The relationship between religion and psyche and vice versa is stated. Since primitive times, different religions have had different beliefs and worship systems. Every religion with its belief system has consequences on mental health and illness. We have explained how the Hindu belief system and rituals may contribute to the development of various mental illnesses. It is also explained how religion can help a person to maintain his life in different areas. The relationship between different religions and semiotics is explained.
Religion and its history
Religion is as old as man. Primitive man had primitive religions and worshiped the elements of nature such as the sun, earth, air, clouds, water, etc., the progress of civilization led to the institutionalization of religions. The basic features of all religions are similar. There is a strong belief in an unseen higher controlling power. It seems that religion is a psychological necessity for humans. Religion, which had evolved due to the basic psychological needs of mankind, was later transformed. Gradually, religious practices turned into dogmas and superstitions.
Although most religions continued to change over time, many became completely fossilized. From a mental health perspective, religion provides much-needed guidance that can help people chart a course for their lives. Stresses and pressures as well as uncertainties of life are easier to bear for believers. However, many old rituals and belief systems may inhibit positive growth and may lead to mental illness.
The relationship between religion and psyche
In examining the relationship between spirituality and health, we do not need to take a position on the ontological reality of God or the spiritual realm. We can examine whether measures of religious beliefs or behaviors are associated with health outcomes, regardless of whether we believe the beliefs under investigation. India is a country with thousands of years of spiritual traditions. which has been home to some of the world’s greatest religions such as Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism, Christianity, Zoroastrians. This is a land where spirituality is almost a way of life. Where even an uneducated farmer or housewife surprises one with the philosophical questions of his life.
With the advancement of modern technology, we have noticed changes in symptoms in psychiatric patients. Previously, patients said that people were talking about him, but now it has changed and patients say that a chip is implanted in the brain that controls the patient. The same is true for signs with religious connotations. A Muslim patient describes the symptoms as having a “peer” and a Hindu describes the symptoms as a “goddess”.
Research on the relationship between religion and mental health
Since then, many other researchers have conducted a large body of research that has usually, but not always, shown a positive relationship between religious participation and mental health. Currently, there is a trend toward bringing religion and psychiatry closer together to help mental health professionals develop skills to better understand religious factors influencing health and provide more compassionate and comprehensive mental health care.
Mental health in Indian culture and tradition
Mental health in the Indian tradition does not follow one-line definitions of complex cultural concepts. In Indian philosophical texts there are many references to what constitutes an ideal person. Often, the quoted text is from the Srimad Bhagavad Gita, which describes a balanced person as one who has a controlled mind, emotions, and senses. Perhaps more important than any quotation to understanding the concept of mental health is the broad Hindu view of life, which is summarized in the four known ends or broad purposes of life (purushartha). These are Dharma, Kamma, Artha and Moksha.
Dharma is justice, virtue or religious duty. Kama refers to fulfilling our biological needs or sensual pleasures. Artha refers to fulfilling our social needs including material benefits, wealth acquisition and social recognition. Maksha means freedom from worldly bondage and union with ultimate reality. These four goals highlight the harmony of different dimensions of life: Kamma as the biological dimension, Artha as the social dimension, and Moksha as the spiritual dimension. Dharma is the central axis around which life revolves. If one follows kamma and artha without dharma, the long-term result is suffering for the individual and those around him.
Evidence of the influence of religion on mental health
A large part of the research related to the relationship between religion and mental health did not have religion as the focus of study. Because of this, often, measures of religiosity only include a single question, often simply religious denomination. However, religious affiliation does not tell us much about what religiosity is and how important it is in a person’s life. For this reason, studies using only a subject’s religious affiliation have, with few exceptions, produced many conflicting and inconsistent findings. The strongest and most consistent results were obtained between different religious denominations, but by comparing different degrees of religious participation (from a non-religious person to a deeply religious person). Church attendance, i.e., the number of times you attend religious services, is one of the most commonly used questions to assess the level of religious participation.
Other questions are non-organizational religiosity (time spent in private religious activities such as prayer, meditation, and reading religious texts) and subjective religiosity (the importance of religion in personal life). However, caution is warranted in interpreting the relationship between private religious practices and health in cross-sectional studies. People may pray more when they are sick or in stressful situations. Turning to religion during illness may lead to a false positive association between religiosity and poor health. On the other hand, poor health status can reduce the capacity to attend a religious meeting and thus create another bias in the relationship between religiosity and health. Finally, one of the most important dimensions of religiosity is religious commitment, which expresses the effect that religious beliefs have on a person’s decisions and lifestyle.
Internal and external orientation towards religion
According to Harvard psychologist Gordon Allport, people’s religious orientation may be intrinsic or extrinsic. External orientation People with this orientation tend to use religion for their own purposes. Many find religion useful in many ways – for security and peace, sociability and distraction, status and self-justification. The accepted belief is slowly maintained or selectively formed to satisfy more basic needs. Internal orientation of people with this orientation find their main motivation in religion.
Other needs, however strong, are less important and as far as possible, they are in harmony with religious beliefs and precepts. By accepting an opinion, a person tries to internalize it and fully follow it, and this proves the relationship between religion and mental health. Typically, internal orientation is associated with a healthier personality and psychological state, while external orientation is associated with the opposite. Extrinsic religiosity is associated with dogmatism, bigotry, fear of death, and anxiety, “doing a good job of measuring the kind of religion that gives religion a bad name. This very important and consistent finding is in stark contrast to Ellis, who argued that one of the ways religiosity undermined mental health was.
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In this content, the information that could help you to better understand their relationship with each other was described. We hope that you have benefited from this content. Ask your questions below the article so that they will be answered as soon as possible.
