Category: Inner Life

What Can Philosophers Tell Us About Mental Health Challenges and Stigmatization?

6/1/2022

This month's excellent guest post is contributed by Heidi Bitsoli, a writer and editor for Sunshine Behavioral Health. We hope this original post will bring awareness to mental health challenges and the stigmatization sometimes faced by people experiencing them:

The debate as to whether mental disorders are biological diseases or whether they are merely deviations from social norms is not new. Plato takes on this question in the Phaedrus, a dialog dating back to ancient Greece.

In 2013, C.D. Herrera pointed out that philosophical discourse about mental illness started with the Greeks: “Meaningful talk about inclusion and justice has, since Plato and Aristotle, included observation and speculation which have been directed towards answering questions of what we should do when people reason differently, when they manage emotions differently, and when they resist attempts to bring them into line.”

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7 Common End of Life Regrets - And How to Avoid Having Them

10/29/2019

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When we are children, we can't even imagine the end of our lives. As we grow up, we are often so busy with daily tasks that we forget to notice how quickly life is passing by. We don't allow ourselves to think much about death, because we imagine that we a still have time.

But the truth is that life is short. None of us knows how much time we have. In Plato's Phaedo, he introduces the idea that philosophy is "about nothing else but dying and being dead". The Stoics were also fond of this discipline, and Seneca's letters are full of injunctions to meditate on death. Thinking about death need not be negative. On the contrary, it may inspire us to live betters lives in the here and now.

According to Bronnie Ware, a hospice nurse from Australia, many of her dying patients expressed regrets over how their lives had played out. I've gone on to list 7 of these regrets below. Meditating on common regrets of the dying can help us to put our own lives into perspective before our time is up.

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A Meditation on Courage: 2 Techniques for Overcoming Anxiety

10/16/2018

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In an interview with the World Ethical Data Forum, Julian Assange warned that the generation being born now is the last to be free. The message is quite disturbing. After all, it does seem as though we are headed that way, that long shadows are falling. "Look back over the past with its changing empires that rose and fell, and you can forsee the future too," Marcus Aureluis declares. Is this period of time similar to the fall of Rome? Maybe just the end of the Republic?

Anxiety seems to be at the root of the modern condition. Besides the stress that we deal with in our private lives, there are always political and geopolitical concerns (like the above) that stress us as well. Given all of this, I actually don't think that anxiety is by any means an irrational response. It's only when our response is disproportionate to the threat or when anxiety starts to take over our lives that it really becomes a problem.

I can honestly say that with each new child that we have added to our family, my own anxiety has increased. After all, I have my family's wellbeing to look after, not just my own. Courage however, is a decision. It's how we respond to anxiety provoking thoughts that we have control over, not the external situation. Let me share with you the 2 best techniques that I use to overcome anxiety.

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The Most Powerful Tool For Living Your Best Life

6/20/2018

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Right now is an amazing time to be alive; not least because because we have instant access to so many helpful resources to achieve the goal of living a good life - books, blogs, videos, digital downloads - the possibilities for learning and personal growth are endless.

My friend Jonas Salzgeber recently commented on the phenomenon where we take the time to learn things that will improve our lives, yet fail to properly apply them. In my experience, a major obstacle to putting what we have learned into practice is information overload and it's accompanying disorganization (not just the force of old habit or the lack of will to change - although these are major obstacles too!) Without proper organization and memorization, what sticks in our head after reading a good book or watching an interesting video is piecemeal. It's a matter of chance whether we remember and apply it, despite our best intentions.

The ancient schools of philosophy had their own solution to this problem - handbooks. These were collections of useful and powerful phrases that the students memorized and kept close "at hand," for when they were most needed - in instances of challenge, stress, or trouble. As we'll see, the handbook is the most powerful tool in our arsenal for growth - both an organizational aid for our hectic lives, and a method for directly improving our habits and thinking.

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Why You Should Create Your Own Culture to Be Happier

10/23/2017

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It’s easy to feel overwhelmed by the nonsense bombarding us daily. Sometimes I think that mainstream American culture leaves a lot to be desired. Whenever I get disgusted, I'm reminded of Terrance McKenna's instructions:

“Culture is not your friend. Culture is for other people’s convenience and the convenience of various institutions, churches, companies, tax collection schemes, what have you. Culture insults you. It uses and abuses you. None of us are treated well by culture...We have to create culture, don’t watch TV, don’t read magazines, don’t even listen to NPR. Create your own roadshow.”

McKenna is saying that if you don't consciously build your own meaningful culture in your life, it will be determined for you by dominant personalities, media, propaganda, peers, advertising, and all kinds of other capricious influences who have no business being in your head and determining your preferences and actions.

Life is short, and progress towards virtue is often time consuming and hard won. You should be very selective about what you devote your precious and limited time to. If you want to be happier, cut out expressions of culture that sabotage your happiness and personal growth, and deliberately create your own personal culture of beauty and meaning based on your values, rather than on other peoples'.

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The Top 5 Reasons Political Independents Are Misunderstood

2/14/2017

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In this environment of political tension, being angry is de riguer. I have recently been criticized for not being morally outraged about some public policy issue. It got me thinking, in light of how complex human society is, why the rush to judgment? Why let anger over some abstract political issues get in the way of your relationships with others?

The give and take necessary for discussing controversial subjects in a reasonable way is a learned skill. I'm the first to admit that am not as good at it as I would like to be. My own failure of articulation aside though, I don't want to rush to judgement about complex issues without being able to research and think them over carefully first. The philosopher Jaques Ellul stresses caution in rendering our convictions:

The propagandist can mobilize man for action that is not in accord with his previous convictions. Modern psychologists are well aware that there is not necessarily any continuity between conviction and action, and no intrinsic rationality in opinions or acts. Into these gaps in continuity propaganda inserts its lever. It does not seek to create wise or reasonable men but proselytes and militants.[1]

I have written before that being quick to anger makes you vulnerable to propaganda, which is why you should try to be cautious with your thought process. But in doing so, you are likely to leave yourself open to being misunderstood. In fact, these 5 seemingly reasonable behaviors of political freethinkers and independents might really piss people off:

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6 Fool-Proof Ways to Create a More Relaxed Mental State

6/7/2014

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One reason that I study philosophy is that I’m a somewhat of a high-strung person by nature. I try to apply the lessons in my life.

What I have found is that when you have a relaxed inner life, you generally have a relaxed outer life. To put it another way, you choose to create the types of conditions in your environment which enhance your sense of relaxation and contentment. Even when stressful events happen, you choose to go with the flow and make the most of a bad situation, rather than panicking or dwelling on the negative aspects.

My experiences living in Hawaii for the past 2 months taught me several important lessons about being more laid back. Let me share what I have learned about creating a more relaxed attitude. Following the six steps listed below will put you firmly on the on the path to a more relaxed mental state.

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