Essays on Mental Health
By Dr Neel Burton — Psychiatrist, philosopher, and wine writer; Fellow of Green Templeton College, University of Oxford; author of over twenty books.
There is more to mental health than the absence of mental disorder.
As a psychiatrist and philosopher, I have spent much of my working life thinking about what it means to be mentally healthy—and whether mental suffering is always simply something to be treated or suppressed.
Mental health is not merely the absence of anxiety, depression, or other mental disorder. It also involves the ability to understand ourselves, to form meaningful relationships, to withstand adversity, to find purpose and perspective, and, ultimately, to flourish and fulfil our potential as human beings.
Sometimes our suffering may even have something to teach us. Depression can force us to reassess a life that is not working. Anxiety can draw attention to the things we most value and fear. Adversity can deepen us, while philosophy can help us to see ourselves and our problems in a different light.
The essays gathered here approach mental health from many directions: psychiatry and psychology, certainly, but also philosophy, literature, mythology, and the accumulated wisdom of traditions such as Stoicism and Buddhism.
Featured Essays
The Myth of Chiron, the Wounded Healer, and Its Meaning — A Psychiatrist and Philosopher Interprets the Myth of Chiron
What Depression is For — My Philosophy of (Most) Depression
The Root of All Anxiety — The Deepest Cure for Fear and Anxiety—No Prescription Required
What If We’ve Got Happiness Wrong? —Why Eudaimonia Is Better Than Happiness
The Comfort Trap — 10 Unexpected Benefits of Voluntary Hardship
The Metaphor of the Stoic Archer, Explained — Why the Stoics Believed Success Is Not the Measure of a Good Life
How to Deal With Insults, the Stoic Way — What Is the Strongest Response to an Insult?
Why Intelligent People Crave Silence — Hate Noise? You Might Be a Genius
What If My Life Is Not Mine? — Sartre, Bad Faith, and the Freedom We Deny
The Ambition Trap — The Psychology and Philosophy of Ambition
What Is the Meaning of Life? — Purpose, Freedom, and the Search for Meaning
Aristotle on Friendship — Why Friendship is Essential to the Good Life
Schopenhauer’s Hedgehog Dilemma — Finding the Right Distance Between Self and Others
The Odyssey Is About Becoming Ourselves — Why Odysseus’ Journey Is Also Our Own
Why We Weep for Odysseus’ Dog — Recognition, Memory, and the Need to Find our Way Home
The Greek Dog and the Indian Dog | The Odyssey and the Mahabharata — What Homer Can Teach Us About Ghosting
The Buddha’s Solution to Desire and Suffering — Buddhism’s Most Important Teachings: The Middle Way, Four Noble Truths, and Eightfold Path
Continue Exploring
Explore more subjects in the Index Scriptorum.
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