Eastern Spirituality and Mental Health: Beyond the Mind

This chapter arises from a presentation given at an international conference in 2023 based on my 40 years’ professional experience working in the field of psychiatry where I have a special interest in group processes and stigma. The chapter begins with my personal journey as a member of a minority ethnic group in Sri Lanka, which suffered persecution and displacement. My teenage experience of reading a complete version of the Hindu epic Mahabharata, followed by some catastrophic global events related to cults and the abuse of power, combined with my training in medicine and then specialisation in psychiatry and groups brought me to question the adequacy of the ‘scientific/reductionist model’ to address the needs of some of the mentally ill. Recent years have witnessed the ‘developed world’s’ renewed interest in therapeutic practices which draw on Eastern belief systems, e.g. CBT. Paradoxically, whilst religion appears to have little relevance in many twenty-first-century communities, Eastern mystical concepts based on Zen and mindfulness (e.g. DBT/mindfulness CBT) are being adopted for the management of patients with complex mental health needs. The chapter concludes by comparing the didactic practice of psychiatry with religion, which is formalised and has defined evidence-based practices, whereas psychotherapy practised truly dialectically is comparable with spirituality, being non-formalised and explorative. I suggest that the underlying difference is due to psychiatry’s focus on cure, which is similar to organised religions. When psychotherapy is focused on exploration, finding new meanings and freeing people from inner and external conflicts, it is likely to be healing and is a spiritual experience for all concerned.