by Conscious Reminder
Spirituality is usually defined in different ways by different people. As a result, the various forms of spiritual customs and beliefs are also of numerous kinds since various people practice them differently.
On the other hand, all these varieties of spirituality have one common thing among them. This mainly characterizes the impact on the mental health of the person who practices it. Spirituality affects the mental health of a person in various ways.
Moreover, spirituality refers to the belief or the sense of meaning and purpose. Even though many people are unaware, spirituality is actually different from religion. A spiritual person may not be religious while a religious person following a specific faith might practice a different form of spirituality.
Mental Health Effect Of Spirituality
Our spirituality influences various decisions of our life. Most people are encouraged towards a better relationship, both with themselves as well as others. Spirituality can also help to relieve stress and bring a sense of purpose, forgiveness, and peace.
Positive Impacts
There are many ways in which spirituality supports our mental health:
- I: We might feel a greater sense of meaning, hope, peace, and purpose.
- II: We might experience better self-control, self-esteem, and confidence.
- III: Spirituality can help us bring better experiences in our life.
- IV: During times of illness, we can feel an inner strength that may lead to faster recovery.
- V: Spiritual people receive a higher support system.
- VI: Our relationship with ourselves and others becomes much better.
People who have been suffering from mental illness may receive a glimmer of hope through communicating with another spiritual leader or expert. Some kinds of mental illnesses usher self-doubt or lack of confidence and purpose. This makes us feel pessimistic. Spirituality can be helpful in treating such mental illnesses.
Negative Impacts
When we feel emotionally vulnerable, some people might take advantage of that situation by pretending to offer spiritual support. Our emotional vulnerabilities make it easier for others to manipulate us and make us do unhealthy activities.
Consulting A Doctor
Taking medical help may seem strange at first but it can greatly help us in understanding the impact of spirituality on our mental state. By speaking to a doctor and taking professional advice regarding our stress and worries, we can relieve ourselves.
While taking medical help, we must inform our doctors about our spiritual beliefs and anxiety. We must also tell our doctors about the decisions taken by us previously based on our spirituality.
Treating Mental Issues
Several mental disorders can be treated with spirituality called psychotherapy which is a spiritual behavior therapy based on augmented cognition. This technique consists of evaluating our spiritual values present in cognitive behavior.
The 4 important areas are:
- A: Hope
- B: Forgiveness
- C: Attaining purpose and meaning
- D: Acceptance
Some significant techniques used in this process include empathetic listening, problem-solving, encouraging emotional expression, and practicing prayer, rituals, and meditation. This therapy mainly analyses our death and birth cycle followed by examining inevitable events of our life. Eventually, we seek to achieve the divine purpose.
Spiritual Health Improvement
Along with a healthy mental condition, we must also try to maintain positive spiritual health. Although it works differently for every person, we must do what is comfortable and makes us happy. Some ways to improve our spiritual health are:
- 1: Find things that make us feel strong, loved, and peaceful.
- 2: Involve yourself in community service.
- 3: Read inspirational stories.
- 4: Meditation, outdoor walking, prayer, or yoga.
- 5: Spend some time alone quietly.
- 6: Indulge in your favorite hobby.
Deeper Insight
Sometimes assessing our spiritual health is as necessary as examining our mental health. Mental conditions like depression and anxiety can emerge from a spiritual void. We can resolve most of our problems by getting a deeper insight into the difference between mental illness and spiritual crisis.
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