Scope of positive & Spiritual

Psychology in understanding of
Mental Health Problems

TEJ BAHADUR SINGH

Professor: Psychology
Centre for Psychological Sciences
CUSB. PATNA
tbsingh2000@gmail.com
 Growing Popularity in the recent
past
• Anticipating factors in the development of school
of thoughts in Psychology.
• People are getting detached from their inner
world. Coleman ,1976.
• Positive Psychology of Martin Seligman.1995
• Growing importance of Spirituality & Religion as
topic of inquiry in Psychology. APA, 2009.
• Spirituality & Mental Health. IPS & RERF, 2009.
• Spirituality & Psychiatry. RC of Psych., 2009.
 Schools of Psychology
• Structuralism > Elements of consciousness
• Functionalism > Operational force behind
function of an individual. Religiosity, James
1902
• Behavioural > Analysis of behaviour
• Psychoanlysis > Analysis of Unconscious
• Humanistic Existential > Identity, Meaning in
life
• Self actualization> Maslow, 1957
 Coleman,1976
• Outer space may represent the ultimate
frontier but the most critical challenge
confronting us now is inner space-
understanding the basic nature of human
behaviour
 Coleman(1976) retrospectively
looked back at the achievements of
last few centuries and called them as:
• 17th Century : The age of Enlightenment
• 18th Century : The age of Reason
• 19th Century : The age of Progress
• 20th Century : The age of Anxiety

• 21st Century : The age of erosion of values

Rao (2007)
 WHO REPORT, 2004
• Estimated that 40 to 50 % of mental illnesses
could be prevented
• World bank recognized (Dasgupta &
Serageldin,2005): Contribution of Social
Capital(the extent to which people help each
other)
• To the wealth and well being of a country
 Markers of Social Capital
• Mutual Trust
• Willful reciprocity of help &
• Participation in civic society

• High SC > increase in individual’s coping

capabilities
• Low SC > Increase in crime rates, divorce and
family violence
 POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY
• Is the scientific study of positive human
functioning and flourishing at biological,
personal, relational, institutional, cultural and
global level
• Identification of problems: through
exploration of ordinary human strengths,
virtues and factors that make life worth living
 Focus on three level of human
experience
• Positive subjective experience: Optimistic,
Happiness, Joy, Satisfaction in life, love,
experience flow, contentment and be fulfilled
• Positive Individual traits: various character
strengths i.e. resilience, leadership, courage,
the capacity to love, forgive, interpersonal
skills and other such positive individual traits
• Positive Institution: focus on development,
creation and maintenance of positive
institutions i.e. Family, School, Business
 Spirituality & Religion
• Common ground between Spirituality &
Religion is the sacred
• General consensus among all the religions
• Refers to different things: god, divinity,
ultimate reality and so on.
• Common denominator: seem to be
transcendence
• Going beyond what is given in one’s sensory
experience
 Spiritual Psychology
• Spirituality is the quest and religions are the
tools and technologies
• 1) to aid in that quest
• 2) to apply the discoveries of the spiritual
quest to life and living
• Spiritual Psychology is dedicated to
understanding this process
• Spirituality is to religion what Science is to
technology
 Positive Approach
• Prevention
•
• >Treatment<

•
Rehabilitation
Vast rich heritage of all the religions
• Can be successfully utilized
• Example: Disability & Rehabilitation(1981
onwards)
• High time to mobilize resources available
through state
• More specifically in prevention and
rehabilitation as these areas need more
impetus even today