Over the weekend, Nollywood actress Genevieve Nnaji set the internet ablaze when she shared that:
"Mental health is more spiritual than it is physical, rededicate your life to the God you serve. Get rebaptised."
A lot of people were not happy with this statement because they believe that Genevieve is just an actress and not qualified to give her opinion on mental health. They argued that because she is talking about God and telling people to get rebaptized, this could affect a lot of people who actually need medication to manage their mental health. They may abandon their medicate and seek baptism from churches which will do them more harm than good.
Others who were in support quoted bible verses to support her statement arguing that all you need is God, and once you have God, no adversity can affect you.
I think that this whole argument is looking at extreme cases of mental health. The reality is that we all have mental health. What is mental health?
Mental Health - Mental health includes our emotional, psychological, and social well-being. It affects how we think, feel, and act. It also helps determine how we handle stress, relate to others, and make choices. Mental health is important at every stage of life, from childhood and adolescence through adulthood.
We all have mental health and will experience a mixture of good and bad mental health; and most of us will experience mental ill-health at some point in our lives, even if only briefly or occasionally. As a way of envisaging this, we often describe our mental health as being on a spectrum:
Mental Health Spectrum
- Healthy (Green) - Good mental health means being generally able to think, feel and react in the ways that you need and want to live your life.
- Coping (Amber) - Facing significant risks to mental health but not currently in difficulty. This may include people coping with loss, financial difficulty, or relationship problems.
- Struggling (Flashing Amber) - Dealing with major life challenges and at high risk of becoming unwell. This might include going through a major traumatic experience.
- Unwell (Red) - Experiencing poor mental health, such as being given a diagnosis of mental illness that is currently causing significant distress and impairment. It is, however, possible for a person living with a mental health diagnosis to be at any point on the spectrum.
In many ways, mental health is just like physical health: everybody has it and we need to take care of it. Spirituality is one of the ways we can take care of our mental health.
Spirituality - Spirituality is getting to know yourself as you actually are so that you may perceive the world as it actually is.
Spirituality involves:
- Being in the present moment, living, flourishing, and finding hope amidst pain or difficulties.
- Finding meaning and purpose in the things we value
- Search for inner freedom, wellbeing, and peace of mind
- Loving relationship with self, others, and beyond, which includes your faith or religion.
Can being a spiritual person support your mental health?
The answer is yes and there are several ways that spirituality can support your mental health when are at a good place mentally or coping with life challenges.
- One is by giving you a higher sense of purpose, peace, hope, and meaning.
- You may experience better confidence, self-esteem, and self-control. It can help you make sense of your experiences in life.
When you are experiencing mental health challenges, there are also several ways that spirituality can support your mental health:
Many people with a mental illness get a sense of hope by talking with a religious or spiritual leader. This can help improve your state of mind, relaxation, and search for deeper meaning, but unfortunately, some religious groups believe that prayer will cure-all, but it doesn’t.
In summary,
We must also recognize that life is a series of choices. Even making the decision that we have no choice, is a choice. Knowing that we have a choice and that we want to protect our mental, regardless of external influences will guide us to make better choices. Some people will choose to stay in their ‘drama’ damaging their mental health and then run from one church to the other seeking deliverance, rather than just remove themselves from the source of their pain, you will eventually find themselves in the psych ward.
Also learning we can control our thinking is an important step in being able to stop negative emotions from getting out of control.
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