Tuesday 21 May 2013

Buddhism and Mental Illness

President Obama has declared May “Mental Health Awareness Month.” At the announcement the President said (thanks to Adrian Warnock for posting this):
“Today, tens of millions of Americans are living with the burden of a mental health problem. They shoulder conditions like depression and anxiety, post-traumatic stress and bipolar disorder — debilitating illnesses that can strain every part of a person’s life. And even though help is out there, less than half of children and adults with diagnosable mental health problems receive treatment....

As part of this national awareness campaign, the whole of Patheos has been invited to write on the topic of Faith and Mental Health, you can see a few selections on the front page on the right.
So here I am, jumping in a little late with my own post on the topic.
Having faced mental illness, in a number of different capacities, it’s hard to know just where to start. Before I was born, perhaps.
What is the Zen koan? “What was your face before you were born?”
Depression.

4 comments:

  1. Nothing too overt. The delay was not intentional, but maybe subconscious. I have to leave it at that.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Many of us nowadays have mental illnesses because we are not able to let our the stress that we have in positive ways. Some may even turn to violence, hence the result of the mental illness.

    I would say that having a mental illness is slightly because of the choices that we make. We could have seen a psychologist but we are afraid of the things that others may say behind our back. Thus, if we have made the choice to get help before everything is too late, the number of people that suffer from mental illnesses would be lesser.

    Make a choice yourself, not pushing that responsibility to others!
    http://blog.tsemtulku.com/tsem-tulku-rinpoche/animals-vegetarianism/you-always-have-a-choicemake-the-right-one.html

    ReplyDelete
  3. Thank you for another interesting, accessible, and enlightening post. Thank you for following your curiosity.

    Surya Das | Lama Surya Das Married

    ReplyDelete
  4. Living in this world offers few experiences quite like the adventure of camping. Being in nature and having the opportunity to spend extended periods of time outdoors is incredible. If these are things you wish to start doing, the ideas in the following paragraphs can help guide you towards this.
    cheapsnapbackhatstrade |

    cincypunkfest |

    cruisesfrombaltimore |

    cs-wedding |

    fake2013oakleysunglasses |

    ReplyDelete