Preface#
Recently, I plan to resume my weekly journal series and intend to change it to a series of one hour of creative work each week (the one hour is a vague reference, aiming to control it within half a day on weekends). The main goal is to maintain a state of thinking and creation as much as possible. The content of the creation is not limited to specific themes and may revolve around topics I have been thinking about recently.
Asians don't need therapy.
This is a line I heard on a stand-up comedy show. Although the jokes thrown out in stand-up don't need to be taken too seriously, the meaning this sentence conveys is something that every East Asian understands.
Coincidentally, I have also been reflecting on some topics related to mental health recently, and I have some relevant insights.
I will discuss it in two parts. One is about the pursuit of mental health, and the other is about methods of psychotherapy.
Mental Health#
The first time I seriously questioned the concept of mental health was when I was confined at home in Shanghai during the lockdown, seeing many people online sharing various ways to seek psychological counseling. I understand the goodwill behind this, but I still find it ironic. Do I really need psychological counseling? All I need is to go outside and soak up some sun, to live a normal life.
Recently, due to some events, I have been pondering whether I need psychotherapy again, and I once again fell into doubt about the pursuit of "mental health." Assuming "mental health" is indeed a state that can be achieved, what good is it if only I am healthy? What can I do if the people around me are not healthy? In an unhealthy society, most people's mental health issues are not psychological problems but social problems.
Modern people seem to have a kind of worship for the pursuit of mental health. But can the mind really be healthy?
If we compare it to physical health, high blood pressure, diabetes, breast hyperplasia, cervical spondylosis... who doesn't carry some ailments? Yet life continues, right? Living within a controllable range is just how it is. I think mental health is similar. Health, a childhood without trauma, is inherently a luxury. We must accept that we are people who can fall ill at any time. The so-called reconciliation with oneself is just that.
Then why do we pursue mental health? For happiness?
There is some reasoning behind this. For example, the concept I have always accepted is that happiness in intimate relationships comes from mutual respect, and both parties adopt healthy communication methods, and so on. In other words, the key to happiness lies in the mental health of people during their interactions.
But is this true?
Observing many seemingly happy couples around me, it seems that their happiness does not stem from both being psychologically mature and healthy, but rather from their unhealthy points being in sync. In other words, the key to happiness is one willing to give and the other willing to endure.
Psychotherapy#
The pursuit of mental health seems to be a concept that only emerged in modern times. I try to think, if psychological needs are one of the most fundamental needs of humanity, then before modern times, did people have no pursuit of psychological states at all?
Indeed, in traditional Chinese concepts, there has never been a notion of pursuing mental health, but there are many guidelines on what kind of "heart" one should hold. For example, Wang Yangming, who vowed to become a sage, left behind the famous saying before his death: "This heart is bright, what more is there to say?" Yes, does such a life need anything more to be said? Is it still important to judge Wang Yangming's mental health by modern standards?
Human joys and sorrows do not communicate. I often see people online complaining that white therapists cannot understand East Asians' anxieties and fears. It is helpless.
But Chinese people have their own methods of psychotherapy. In recent years, practices like fortune-telling and seeking deities have become popular among young people, and I must say these do indeed contribute to mental health. From what I understand, at least the Eastern fortune-telling systems contain a complete philosophy of yin and yang, and the implication that "one cannot always be smooth sailing, nor can one always be in a low point; there must be ups and downs" is full of wisdom. Who can say that these effects are worse than cognitive therapy? Moreover, the most important thing is that for a country where 600 million people earn only 1000 yuan a month, psychotherapy is indeed a luxury.
There are many dimensions to viewing the world; no one is absolutely right or absolutely wrong. If science and the psychoanalysis/psychology that extends from it are another form of redemption after the death of God, then the Chinese, who have never had faith for thousands of years, have long formed their own redemption vouchers.
Regarding the concept of mental health, I have indeed somewhat "disenchanted" it.