Mental health - the practical role of Buddhism

Adrian Philip Debney (Kalyanaka) has been a Buddhist for a number of years and has worked in a career in nursing for 23 years. Around six years ago Adrian developed some psychotic symptoms and he was treated accordingly. Like many others on this blog, he too recovered and he feels that his Buddhist faith and practice were instrumental in his recovery. He went on to become a ward manager. The following piece by Adrian was originally shared online in 2010, on the website of the Friends of the Amida Order.

Mental health - the practical role of Buddhism

There is much interest in the role which Buddhism can play in supporting and treating mental illness. Currently there is media coverage of the increasing role which mindfulness practice can play therapeutically. There are books, articles and many websites which explore this also. As yet, I am unsure how many truly practical Buddhist resources have been developed.

My story may be of interest though. I have been a Buddhist for a number of years. I have also been followed a career in the nursing profession for 23. Three years ago I developed some alarming symptoms. My health deteriorated emotionally and mentally and ultimately physically. These symptoms indicated Schizophrenia and I was treated accordingly. The recovery took me a year. During this time I suffered untold terrors. I met many new people. Some were overwhelmingly kind. Some were not. Most longstanding friends faded away. The illness challenged everything which I know about myself. I found myself largely alone. I needed a little kindness to hang on to and apart from my CPN I did not find it. I once heard someone say that they felt raped by such an illness.

I would like to say though that I went on to recover. But faith was instrumental in this. With much time on my hands I needed routine and hope. I found an old Amida Trust Vinaya book and started to structure my day with a regular meditation. I incorporated a devotional and chanting practice. I moved a shrine into my main living room. I used mindfulness exercises in my daily activities. I read and studied. All of this was makeshift and from memory. My life started to regain a little richness and meaning again. I could interact with the world again.

And remarkably my symptoms began to change and diminish. Eventually I was able to return to work. I became a ward manager in fact. I formed a relationship. I got married in December.

I know that many people are not as lucky as I am. The point is that I already had a faith. And I learned how important this is to me. Others are not so lucky. It is worth noting that at one point my support worker cautioned me about my ‘esoteric’ practices and reported this to my psychiatrist.

But I also experienced mental illness from two perspectives. As a ‘service user’ and as a respected professional from within the hospital. I attended groups at which I met other ill people and I was aghast at what I found. The single most depressing factor for me was the lack of hope. It was crushing.

The hardest part of my journey was my return to work in a high pressured environment. A modern hospital is a harsh place in which to work with its attendant pressures. At first I experienced wariness and distance. Then acceptance and a certain reputation for being ‘brave’. I decided to discuss my illness very publically and with candour. Not a week has gone by since then in which a person hasn’t come up to me to ask ‘how did you do it?’. All of these people either have problems themselves or ‘knows a friend’ or has a spouse with some form of illness. It is epidemic.

I don’t have a central point here. But I do have a conviction that there is much which Buddhism has to offer. Not evangelically but practically. I hope to post further thoughts, topical comments and lines of discussion here. But to start with, in a nut shell, this is my story.

Adrian Philip Debney (Kalyanaka)

The website of the Friends of the Amida Order, hosts a “Buddhism and Mental Illness” group that was created by Adrian. This group offers a forum for those interested in issues surrounding mental illness and Buddhist approaches to it. The “Buddhism and Mental Illness” group can be found here