7 Myths About Mental Health

The following comes from Gregg Krech’s book

A Natural Approach to Mental Wellness.

Myth 1. You need to get in touch with feelings you don’t know you have.

Myth 2. It is important to examine the ways you have been hurt or mistreated in the past.

Myth 3. You need to understand why you do what you do in order to change what you do.

Myth 4. Expressing your feelings is a way to release or get rid of them.

Myth 5. It is necessary to acquire self-esteem or confidence before you can take action or change how you are living.

Myth 6. You can control your feelings by your will

Myth 7.  FDA-approved medications are safe.

These are assumptions that are commonly held by both mental health professionals and clients, as well as by the population at large.  But are they actually true?  It is important to investigate and challenge assumptions, rather than blindly accept them, even if they are commonly embraced without question.  

For example, there’s a widely held view that expressing feelings, like anger, is a way for us to release or get rid of them. When I studied with Thich Nhat Hanh, he suggested that expressing our feelings was more like “rehearsing” them.  The more we express anger, the better we get at expressing anger. Rather than “releasing” feelings, we develop the habit of expressing them. Perhaps, then, this would be true for loving feelings as well — a habit we might want to cultivate.

Join us for the Mental Wellness program, as we explore these assumptions and find out what’s true in our own lives.   Bring an inquiring mind, and see what you can discover and clarify over the course of this thought-provoking month.  

— Gregg Krech

“If you’re looking for an alternative to the traditional approach to western psychotherapy, this book is for you.”  – Dan Millman (author, Way of the Peaceful Warrior)