up energy for the next day, and lowers our risk of heart disease. On the other hand, serious health conditions such as obesity, high blood pressure, diabetes, and stroke, have been associated with chronic lack of sleep.

Sleep is an inexpensive anti-inflammatory medicine. Sufficient sleep is essential to produce and maintain healthy levels of the hormone melatonin which helps to fight off infections. Recent research has suggested that melatonin may provide protection against Covid-19. Clinical trials are being carried out to confirm the hypothesis. If it does, writes Dr. James Hamblin in The Atlantic magazine, “it would be the cheapest and most readily available medicine to counter Covid-19.” And there will be no adverse side effects that vaccines may cause.

Working on the computer or watching TV before going to bed, is not a good idea. Both are stimulants. The light and noise from these devises can reduce melatonin levels. Reading a book, instead, would be a better idea.

Some people sleep too much. Others don’t get enough sleep. Health experts recommend 7 to 9 hours of sleep a night for adults.

Good regular hours of sleep help. Going to bed and getting up at the same times each day is a good practice. Getting up later on a holiday, does not help us catch up on lost sleep, though many people think otherwise. Instead it messes up our regular sleep rhythm, which is not good for wellbeing.

6.    Healthy Diet

Healthy meals enhance our physical and mental wellbeing.  It is very good to build our meals and snacks around plenty of fruits, vegetables, and whole grains. Some studies say omega-3 fatty acids and vitamin B12 may play a role with brain chemicals that affect mood and other brain functions. Low levels of these may be linked to depression. Fatty fish like salmon, tuna, sardines and mackerel have omega-3s. Seafood is a good B12 source,

Researchers say vitamin C may help people manage their stress more effectively, in part by lowering levels of stress hormones like cortisol. As an added bonus, vitamin C-rich foods such as orange juice, grapefruit juice, strawberries, can help boost our immune system.

Health and nutrition experts recommend eating a healthy breakfast, not to miss it, even if it is a light one consisting of nuts and fruits.  Studies show that adults who have a healthy breakfast do better at work, and kids who eat a morning meal score higher on tests. Interestingly, St. Bernard of Clairvaux exhorts, “Do not forget to eat your bread, or your heart will dry up”!

7.    Treatment

Laughter, a healthy diet, good sleep, and other good practices mentioned above may help us feel positive about life and enhance our mental health and wellbeing. But they won't replace need for medical treatment or psychological therapy if we are suffering from some mental illness. This is the minimum necessary care we have to take to restore and enjoy wellbeing when we have lost it. So, don’t neglect this important wellbeing requisite and resource.

Introspection and Prayer

May be we are already engaging in some of these suggested practices. If we are, what is their impact on us? Are there any other practices suggested that we could take up? Which?

In the Book of Deuteronomy (30, 19) God through Moses tells us: “Choose life!” In engaging in these simple practices we are choosing life, and enhancing it. We could spend some time in the presence of this God of life, reflecting over the state of our life, our mental health and wellbeing, and express our desires to God in simple heart to heart conversation.

….

Take care and enjoy mental health and wellbeing! Try practising some of these suggested simple measures of health and wellbeing during this weekend. Have a healthy, happy and blessed 2021!

Thank you for listening/ reading.

Pictures: Courtesy Google Images

Jose Parappully SDB, PHD

sumedhacentre@gmail.com 

 

Psyche & Soul 30: ENHANCING MENTAL HEALTH AND WELLBEING: SOME SIMPLE PRACTICES

  Podcast link:

https://anchor.fm/boscom/episodes/2-30-Psyche--Soul--67-ep8aqs

 

Hello, this is Jose Parappully, Salesian priest and clinical psychologist at Sumedha Centre for Psychospiritual Wellbeing at Jeolikote, Uttarakhand, with another edition of Psyche & Soul. 

In the last three podcasts I have presented requisites for maintaining mental health and wellbeing. In this weekend’s podcast I shall present 7 simple practices that can help us further enhance our mental health and wellbeing.

 

1.    Clearing Away the Clutter

Creating a pleasant environment in the space in which we live and work is important for mental health and wellbeing. Studies have found that when we are surrounded by clutter – meaning untidiness, the visual chaos affects our brain. Research has also shown a cluttered home environment increases the levels of the stress hormone cortisol, thus affecting both physical and mental wellbeing.

Clutter affects our mind. It gets in the way of our ability to process information and affects our cognitive functions – perception, interpretation, judgment, logical thinking etc.. It also brings on needless anxiety and stress when we can't find something that we need badly because it is buried under the clutter. I am sure all of us have had some experience of looking for things needed immediately and not able to find them, and getting stressed out. Clearing away the physical clutter around, will also clear away the clutter in the mind and give us peace of mind.

Clearing up from time to time, as clutter tends to return, also makes us be physically active, and provides exercise which also enhances our wellbeing.

2.    Exercise

So, the second wellbeing practice is exercise. Physical activity improves overall health, reduces risk of diseases, and can make us feel better and function better.

Exercise energises mind and body, reduces anxiety and increases feelings of wellbeing. It is also a great boredom buster. Even short spells of physical activity are beneficial.

Yoga, qigong, tai-chi, and simple aerobics, help stimulate and strengthen our immune system, helping us ward off disease. Acupressure - pressing, rubbing or tapping some specific pressure points in the body-- helps release tension, lessen anxiety and improve blood flow. A simple google search can help us know these acupressure points and what can be done.

Dancing is another way to exercise. It relaxes body and mind and creates a good mood. And it is fun.

3.    Walking in Nature

Walking in nature helps to keep negative thoughts away. It helps our body produce endorphins -- the neurotransmitters in our brain that make us feel good. It also helps us to focus on the present, helping us forget what's making us anxious.

Walking in warm, sunny weather can boost our mood further. And if we walk briskly for at least 30 minutes, we will meet daily exercise recommendations, and enhance the stress-releasing and benefits of walking even more.

A few minutes in the sunshine raises vitamin D levels, and that's good for our bones, our heart, our mood and our immunity.  It is good to choose grass or mud than paved surface on which to walk. One study has found that people who strolled in green spaces were calmer than people who walked in built-up areas. Walking bare foot has additional benefits. Contact with mother earth and elements of nature will refresh our bodies and spirit. Walking with others provides further benefits because the company and conversation also create good feelings.

Even if we are living in crowed city apartments, and don’t have the luxury of nature around, sitting in our room and listening to recorded nature sounds and looking at nature pictures can also help. So, it’s great idea to have some nature pictures on our walls.

4.    Doing Fun Things

There is nothing like doing something that we really enjoy to improve our mood, forget our worries and create a feeling of wellbeing. Having a hobby keeps our mind focused and at the same time relaxed.

5.    Engaging in Creative Expressions

Painting, photography, music, knitting, or writing in a journal are all ways we can explore and express our feelings and whatever is on our mind. Besides bringing relaxation and rejuvenation, these creative expressions can also help us better understand ourselves and know how we are feeling.

6.    Reading

Settling comfortably in our chair with a favourite book can be both enriching and relaxing. It can also promote mental wellbeing. Studies have linked reading to improvements in depression symptoms, as well as in mental flexibility and brain function.  Reading something interesting also helps us take our mind off useless ruminations which affect our wellbeing.

Make sure it’s something pleasurable and enjoyable that we read, not the newspapers with their disturbing content, or how-to-do manuals which can be tiresome and boring.

7.    Listening to Music, Singing Aloud

Listening to music has a calming effect on our nerves. So too singing. No matter how out of tune we may be, singing aloud can make us feel happier. No wonder many people love to sing in their bathroom! Well, we could find better and more comfortable places, including outdoors to do our singing. 

Once again, here are the 7 practices. 1 Clearing away the clutter. 2 Exercise. 3 Walking in Nature. 4 Doing fun things. 5 Engaging in creative expressions. 6 Reading and 7 Listening to music and Singing loud.

Introspection and Prayer

May be we are already engaging in some of these suggested practices. If we are, what is their impact on us? Are there any other practices suggested that we could take up? Which?

It is good to have a plan – scheduling times and places for these activities.

There is a passage in the Book of Proverbs (8, 22-31) where Sophia/Wisdom delights the creator God through her play, a constant companion in God’s creative work. In Hindu tradition, Shiva creates the universe though his dance. Try to visually contemplative either of these images and see what happens to our feelings and mood. 

We could then sit quietly for a while with our Creator God, in touch with whatever is evolved in us, and may be engaging in a friendly conversation with God.

Have a delightful and healthy weekend.

Be safe. Be blessed.

Thank you for listening/ reading.

Pictures: Google Images

Jose Parappully SDB, PHD

sumedhacentre@gmail.com 

Psyche & Soul 29: ENHANCING MENTAL HEALTH AND WELLBEING THROUGH MEANINGFUL LIVING

 podcast link:

www.anchor.fm/boscom

https://anchor.fm/boscom/episodes/2-29-Psyche--Soul--65-ep1kp6

Hello, this is Jose Parappully, Salesian priest and clinical psychologist at Sumedha Centre for Psychospiritual Wellbeing at Jeolikote, Uttarakhand, with another edition of Psyche & Soul. 

In this weekend’s podcast I shall continue exploration of mental health and wellbeing by looking at the role of meaningful living

 

An important resource for our mental wellbeing is finding life meaningful and purposeful, even in the midst of tragedy.

Recent research on health and happiness show that a sense of meaning in life is one of the major contributors to emotional and physical wellbeing. Psychologists call finding meaningfulness in life creating “Coherence.” Coherence, is founded in the deeply human desire to make sense of the world. Trauma, such as caused by Covid-19, fragments our basic assumptions about life, especially of safety, security, predictability and a benevolent universe. When this happens, meaningfulness of life can get diluted or even disappear altogether. We can gradually sink into clinical depression and sometimes think of ending our life and even attempt to do so.

Meaningfulness is essential to sustain our wellbeing. We need to recreate meaning in the midst fragmentation, disappointments and frustrations that are part of our live, especially these days.

When we find some meaning in the midst of personal tragedy it improves our mental health. Based on his extensive research on expressive writing, Psychologist James Pennebaker observes that when people write about traumatic experiences and reorganize these experiences into coherent and meaningful narratives, their psychological health and well-being increases.

Something Meaningful to Do

When we have something meaningful to do, something we enjoy doing, life becomes meaningful, satisfying, fulfilling. When we do not have it, we feel frustrated, unhappy, become sour with life.  Loss of meaning and purpose is at the root of depression and suicidality. Finding life meaningful is antidote to depressive and suicidal ideation.

Something to Look Forward

While having something to do in the present, having something to which we can look forward with hope and some certainty, such as getting a new job, or getting a promotion, finding a spouse and looking forward to a happy married life, or getting ordained a priest adds to the meaningfulness of life.

Having something to which we can look forward gives us a feeling of control over our lives and boosts our self-esteem, enhances our wellbeing. It makes it much easier for us to triumph over present difficulties and problems and maintaining our sanity and serenity.

Reaching Out to Others

Reaching out to others, making others’ lives significant, is one of the major ways that we can bring meaningfulness into our own lives. Personality psychologist Dan McAdams observes that goals that enhance the future of humanity as a whole contributes in special way to health and happiness. There is much research that says that when we engage in acts of kindness and compassion it can create positive emotions in us which in turn boost of our mental wellbeing.

Questions to Ask

Psychologists Craig Polizzi and colleagues suggest some questions that can help us create meaning and purpose: What is important to me? What makes me feel good, even when confronted with a situation I can’t fully control? What do I want other people to say about me and how I respond to painful situations? What do I want to be known for? What is it to which I look forward with eagerness? The answers to these questions often reveal to us our deeper motivations and what really matters to us. This enables us to pursue meaningful goals and activities under the darkest of circumstances and achieve a resilient outcome and maintain long-term psychological wellbeing (Clinical Neuropsychiatry, 2020 17, 2, p. 61)

Daily experiences of positive meaning come in several forms. Psychologist Barbara Frederickson cites some of these based on her many years of research. The most frequently reported forms include: feeling connected to others and cared about (22%), having an opportunity to be distracted from every day cares (21%), feeling a sense of achievement, pride, or self-esteem (17%), feeling hope or optimism (13%), and receiving affirmation or validation from others (11%).

The Religious Worldview

Many persons find meaning in the midst of suffering through their religious worldview. Belief in an afterlife sustains many to remain undisturbed in the face of impending death. Gordon Allport, the founder-father of personality psychology had observed a long time ago: “The religious sentiment…is the portion of the personality that arises at the core…and for this reason is capable of conferring marked integration upon personality.”

Contemporary personality psychologist Robert Emmons, echoes Allport: “Religion and spirituality can provide a unifying philosophy of life and serve as an integrating and stabilizing force in the face of constant environmental and cultural pressures that push for fragmentation, particularly in post-modern cultures.”

We have to find our own ways to find meaningfulness in life. Without it mental wellbeing would be a challenge.

Nandita (name changed), who is therapy for some years, has frequently struggled with meaningfulness of her life. She recently expressed the following that shows how not finding meaning in life affects one’s wellbeing. She wrote:

"One existential query about meaning of life/universe that I have been struggling with and for which I can’t see a possibility of an answer within my reach, still has me in its grip. It has set in a kind of inertia. On the surface life is going on in the way possible under current circumstances but deep down there is a sense of existence being non-sensical. I came across the following during my readings, which exactly describes what I am presently experiencing: ‘For humans to be able to live they must either not see the infinite, or have such an explanation of the meaning of life as will connect the finite with the infinite.’

The desire is to get an automatic tailor-made answer that brings with it an instant clarity of purpose, passion in its act and potential for a sense of fulfillment – so that life can move on meaningfully. ...

I need to overcome my inner inertia emerging from lack of trust in being able to ever find a meaning in life through this ocean of unknowing."

 

Introspection and Prayer

We could now take a few moments to ask ourselves: What gives meaning and purpose to my life? ….. If I am experiencing meaninglessness at this time, what is it I can do to create meaning and purpose?

We could offer to our ever present and compassionate God who has our welfare and wellbeing at heart, whatever is causing meaninglessness in our lives and listen to what God might tell us as to how we can enhance meaningfulness in our lives and thereby improve our mental health and wellbeing…..

Have a meaningful weekend.

Be well. Be safe. Be blessed.

 

Thank you for listening/reading.

Pictures: Courtesy Google Images

JOSE PARAPPULLY SDB, PHD

sumedhacentre@gmail.com 

 

Psyche & Soul 28: ENHANCING MENTAL HEALTH AND WELLBEING THROUGH GRATEFUL LIVING

 podcast link:

www.anchor.fm/boscom

https://anchor.fm/boscom/episodes/2-28-Psyche--Soul-63-eomm2u 

Hello, this is Jose Parappully, Salesian priest and clinical psychologist at Sumedha Centre for Psychospiritual Wellbeing at Jeolikote, Uttarakhand, with another edition of Psyche & Soul.

In this weekend’s podcast I shall continue exploration of mental health and wellbeing by looking at the role of gratitude.

Role of Positive Emotions in Mental Health

There is a growing body of psychological and medical research that shows positive emotions have a profound impact on our physical and mental wellbeing. Positive emotions like love, joy, hope, contentment are robust predictors of increased psychological well-being, especially during upsetting times.  They optimize health, and psychological resilience. One major reason for this is that positive emotions strengthen our immune system.

An important feature of positive emotions, psychologist Barbara Frederickson observes, is that their effects do not end once suffering is prevented or alleviated. Positive emotions lead to an increment in personal resources that help us both in the present and the future to cope more effectively with challenges and adversities and in that way help promote physical and mental wellbeing.

Power of Gratitude

Important among the dispositions, or virtues, that promote positive emotions is gratitude. Frequent expressions of gratitude evoke in us a sense of wellbeing and strengthen us to face adversity. We feel good when someone thanks us. So too, we can make others feel good by genuinely thanking them and expressing our appreciation.

However, gratitude is much more than saying “thank you” to someone who has given us a gift or helped us in some way, or to God for a blessing received. Gratitude, as defined in research literature, is —“the capacity to feel the emotion of thankfulness on a regular and consistent basis, across situations and over time.” In other words, gratitude is a disposition that accompanies us through good times and bad, when things go well and things go wrong, in illness and health, in success and failure.

It does not take great effort to be grateful. There is so much goodness and blessings even in the midst of all the disruptions and distress that is part of our lives.

Awe and Wonder

For us to grow in gratitude and thankfulness we need to cultivate what the great scientist Albert Einstein called a sense of “awe and wonder” - our ability to be amazed by the daily miracles that happen around us. He wrote: those “who can no longer wonder and stand rapt in awe is as good as dead.” Further, “There are only two ways to live your life: as though nothing is a miracle, or as though everything is a miracle.”  When we see these daily miracles around us, we cannot but be grateful and feel good about ourselves and the world around us.

Daughters of St. Paul Sister Caroline Duia has a lovely song entitled “Miracles.” (available on YouTube). Its lyrics speak of these daily miracles “There are miracles every moment… each day is a miracle with its countless blessings. …Yes, it’s a miracle to be alive and be living… to see the golden sunrise, to hear the birds sing, to feel the gentle breeze, to see the wind dancing in the trees… Isn’t it a miracle that just when you feel lonely and blue, then an unannounced friend comes to sooth and comfort…?”

Life is full of these little miracles that should truly make us stand in awe and wonder and experience gratitude and reverence.

Antidote to Mental Illness

Gratitude is an important antidote to mental illness. We cannot, for example, be grateful and depressed at the same time. The moment we begin to be grateful, the depression lifts, even if it is only momentary. The more frequently we express gratitude, the more our depression will be lifted. The more grateful we are, the more we enhance our wellbeing.

There are certain dynamics that mediate the relationship between gratitude and wellbeing. Clayton McClintock, professor of psychology at Columbia University, observes that gratitude “is fundamentally a way of seeing that alters our gaze.” It begins with “a simple recognition that nothing at all can be taken for granted. And if that is so, this life that we have in all its ephemeral particularities, is a precious gift. To recognize this gift is the beginning of gratitude” (Spirituality in Clinical Practice, 2014, 2(1), 21-22).

McClintock’s observation was confirmed by a cancer patient during a patient-physicians conference which about a hundred persons attended. Based on his experience, he observed: “

According to McClintock “Gratitude immediately shifts one’s attitude away from the negative, away from the seemingly ordinary, and into the new, the good and the beautiful.”

Gratitude is an attitude and disposition that we can consciously cultivate. Gratitude, McClintock observes, “depends on inner intention and not on outer circumstance.” Hence we can be grateful in all circumstances good and bad by shifting our intention and changing our disposition.

Ways to Cultivate Gratitude

One easy means to cultivate gratitude is the daily practice of the Examen of Consciousness that is at the heart of Ignatian spirituality. We take a few minutes at the end of the day to sit quietly and allow memories of the good things – the little miracles - that have happened during the day to come into awareness and we let our heart fill with thankfulness. Gradually we will become more and more sensitive to these gifts and develop a grateful disposition and enhance our mental and emotional wellbeing.

A second means, one that McClintock recommends, is the practice in Buddhist tradition, of calling to mind, at least occasionally, a benefactor, a person whom we actually know, and wanting for the person deep happiness and wellbeing.

A third practice, which many psychologists suggest, is keeping a daily Gratitude Journal. We look back over the day that is ending and pick up at least three 

We could stay quietly for a while with whatever this podcast is evoking in us today….

For Introspection and Prayer

We often find Jesus giving thanks to his Father. For example, in the Gospel of Mathew he says: “ I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to babes” ( 11, 25)…. In the Gospel of John, he acclaims at the tomb of Lazarus: “Father, I thank you for you have hard me.” (11, 41)…

In his first letter to the Thessalonians Saint Paul exhorts us:  “Give thanks in all circumstances” (5, 1-8). Writing to the Philippians he says: “I thank my God every time I remember you…” (1, 3).

 We could now look back over the year that has ended and allow memories of good things that have happened to us, the blessings we enjoyed in the midst of the pandemic, and spend some time filling our hearts with gratitude. It’s good to be aware of what happens to us when we do that. We can also consider how we can live more gratefully - feeling and expressing gratitude in our daily lives.

 Thank you for listening/reading.

Pictures: courtesy google Images

JOSE PARAPPULLY SDB, PHD

sumedhacentre@gmail.com

 

 

 Psyche & Soul 27

MENTAL HEALTH AND WELLBEING

JOSE PARAPPULLY SDB, PHD

sumedhacentre@gmail.com

Podcast link:

www.anchor.fm/boscom

Hello, this is Jose Parappully, Salesian priest and clinical psychologist at Sumedha Centre for Psychospiritual Wellbeing at Jeolikote, Uttarakhand, with another edition of Psyche & Soul.

I wish all of you listeners a very happy, healthy and blessed new year.

In this first weekend of 2021 we shall explore mental health and wellbeing, an essential requisite for a happy and productive life.

Covid-19 has led to millions getting sick and nearly two million dying worldwide. The pandemic has led to significant increases in stress and anxiety, especially in the context of fear of being infected and in the face of an uncertain and unpredictable future. Social isolation, economic downturn, unemployment and poverty have taken a heavy toll on people’s wellbeing. A painful consequence of all this is an increase in mental illness.

Although mental illness is more visible and disconcerting during this distressing time, it is important to focus, as we move into the New year, on mental health and wellbeing . Understanding it and looking at measures that foster it, can help us to avoid mental illness and help us cope with it better if we suffer from it.

Mental health is not just absence of mental illness. It is a state of holistic wellbeing, in which the mind, body and spirit function harmoniously and enables a person to live joyfully and productively, finding meaning, purpose and satisfaction in life. It is a state that enables us to thrive, to flourish, to live life to the full.

This life to the full is characterized especially by healthy interpersonal relationships, undistorted cognitive processing (perception, interpretation, judgment etc.), balance between dependence and independence, feeling of competence and confidence, playfulness and joy, a sense of contentment, capacity to adapt to change, and character virtues like love, hope, altruism, compassion, sensitivity, capacity to endure adversity, loss and suffering without being unduly distressed or disturbed, and resilience, that is, the capacity to bounce back from setbacks.

Sr. Rosemary is a wonderful example of one who is enjoying mental health and wellbeing.

While I was in a neighbouring country for a Workshop I visited a nearby convent where there were a few nuns I knew. While taking tea the Superior of the community told me, “Fr. Jose, You must visit the youngest member of our community.” I was taken to an upstairs room where I met Sister Rosemary. She had a beaming smile and her entire face had a glow of joy which lit up the room. She engaged me in pleasant conversation. She was 97 years young! She had been lying in her bed for a few months now. She had to be helped on to a wheelchair for her to move anywhere. Despite her condition she appeared so happy and fulfilled and had the capacity to make others happy. She had truly grown old gracefully, enjoying a rare experience of wellbeing in the midst of adversity. There are countless others like Sister Rosemary, religious and lay, who have been able live happy, graceful lives and enjoy wellbeing even in old age despite many setbacks and limitations.

There are many elements that contribute and which are essential for someone to experience and enjoy mental health.

Sonja Lyubomyrsky, University of California at Riverside psychology professor, has calculated through extensive research that 50 percent of our wellbeing is determined by genetic endowments (inborn dispositions), and 10 percent influenced by the environment. The remaining 40 percent is within our control and depends on the responses we make to our genetic endowments and our environment 

SUPPORTIVE SOCIAL ENVIRONMENT

In this podcast I shall focus on the role of supportive social environment in mental health and wellbeing. When environments are characterized by tension and conflict, these take a heavy toll on mental health. This is true for families and religious communities. Interpersonal conflicts and a lack of warmth and cordiality have a deleterious effect on mental health and wellbeing. The challenge here is to make sure that our families and communities are places of warmth and cordiality, where we mutually support and encourage.

It is very important to reach out and support others, especially when they are going through hard times, through empathy, active listening, sharing resources,

Sharing our Vulnerabilities

One way we create a supportive social environment is by sharing our vulnerabilities and actively listening to and responding to others’ pain with empathy and sensitivity. When we share our plain and others respond to us with unconditional love, communion happens. Unfortunately, in my view and experience, this kind of disclosure and listening do not happen sufficiently in our religious communities, and may be also in our families. We talk endlessly about business matters and gossip, but we seldom share our inner struggles. Such sharing and empathic listening and responding are needed so much and have to be encouraged and nurtured.

Religious communities can set side specific time for this just like we do for so many meetings and discussions. Families can spend sometime over meals, or before or after family prayers, to do such sharing. This will make a lot of difference to relationships, and feelings of belonging both in communities and families.

Acceptance and Appreciation

It is essential for our mental wellbeing that our basic psychological needs for acceptance and appreciation are fulfilled. These, when fulfilled, lead to contentment, feeling good, which builds collaboration and cooperation.  Contentment, psychologist Barbara Frederickson points out, enables us to “savor the moment or recent experiences,” “feel oneness" with others and the world around us. This leads to a sense of community and solidarity (Prevention & Treatment, Volume 3, March 2000).

Another important need related to appreciation is acknowledgement and encouragement of our giftedness and talents. One of the major reasons for depression especially among religious women, psychologist Laura Vaz who has worked with many of them, points out, is the feeling that they are not given meaningful assignments where they can utilize their giftedness, and have a sense of achievement and accomplishment.

Presence of Basic Amenities

Developing a nurturing supportive social environment requires, not only the fulfilment of our basic psychological needs. It also requires the satisfaction of our basic physical needs – for food, clothes, decent shelter. So many of our people lack basic amenities. This absence creates a social environment that triggers discontent, anxiety and insecurity – fertile grounds for development of mental illness.

We know that mental illness affects the poor disproportionately. Socio-economic disadvantage contribute significantly to cause, maintain and exasperate mental illness. We have witnessed the mentally ill homeless on our streets, their illness unrecognized, untreated, and instead, being ridiculed, ostracized and even harassed by people and the police.

This is where governments and civil bodies have to play a more proactive role. There has to be serious poverty alleviation programmes that will provide the poor and vulnerable decent living conditions. However each of us as individuals, and families and communities can also contribute to enhance the living conditions of the poor people in our neighborhoods. Too we live isolated and sheltered, quite untouched by the surrounding poverty and even misery, too focused on our individual pursuits. We need to open our hearts to these less fortunate and help them experience a more decent life, and have some sense of wellbeing.

 

For Our Reflection and Prayer

Jesus speaks of fullness of life. He said that he has come so that all may have life, life in its fullness (John 10, 10). Do we feel that we are experiencing this fullness of life? In what way can we contribute to create a supportive and nurturing environment in which others can experience great mental health and wellbeing, life in its fullness?

In Sacred Scripture God says “I place before you today life and death. Choose life” (Deut. 30, 19). How are we choosing and contributing to life instead of death – that is to wellbeing instead of illness and suffering? What can we do to experience the more of life?

Saint Paul exhorts us: “I want you to be happy. What is it we need to do to make 2021 a happy year for ourselves and those around us?

We could sit with these questions for a while and attend to the answers that arise within us and spend a few minutes talking to God, who deeply loves us mind cares for us and has our wellbeing at heart,  about our situations, our desires and longings. What would we want from God as we move into the New Year ? What would God want for us?

 

Have a healthy, happy and blessed 2021!

Thank you for listening/reading.

Pictures: Courtesy Google Images

JOSE PARAPPULLY SDB, PHD

sumedhacentre@gmail.com