Feuy Saephan - Week 5
Mental health is gradually becoming a more important part of American society. Scientists and researchers continuously attempt to find new medicinal practices to aid people who are labeled as mentally unstable. Western medicine differs fairly greatly from Eastern medicine, especially with the addition of spiritual practices as an option.
America does not have a strong spiritual connection as much as countries from the Eastern side of the world. When an individual is deemed as unstable with depression, schizophrenia, or some type of mental disorder, they immediately resort to medicine for a cure. They are sometimes even admitted into a mental hospital because they are seen as unfit or a danger to society.
In some cultures, such as Dr. Somé’s culture in the article “What a Shaman Sees in a Mental Hospital,” they believe these individuals are affected by invisible “entities” surrounding their bodies (Marohn). Shamans and mediums have the ability to see these entities while doctors, or others, do not. These entities are lingering near an individual due to certain circumstances, and it affects the health of their physical body. Dr. Somé explains how his culture helps mentally unstable individuals through spiritual practices to “reconcile the energies of both worlds,” unless it is a negative energy, then they work to free the individual from it (Mahron).
Their perspective on mental health is completely different from the Western world. While Americans label these individuals as people who need to be managed and cured, the Eastern world sees them as people who want to be healed through spiritual processes. The American mindsets may be too focused on finding cures from the physical world that it diverts their attention away from possible cures from the spiritual world.
How different would the American culture be if we had a more open mind to spiritual practices and spiritual healing in connection with scientific practices?
References
Comments
Post a Comment