Our latest guest blog post is from PhD researcher, Katja Milner, talking about her research into spirituality and mental health recovery.
In search of psyche
For some strange reason the word ‘spirituality’ has seemed taboo or difficult to talk about for many people within our culture. In my Masters dissertation which was titled ‘In search of psyche’ I explored why this might have been, and found that there might be historical roots to the marginalisation of this dimension within our everyday life.
Sometimes spirituality is seen as something very mystical or out of reach, only for some very religious people, or something that might be confusing or even off-putting. However, my own experiences exploring spirituality, and speaking with many people along the way, has provided a very different picture.
Even going through the pandemic has seemed to have brought out this dimension within people, as we have sometimes been appreciating much more those important connections in life: to our loved ones, to nature, to forms of creativity which may help us to get through difficult times. Also in tending to our own wellbeing and self-care; that important relationship with ourselves which can often get drowned out within the every-day busy life.
Making meaning
Spirituality can mean lots of different things to different people, but is often more ‘every-day’ than we might have been brought up to believe. For some people it is religious and for others not. It is essentially about what gives us meaning and purpose in life and about how we make sense of and connect with ourselves, others and the world around us. Because of this, spirituality can become particularly important during times of challenge, illness and transition. We can start to question our priorities, think about how well we are nurturing or taking care of ourselves, and reflect on what gives our lives real meaning and purpose.
It is the connection between spirituality and mental health which has particularly inspired my own journey and exploration. I had a long-standing interest in both all my adult life; mental health after studying psychology, and spirituality as part of a personal interest. In 2008 I was offered a role which allowed me to bring these two dimensions together. Within this role as a Spiritual Care Practitioner and then Spirituality Lead, working as part of Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust’s Chaplaincy and Spiritual Care Service, I spent nearly 8 years listening to people’s personal accounts of their spiritual journeys and experiences, as well as how these impacted their mental health and recovery.
Spirituality and recovery
People also shared their personal wisdom and ideas within a recovery college course I created and taught at the Nottingham Recovery College. An atmosphere of a safe non-judgemental space was set up to encourage students to explore the topic of spirituality and recovery in a collaborative way, and with an ethos of care and respect.
It was these experiences and the inspiration and wisdom I continually picked up from students and people I worked with who used mental health services, that inspired me to research at PhD level people’s lived experiences of spirituality and mental health. The evidence base in this field was consistently demonstrating that spirituality would often be supportive to people’s mental health and recovery, and when it wasn’t, a key factor might be because there was a lack of support or understanding within that person’s journey.
MISTIC
I began by examing existing research on the experiences of spirituality in adults with mental health difficulties. Six main themes were identified in relation to what participants said were important aspects of these experiences, creating the acronym MISTIC:
- Meaning making,
- Identity
- Service provision
- Talk about it
- Interaction with symptoms
- Coping.
The findings were published here. One of the aims of this article was to help make this topic area easier to understand for clinicians, practitioners, service users and anyone interested in wellbeing. To support this aim, this year I worked with a designer Ellie Shipman and we created two attractive user-friendly resources – one for clinicians/practitioners and one for people to use as a reflection tool for their own wellbeing. You can read more about this and get the resource here.
Although spirituality and mental health is a complex topic area, and one which can be missed from training and teaching curriculums, and mental health provision, I hope that with greater understanding, people can feel comfortable talking about it if they wish to. Research indicates that opening conversations about these topics, if done with consent, sensitivity and respect, can promote understanding, engagement and even recovery. And I think it can also cultivate a sense of connection, compassion and self-awareness, as we always have so much more to learn about ourselves and each other, particularly during times of crisis, healing and transformation.
My PhD research is supervised by Paul Crawford, Mike Slade and Alison Edgley in the School of Health Sciences and Institute of Mental Health and is funded by the ESRC. Email