I think we’d all agree that our mental wellbeing is something that we should try and look after, to nurture, to cherish…dare I say develop or grow?
Yet many of us have no clue as to how to go about doing this.
What should we do to help our state of mind be the best it can be? What does that even look like? Do we know? Have we experienced times of ultimate wellbeing in our past? Are we striving to reconnect with that time, that feeling? What if we can’t? What if that was a ‘that was then’ type of situation?
So what do we do? What CAN we do? And more importantly perhaps, WHAT’S THE POINT!?
This is something that I’ve contemplated for a long time. Many years, in fact. Rogers talks of the ‘Organismic Self’ – the natural, organically driven self that strives to find the best place it can be. As children, we have desires to be astronauts, nurses, doctors, train drivers, carpenters… Our organismic self drives us towards what we are naturally good at – the things we were ‘meant’ to be.
If we achieve this, we achieve peace because we live our lives for ourselves, for what we want to be, not what we have to be. Inevitably, many of us do not get to do this and end up in careers or jobs that are far from our dreams which leads us to be unfulfilled and disillusioned.
Mick Cooper, in his book ‘Psychology at the Heart of Social Change’ argues that much of our wellbeing has been eroded by the society we live in and in particular the rise of the capitalist system since the dawn of the industrial revolution. Marx spoke of the ‘alienated’ workforce – people who had no connection to their work – they did whatever menial tasks necessary to earn money to survive. This continued – and continues to this day. Many people go to work in unfulfilling jobs, struggling to achieve self-actualisation (or anything resembling it).
Yet for many, the option of leaving their job is an impossibility. Survival – paying the rent, buying food, heating our homes – these are fundamental necessities that we MUST have. They form the basis of Maslow’s ‘Hierarchy of Needs’.
The bottom two layers of the pyramid (not something Maslow used, by the way – this was added later by businessmen who preferred eye-catching designs). Once we get past the basic needs for survival, we move into love, connection and the need for approval. All of these layers connect to the overall wellbeing of the person, each acting like a small part of the individual’s own ecosystem. All very necessary. All playing their part. As with any ecosystem, if a part is out of sync with the rest, anomalies occur and homeostasis is challenged. When we do not have the basics in place – food, water, heating, shelter – then we cannot build upwards in the pyramid.
And what is it that prevents this drive towards self-actualization? Many would argue that mental wellbeing is key. I would argue that mental wellbeing is directly influenced by our work. Feeling unfulfilled, alienated, and usually poorly paid, many are victims of the capitalist system. Or should I say the GREED of the capitalist system? The concept of ‘maximising profit’ is abhorrent and totally incongruous with the needs of the actualising tendency. Profit – of course. We live in a capitalist society. But profit that keeps people in poverty and thus influencing their life chances and their mental wellbeing? That’s just wrong.
Therapeutic Thoughts... 