Mental Health and Self Knowledge
It occurred to me today that the stigma that surrounds mental health and the concept of getting help from a coach, counsellor or therapist is a liability to ourselves and society, every bit as dangerous as ignoring a disease of the physical body by imagining that it was a stigma to visit a doctor. If we had a broken leg we would go to a hospital to have it set and mended by an expert. If we had an infectious disease we would be put into an isolation ward and await expert care. Problems of a mental and emotional kind can influence and impact those around us and yet people often consider it a weakness to admit to mental stress or to seek help for such things. Surely we all have a responsibility to seek expert help in situations of mental or emotional stress (which are often a natural part of human life) in order to understand and identify alternative ways of managing ourselves, others and the situations in which we find ourselves.
Why should any of us see mental or emotional problems as a weakness? Is getting a broken leg mended a weakness? Is going into isolation for a communicable disease a weakness? Surely not. And yet the mental and emotional problems of one person can impact others in just as serious and damaging a way. Self-knowledge, therefore, is something each one of us has a responsibility to seek – both for our own benefit and for the benefit of those around us, whether loved ones, friends, colleagues, direct reports, or clients. Without self-knowledge we cannot know how others perceive us or know the impact our behaviour may have on others – for better or for worse. It is a lifetime’s journey. Psychometric profiling such as the Herrmann HBDI Thinking Preference Profile, the DiSC Personality at Work and the Myers Briggs MBTI Personality Profile can provide huge insights into oneself and how one interacts with the world. http://www.positiveworks.com/products/profiling.htm. Coaching sessions provide a process of self-reflection to build strategies for change.
Philosophers through the centuries have advised us to ‘Know Thyself’ and however difficult it is in today’s world to take time out to consider who we are and how we influence others surely it is an essential part of being an aware and conscious human being to do so, for the sake of ourselves and those with whom we come into contact both at home and at work.
on October 1st, 2007 at 5:54 am
I whole heartedly agree with your view point and want to add that often times people are deeply mistrustful of of the processes involved in therapy/counselling/coaching work and fear that by allowing themselves to open up and admit to difficulties in coping they are going to fall apart and not be able to gather themselves up again… this is understandable and yet far from the reality of what happens in such work… in the end by seeing more clearly we have the possibility of making choices in how we respond/react/deal with life issues.
on October 22nd, 2007 at 9:14 am
I’m researcher in Iran and I want know about how self knowledge promotes mental health and Decreases at risk behavior please send to me article,research or text.Thank you.
Helen replied:
In my own experience as psychologist, executive coach and trainer, self-knowledge is the one crucial factor in mental health. Without this we do not understand ourselves and our reactions and responses to situations and to people. Equally we do not understand the impact that our own behaviour may have on others. Self-knowledge is also crucial to setting personal and career goals that align with one’s own unique strengths and style; and to making decisions that align with personal values. It helps us to understand our drives and motivators and why certain situations cause us stress, disappointment or anger.
When one combines self-knowledge with Cognitive-Behavioural psychology methods it provides people with models and strategies to manage themselves and their emotions more effectively and to meet life’s challenging situations in a calm and confident manner. In other words when someone knows themself it enables them to make the most of themselves and develop their potential.
With regard to theoretical research I would say that there is a plethora of information and research on this as it has been the fundamental basis of most philosophy, religion and psychology and certainly Jung and Freud based their theories on this, as have all psychologists since.
on July 30th, 2008 at 12:41 pm
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