Around the world, at least 450 million people are suffering from mental illness such as mental disorders, leading the causes of bad overall health and disability worldwide.
Causes of mental illness is the topic of interest for many ages and a lot of researches have been concluded since then, but still we are not able to find the fundamental cause of mental health problem, however new tools in genetics and scientists are making progress towards the details of underlying biology of mental disorders, but some experts disagree on how far we can push this biological model to explain the in-depth cause of mental problem.
Eric Kandel, MD, a Nobel prize laureate and a professor of brain science at Columbia University, believes it's all about Biology, according to him all mental processes are brain processes. “The brain is the organ of mind. Where else could mental illness but if not in the mind?" view point of Eric Kandel gained a lot of supporters. Mental illness is no different from diabetes or any other chronic illness. The only difference here is that the organ of concern is the brain, instead of heart or pancreas.
Mental illness still requires more attention and observation to uncover some of its hidden aspects. Studies suggests that mental health problems can have wide range of causes, there is a complicated combination of factors like childhood abuse, trauma, neglection, loneliness, etc. Researchers also believes that change in size and shape of brain may be responsible for causing mental illness and it could be due to the change in the neurological patterns of mind. All these aspects mentioned here are external stimuli that influence the emotional or thought pattern of an individual. External stimuli are difficult to control but response to external stimuli is in the control of the mind, because mind is the instrument of body that controls the mental functioning of an individual.
Unhealthy mind forms the basis of mental maladies. Unhealthy mind is a state where negative thoughts overpower the person that distant him from the ethical way of leading the life. Control of negative thoughts and replacing them with the positive thoughts should be the aim, to avoid mental health problems. There is a popular Sanskrit maxim that says:“Who conquers the world? He who alone conquers his mind". Control of mind is basically control of negative thoughts that can hamper the harmony and peace within the inner self of an individual.
Thoughts are the building blocks of mind that forms the basis of human behavior. To understand the nature of mind we need to be aware of our thoughts, we need to introspect them i.e. performing catharsis on oneself. Thoughts play a major role in human behavior which forms the basis of mental state.
Negative thoughts are darkened and scattered, in this state a man feels dull and passive, and leads to a state where he feels anxious and restless. These negative thoughts are accompanied by laziness, anger, confusion, and by the feelings of egoism. Feeling of egoism, causes the mind to move on a low level and scatters the mind to make it restless. A person with an uncontrolled mind will always have the tendency to abnormal developments or mental disintegration through internal conflict. An uncontrolled mind is the victim of passions, emotions, and tensions, or he may develop obstinate mental maladies or turn into a criminal.
Mind control is a theme of universal interest, it is a concept that uplifts the individual's way of living at every aspect. Nothing more affects us individually than our minds, so if we are able to control our minds, we are less prone to stress which may lead to many psychiatric disorders like depression or anxiety. Vedanta and yoga have much to treat about the nature and maladies of mind.
On the positive side, through control of mind, one can attain peace. A controlled mind can be easily concentrated and can replace the negative thoughts of a person with the positive thoughts that provides them harmony and peace within the inner self. Anyone can achieve the power of awareness through concentration. They can attain knowledge of what is right or wrong, that has the power to defeat any obstacle of life, either past or future. Controlled mind will be free from mental ailments and physical troubles caused by mental tension.
Takeaway Message
“Mind awakens the state of consciousness, the source of either dark or the pure light, all depends on the person’s ability to control the human vehicle he resides in.
In an Indian maxim: “a man may have received the grace of god, of the teacher and of holy men; but if does have the grace of his own mind he will go to rack and ruin”.
Thus, we can conclude that thoughts which are generated in our minds and to what extent we can control the negative thoughts forms the basis of mental physical, emotional and spiritual basis of life.
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