Mental health problems can have many specifics, yet they share a fundamental feature: a distortion in our perception of reality. When such distortion becomes so severe as to be potentially harmful for the person or those around them, it is classified clinically as madness, which is an extreme form of mental sickness. 

Significantly, spiritual wisdom-traditions state that madness is not just a specific affliction that troubles some people; it is a universal condition that threatens all people (Srimad-Bhagavatam 5.5.4). This bold assertion is based on how widespread perception distortion is, specifically the notion that we can find immediate and immense pleasure in tempting material objects. Why is this notion wrong? Because tempting objects are themselves temporary and can at best offer only temporary pleasure. Such misperceptions are most discernible and destructive in the lives of addicts, whose very desires become their shackles (Bhagavad-gita 16.12). But similar misperceptions undermine all of us, albeit to a lower degree. How? Because they arise from impurities that are found in every heart: impurities such as lust, anger, greed, envy, arrogance and illusion. In different human psyches, these impurities can breed into many variants and mutants, which in turn may cause or contribute to various mental pathologies.  

With this understanding of the universality of mental ill-health, let’s consider how spirituality  can help. Spiritual knowledge can counter misperceptions at their root by providing a cogent and coherent understanding of who we are and what the deepest purpose of our existence is. Spiritual practices can connect us with our pure essence as souls and with the all-pure ultimate reality, Krishna. That connection gradually removes our inner impurities. Being thus illuminated and purified, we can better ensure that our mind aids us in living effectively. 

One-sentence summary:

Our mental health is endangered by misperceptions and impurities; spiritual knowledge counters the misperceptions and spiritual practices remove the impurities. 

Think it over:

  • Why do spiritual wisdom-traditions say that madness is a universal human condition?
  • What is the inner cause of perception distortion?
  • How can spirituality protect our mental health?

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16.12: Bound by a network of hundreds of thousands of desires and absorbed in lust and anger, the demoniac secure money by illegal means for sense gratification.

To know more about this verse, please click on the image