Comments on Bahá’í Thought: Psyche and Social Order

Thanks Larry for sharing this information with the...

2007-03-19T12:59:00.000-03:00

Thanks Larry for sharing this information with the readers of Baha'i Thought.

Do it again sometime.

The following quote from "The Neurotic: His Inner ...

2007-03-18T11:49:00.000-03:00

The following quote from "The Neurotic: His Inner and Outer Worlds" by Joseph B. Furst, M.D. (Citadel Press, 1963, p.18) may be of interest.

"In the hurly-burly of our economic and political life at present, the competitive, exploitive and selfish relations are much easier to see than cooperative ones. But cooperative relations must be equally present with competitive relations, else nothing would get built and nothing would function. Competition may control, limit, qualify and oppose the cooperative activities, but cooperation is the basis for everything.

"The essence of our cooperative activity is that people have become both relatively and absolutely necessary to one another. Out of the incessent, close, practical activities carried on together, in social as well as well as family life, there necessarily arise forms of closeness in the consciousness of people. These objective social relations are reflected within the thoughts and feelings of people for one another.... People need one another, trust one another, supply each other's needs both objectively and subjectively. Thus they come to love and cherish one another, for these sentiments express the essence of constructive, mutual and interdependent activity."

AnonymousMy understanding as a clinician is that y...

2007-03-13T23:54:00.000-03:00

Anonymous

My understanding as a clinician is that yes, a person could have symptoms resembling depression but not be "chronically depressed". For example, a person may present with symptoms of depression but those could be caused by an underlying medical condition or use of drugs. This is part of why a diagnosis should be made on a careful assessment of a person's history and exploration of other factors that may be contributing to their problems. Diagnosis is both art and science and imperfect under the best of circumstances.

Forgive me, as a layman I was wondering if someone...

2007-03-13T19:37:00.000-03:00

Forgive me, as a layman I was wondering if someone could have the exact same symptoms as "alexander m" (apologies for using your case as an example) and not actually have "chronic depression"?

Thanks Alex for responding and being so honest. As...

2007-03-13T06:34:00.000-03:00

Thanks Alex for responding and being so honest. As a Baha'i I understand that science and religion are complimentary and that we should seek both medical and spiritual approaches to healing. I did mean to suggest that mental and emotional illnesses are not very real problems, many of which have a clear biological dimension to them, nor that medications, as a fruit of scientific research are not helpful to people, I myself have found such medications to be helpful in my 20 year battle with depression and anxiety. My comments were made as both someone who has survived such challenges and as a clinician who strives to help others to do so. My point is that psychology must be freed from materialistic conceptions of reality, that unintentionally dehumanizes those who it seeks to help and fully embrace body, mind, spirit, and social order all of which must be transformed in order for true mental health to be accomplished. Luckily, this is a view that increasing numbers of people in the helping professions are coming to recognize and should be encouraged and nurtured.

I'm a Baha'i and was recently diagnosed with chron...

2007-03-13T02:44:00.000-03:00

I'm a Baha'i and was recently diagnosed with chronic depression and prescribed an antidepressant.

I think the medication has helped but realize that my ailment is spiritual at root.

I'm endeavoring to "embrace" my depression and learn from it...

~ Alex