Spirituality Recovery and Mental Health

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Spirituality Recovery and Mental Health

• What do you think spirituality is?

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Spirituality Recovery and Mental Health

• The World Health Organisation has made many
  statements describing the need for holistic care
  and the integral nature of this spiritual
  dimension
• Until recently the health professions have
  largely followed a medical model, which seeks to
  treat patients by focussing on medicines and
  surgery, and gives less importance to beliefs and
  to faith. This reductionism or mechanistic view
  of patients as being only a material body is no
  longer satisfactory. Patients and physicians have
  begun to realise the value of elements such as
  faith, hope and compassion in the healing
  process. The value of such spiritual elements
  in health and quality of life has led to research
  in this field in an attempt to move towards a
  more holistic view of health that includes a
  non-material dimension, emphasising the seamless
  connections between mind and body.
• (World Health Organisation (WHO) 1998)

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Spirituality Recovery and Mental Health

• Mental Health is the emotional and spiritual
  resilience that enables us to enjoy life and
  survive pain, disappointment and sadness. It is a
  positive sense of well-being and an underlying
  belief in our own and other's self worth.
   (Health Education Authority UK, 1997)
• Spirituality is not necessarily religion, and
  religion can be seen as an aspect of spirituality

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Spirituality Recovery and Mental Health

• It is
• All to do with your SPIRIT, your life force as
  essential as your BREATH
• What makes me, me and you, you your uniqueness
  as a person
• What keeps us going when times are tough
• Often to do with a belief in something or some
  being(s) other than ourselves and the material
  world
• What gives your life meaning
• Our connectedness to other people, nature,
  animals, sport and exercise, art, music and
  drama, the transcendent.
• Our life pilgrimage and quest.
• How we channel our desires.
• Your creativity
• A search for hope, harmony and wholeness
• What makes us tick
• A vocation, a purpose, what keeps us going
  keeps us breathing

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Spirituality Recovery and Mental Health

• Why are we looking at spirituality?
• Ethical because it is the right thing to do, to
  treat people well and appropriately whatever
  their faith, belief, gender, age, ability /
  disability, sexual orientation or life stance
  happens to be
• Legal because there is now a regulatory
  framework which forbids discrimination and
  therefore encourages the equal and fair treatment
  of all from any culture or background.
• Financial because there will be greater
  satisfaction and better outcomes among patients
  and less stress and absenteeism among staff.
• Clinical because there is a level of evidence
  that when people are well cared for they have a
  greater chance of health and, for example, their
  immune system appears to work more efficiently.
• From Fair For All Religion and Belief, 2008 in
  Spiritual Care Matters, NHS Education for
  Scotland www.nes.scot.nhs.uk

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Spirituality Recovery and Mental Health

• In every human being there seems to be a
  spiritual dimension, a quality that goes beyond
  religious affiliation, that strives for
  inspiration, reverence, awe, meaning and purpose,
  even in those who do not believe in God. The
  spiritual dimension tries to be in harmony with
  the universe, strives for answers about the
  infinite, and comes into focus when the person
  faces emotional stress, physical and mental
  illness, loss, or death (p.259).
• Murray Zentner 1989 p.259 Murray, R.B.
  Zenter, J.P. 1989 Nursing Concepts for Health
  Promotion. London Prentice Hall

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Spirituality Recovery and Mental Health

• Define spiritual practices
• Ritual, religious and/or symbolic practices
• Pilgrimage and retreats
• Meditation and Prayer
• Caring for someone
• Loving someone
• Deep Reflection
• Yoga, Tai Chi etc
• Cooking and gardening
• Engaging with nature
• Contemplative reading, poetry, and philosophy.
• Appreciation of the arts
• Group activities and sports

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Spirituality Recovery and Mental Health

• Recovery is a process, a way of life, an
  attitude, and a way of approaching the days
  challenges.
• Spirituality is a process, a way of life, an
  attitude, and a way of approaching the days
  challenges.

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Spirituality Recovery and Mental Health

• Recovery and mental health is
• building spiritual resilience
• Developing the capacity to survive and thrive
• Perhaps through. . .
• Finding and living MY STORY
• For some, finding and living my story within a
  bigger story
• Finding and enjoying BALANCE
• Being enabled to live with lifes challenges with
  an open and honest mind and heart
• Perhaps using the language - the vocabulary,
  little stories, and imagery, from a bigger story
  those that help give life meaning, significance
  and purpose
• Building trusting relationships and spiritual
  capital to spend on recovery (living with myself)

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Spirituality Recovery and Mental Health

• If you want more, why not take a look at
• www.workingtogetherforrecovery.co.uk click on
  the Spirituality petal
• www.spiritualcompetency.com
• Documents on Spirituality and Mental Health
• The impact of spirituality on mental health -
  Mental Health Foundation 2007
• Making Space for Spirituality How to support
  service users - The Mental Health Foundation 2008
• Guidelines on spirituality for staff in acute
  care services - Staffordshire University 2008
• Keeping the Faith spirituality and recovery from
  mental health problems Mental Health Foundation
  2008
• Spiritual Care Matters an introductory resource
  for all NHS Scotland Staff - NHS Scotland 2009