Religious and Spiritual Matters
Do accept the client’s beliefs regarding the sources of distress: ancestral disapproval, the evil eye, God’s wrath, or trouble because of misbehavior in another life. A strong relationship of trust must be established before one can determine the adaptive and maladaptive aspects of such beliefs and thereby work within the frame toward healing or growth.
Don’t assume you are being told the whole story regarding faith or belief systems early on.
Most are powerful and quite private and will not be easily or fully shared.
Do take advantage of any possible link to meaningful spiritual or religious beliefs or connections that may help address the current distress.
Don’t hesitate to allow input into the problem from religious or spiritual persons respected by the client.CULTURE BOUND SYNDROMES Because theories of human functioning are culture bound, our current diagnostic system for mental health problems is heavily culturally in?uenced . In addition, the manifestation of mental angst and distress occurs through different culturally speci?c symptom complexes that change over time. For example, in contrast to Freud’s era , not many women in the United States currently have vapors or fainting spells; however, eating disorders were almost unheard of a hundred years ago. Posttraumatic stress symptoms re?ect at least some common human responses to trauma across cultures, but the name of the disorder has varied over many centuries. In addition, to some extent, what is actually considered traumatic is culturally speci?c, and what to do in the face of trauma constitutes culturally informed advice.
When you demean yourself in these ways, you’re not appreciating yourself as a person-a person trying to cope with a frightening and unpredictable disease. And you’re also giving Parkinson’s the last word in your life. But Parkinson’s doesn’t have to have the last word, because the last word comes out of your mental outlook and this is something in your power to control.
If you find it difficult to change your frame of mind through your own thinking, or by talking to understanding family members and friends, or by reading helpful books about living with a chronic illness, you may find psychological counseling to be of help.
You Need Something to Live For
To live as fully as possible with Parkinson’s, you have to do more than overcome the thoughts and feelings by which you undermine yourself as a person. You need a purpose that gives life meaning. (The focus in this section on the importance of a meaningful life purpose comes from the writings of Victor E.
Frankl of Vienna, founder of Logotherapy.) A meaningful purpose enhances the will to live, and there is reason to believe that the will to live prolongs life itself. Besides that, a meaningful life purpose counteracts feelings of depression and despair which frequently [accompany] Parkinson’s.
You Need to Find Your Own Meaning! Experiences: Where you find your meaning depends in large part on your past life experiences. Maybe the sights, smells, and sounds of nature made your life worth living. Although you may no longer have the energy or mobility to immerse yourself in nature as you did before, the quality of your experiences, if not dampened by your mental outlook, can be as enjoyable as ever.
