Spiritual Mental HEalth
What is Spiritual Health?
Spirituality is about what brings us Value, Purpose and Meaning to our lives. It is influenced by our Culture and by Religion. Being Spiritually Healthy means that our faith and spirituality should have a positive affect on other areas of our life.
The NHS recognises that Spirituality is a key component in holistic care and says that ‘Chaplaincy provides highly skilled and compassionate pastoral, spiritual or religious support for patients, carers and staff facing situations which are at times harrowing and stressful. These include: sudden infant death; psychosis; diagnosis of life threatening conditions; end of life care; and various kinds of self-harm. There is a growing body of evidence that appropriate spiritual care has an immediate and enduring benefit for those utilising chaplaincy in these situations.’ (NHS Chaplaincy Guidelines, 2015).
How healthy is my Spirituality?
Look through the statements in the boxes on the left and identify which box most accurately reflects your view, then follow the arrow to the right for an explanation and some advice.
Spirituality is about what brings us Value, Purpose and Meaning to our lives. It is influenced by our Culture and by Religion. Being Spiritually Healthy means that our faith and spirituality should have a positive affect on other areas of our life.
The NHS recognises that Spirituality is a key component in holistic care and says that ‘Chaplaincy provides highly skilled and compassionate pastoral, spiritual or religious support for patients, carers and staff facing situations which are at times harrowing and stressful. These include: sudden infant death; psychosis; diagnosis of life threatening conditions; end of life care; and various kinds of self-harm. There is a growing body of evidence that appropriate spiritual care has an immediate and enduring benefit for those utilising chaplaincy in these situations.’ (NHS Chaplaincy Guidelines, 2015).
How healthy is my Spirituality?
Look through the statements in the boxes on the left and identify which box most accurately reflects your view, then follow the arrow to the right for an explanation and some advice.
Research has shown that those who are religious, belong a religious community and participate in their faith have better resilience to mental ill health and recover faster when they do become unwell (Koenig et al, 2001).
How can we nurture our Spiritual Well being?
Step One
Being a member of a Gym but never stepping through the door will do nothing for physical fitness. Therefore I encourage anyone who is a Christian to attend Church
and do so with intention. If you were going to the gym, you would prepare with a few warm ups, take a gym bag with you etc. When going to church make sure you are not just turning up but tuning in. Take time to listen to the readings and the Gospel, sing enthusiastically (this has also been shown scientifically to release happy hormones that boost your mood), use prayer time purposefully, fully appreciate the Sacrament of Holy communion and like after all good work outs, take time to have a few conversations with others from the community.
Being a member of a Gym but never stepping through the door will do nothing for physical fitness. Therefore I encourage anyone who is a Christian to attend Church
and do so with intention. If you were going to the gym, you would prepare with a few warm ups, take a gym bag with you etc. When going to church make sure you are not just turning up but tuning in. Take time to listen to the readings and the Gospel, sing enthusiastically (this has also been shown scientifically to release happy hormones that boost your mood), use prayer time purposefully, fully appreciate the Sacrament of Holy communion and like after all good work outs, take time to have a few conversations with others from the community.
Step Two
The healthy eating cookbook on the shelf at home won’t fill you with nutritious meals if left un-opened and dusty on the shelf!
I encourage Christians to open the Bible regularly for Spiritual nutrition. There are also some excellent study guides or videos online that can help open up the Bible as a Spiritual resource that gives holistic guidance in all aspects of our life. Try your church website for local courses and groups or Christian Leadership Institute for a range of free accessible courses that you can study at home in your own time.
The healthy eating cookbook on the shelf at home won’t fill you with nutritious meals if left un-opened and dusty on the shelf!
I encourage Christians to open the Bible regularly for Spiritual nutrition. There are also some excellent study guides or videos online that can help open up the Bible as a Spiritual resource that gives holistic guidance in all aspects of our life. Try your church website for local courses and groups or Christian Leadership Institute for a range of free accessible courses that you can study at home in your own time.
Step Three
Mobile phones are our sat navs, our diaries, our cameras. However they were designed for communication and connection with others. Communication with other people is essential to mental well being and communication with God is essential to Spiritual Well being for Christians.
If you have time to pick up your phone and check messages, you have time to communicate with God. Set aside some quiet time or use your time waiting at the bus stop for prayer. Build up a pattern of prayer into your life and it will be of great Spiritual benefit to your well being. The main websites for your denomination will have some helpful prayers to help you get started such as the Our Father but you can also just treat your prayer time like a session with your best friend over a cup of coffee: tell God whatever is on your mind and in the silence when you don't know what to say trust that God already has his loving arms around you and knows exactly what your needs are.
Mobile phones are our sat navs, our diaries, our cameras. However they were designed for communication and connection with others. Communication with other people is essential to mental well being and communication with God is essential to Spiritual Well being for Christians.
If you have time to pick up your phone and check messages, you have time to communicate with God. Set aside some quiet time or use your time waiting at the bus stop for prayer. Build up a pattern of prayer into your life and it will be of great Spiritual benefit to your well being. The main websites for your denomination will have some helpful prayers to help you get started such as the Our Father but you can also just treat your prayer time like a session with your best friend over a cup of coffee: tell God whatever is on your mind and in the silence when you don't know what to say trust that God already has his loving arms around you and knows exactly what your needs are.
Further Support
A selection of Thought for the Week newsletters produced for the Mental Health Unit I work on are available here.
- Church or faith community
- NHS referral to Chaplaincy via GP
- Contact me for tailored referral
A selection of Thought for the Week newsletters produced for the Mental Health Unit I work on are available here.