Abstract
Mental health illnesses have assumed pandemic proportions, especially post-COVID, adversely impacting society and the global economy. The effect is more pronounced in India, ailing with inadequate mental healthcare infrastructure and management. The mental health illness burden is a drag on the achievement of SDGs as well. Spiritual care, religious-healing, and faith-healing have recently received greater emphasis in research and practice. Several practices within each are either proven support systems or cures. There is, however, a globally recognized downside that it is unregulated, which provides room for misuse and abuse, which are rampant. The current chapter demystifies the nexus between mental health, SDGs, and spiritual care, and necessitates a call for sagacious legal advocacy.
TopSdgs And Mental Health
Demystifying mental health issues is pivotal to furthering the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), both in direct and indirect forms, and sustainable development in general (WHO, 2019). Under the 3rd goal of the SDG that pertains to ‘Good Health and Well Being,’ the U.N. advocates for, among other things, reducing one-third of premature deaths from non-communicable illnesses through prevention and treatment and promotion of mental health and well-being (WHO, 2013a). Further, under the SDGs, the United Nations aims to strengthen the prevention and treatment of substance abuse, including narcotic drug abuse and harmful use of alcohol (WHO-GHO, 2023). The explicit focus that the U.N. has shed on the prevention and management of mental health makes it pertinent to demystify mental health issues and make treatment/management more accessible and efficient.
Key Terms in this Chapter
Religious-healing: The process of trying to cure people by using the power of prayer and religious belief.
Karma: The sum of a person’s actions in this and previous lives.
Faith-Healing: The practice of prayer and gestures believed to evoke divine intervention in trying to cure or heal people.
Unmada: Ayurvedic understanding of mental illness comprising three critical entities: buddivikara (deformity of will), manovikara (deformity of mind), and atmavikara (deformity of intellect). Mental illness is a condition where all of the above are found in gradable variations.
God: A higher power or a divine force, which in Hinduism are many and one, and within all at the same time and every time.
Satvavajaya: A Sanskrit term which refers to conquering the self, strength of mind, or character; later developed into a method for psychotherapy by an ancient Indian Physician, Charaka, wherein a person is trained to restrain themselves from desires for wholesome objects.
Indic Knowledge: The ancient and traditional knowledge that developed in ancient India.
Spiritual Care: A set of practices that tend to a person's spiritual needs while coping with illness, grief, or pain. It is known to heal physically and emotionally, rebuild relationships, and regain well-being.