Who are you? asks the caterpillar in Lewis Carrolls famous book Alice in Wonderland. Alice hesitantly replies, II hardly know.

Many people share her uncertainty.

Have you ever asked yourself who you really are beneath the personality, thought and belief system that youve accumulated over the years? Perhaps you are on your own journey of personal development or a spiritual path, however you dene it, with a deep longing to live to your full potential.

Over time youve become good at displaying and even identifying with your public face or persona, the one that helps you get along in life. You are not alone. Its part of the human socialization process. Yet at a deep level you know theres a real, authentic you that wants to wake up and live with more compassion and freedom, energy and purpose.

Maybe you are simply looking for:

a greater ability to handle stress a calmer and clearer mind more focus and purpose in your life improved relationships and communication skills a life with more passion and energy a deeper sense of happiness and freedom

Perhaps you have your own unique intentions or goals?

If these words have meaning for you then I encourage you to sign up for this retreat.

Go here to read the rest:
Enlightenment Intensive Retreats | in Alberta, Canada

Mental health is a level of psychological well-being, or an absence of mental illness. It is the "psychological state of someone who is functioning at a satisfactory level of emotional and behavioural adjustment".[1] From the perspective of positive psychology or holism, mental health may include an individual's ability to enjoy life, and create a balance between life activities and efforts to achieve psychological resilience. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), mental health includes "subjective well-being, perceived self-efficacy, autonomy, competence, inter-generational dependence, and self-actualization of one's intellectual and emotional potential, among others."[2] The WHO further states that the well-being of an individual is encompassed in the realization of their abilities, coping with normal stresses of life, productive work and contribution to their community.[3] Cultural differences, subjective assessments, and competing professional theories all affect how "mental health" is defined.[2]

According to the U.K. surgeon general (1999), mental health is the successful performance of mental function, resulting in productive activities, fulfilling relationships with other people, and providing the ability to adapt to change and cope with adversity. The term mental illness refers collectively to all diagnosable mental disordershealth conditions characterized by alterations in thinking, mood, or behavior associated with distress or impaired functioning.[4]

A person struggling with their mental health may experience this because of stress, loneliness, depression, anxiety, relationship problems, death of a loved one, suicidal thoughts, grief, addiction, ADHD, various mood disorders, or other mental illnesses of varying degrees, as well as learning disabilities.[5][6] Therapists, psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers, nurse practitioners or physicians can help manage mental illness with treatments such as therapy, counseling, or medication.

In the mid-19th century, William Sweetser was the first to coin the term "mental hygiene", which can be seen as the precursor to contemporary approaches to work on promoting positive mental health.[7][8] Isaac Ray, one of the founders and the fourth president [9] of the American Psychiatric Association, further defined mental hygiene as "the art of preserving the mind against all incidents and influences calculated to deteriorate its qualities, impair its energies, or derange its movements."[8]

Dorothea Dix (18021887) was an important figure in the development of "mental hygiene" movement. Dix was a school teacher who endeavored throughout her life to help people with mental disorders, and to bring to light the deplorable conditions into which they were put.[10] This was known as the "mental hygiene movement".[10] Before this movement, it was not uncommon that people affected by mental illness in the 19th century would be considerably neglected, often left alone in deplorable conditions, barely even having sufficient clothing.[10] Dix's efforts were so great that there was a rise in the number of patients in mental health facilities, which sadly resulted in these patients receiving less attention and care, as these institutions were largely understaffed.[10]

Emil Kraepelin in 1896 developed the taxonomy of mental disorders which has dominated the field for nearly 80 years. Later the proposed disease model of abnormality was subjected to analysis and considered normality to be relative to the physical, geographical and cultural aspects of the defining group.

At the beginning of the 20th century, Clifford Beers founded the Mental Health America National Committee for Mental Hygiene after publication of his accounts from lived experience in lunatic asylums "A mind that found itself" in 1908[11] and opened the first outpatient mental health clinic in the United States.[12]

The mental hygiene movement, related to the social hygiene movement, had at times been associated with advocating eugenics and sterilisation of those considered too mentally deficient to be assisted into productive work and contented family life.[13][14] In the post-WWII years, references to mental hygiene were gradually replaced by the term 'mental health' due to its positive aspect that evolves from the treatment of illness to preventive and promotive areas of healthcare.[15]

Marie Jahoda described six major, fundamental categories that can be used to categorize mentally healthy individuals: a positive attitude towards the self, personal growth, integration, autonomy, a true perception of reality, and environmental mastery, which include adaptability and healthy interpersonal relationships.[16]

Mental illnesses are more common than cancer, diabetes, or heart disease. Over 26 percent of all Americans over the age of 18 meet the criteria for having a mental illness.[17] A WHO report estimates the global cost of mental illness at nearly $2.5 trillion (two-thirds in indirect costs) in 2010, with a projected increase to over $6 trillion by 2030.

Evidence from the World Health Organization suggests that nearly half of the world's population are affected by mental illness with an impact on their self-esteem, relationships and ability to function in everyday life.[18] An individual's emotional health can also impact physical health and poor mental health can lead to problems such as substance abuse.[19]

Maintaining good mental health is crucial to living a long and healthy life. Good mental health can enhance one's life, while poor mental health can prevent someone from living an enriching life. According to Richards, Campania, & Muse-Burke, "There is growing evidence that is showing emotional abilities are associated with prosocial behaviors such as stress management and physical health."[19] Their research also concluded that people who lack emotional expression are inclined to anti-social behaviors (e.g., drug and alcohol abuse, physical fights, vandalism), which are a direct reflection of their mental health and suppress emotions.[19] Adults and children with mental illness may experience social stigma, which can exacerbate the issues.[20]

Mental health can be seen as an unstable continuum, where an individual's mental health may have many different possible values.[21] Mental wellness is generally viewed as a positive attribute, even if the person does not have any diagnosed mental health condition. This definition of mental health highlights emotional well-being, the capacity to live a full and creative life, and the flexibility to deal with life's inevitable challenges. Some discussions are formulated in terms of contentment or happiness.[22] Many therapeutic systems and self-help books offer methods and philosophies espousing strategies and techniques vaunted as effective for further improving the mental wellness. Positive psychology is increasingly prominent in mental health.

A holistic model of mental health generally includes concepts based upon anthropological, educational, psychological, religious and sociological perspectives, as well as theoretical perspectives from personality, social, clinical, health and developmental psychology.[23]

The tripartite model of mental well-being[21][25] views mental well-being as encompassing three components of emotional well-being, social well-being, and psychological well-being. Emotional well-being is defined as having high levels of positive emotions, whereas social and psychological well-being are defined as the presence of psychological and social skills and abilities that contribute to optimal functioning in daily life. The model has received empirical support across cultures.[25][26][27] The Mental Health Continuum-Short Form (MHC-SF) is the most widely used scale to measure the tripartite model of mental well-being.[28][29][30]

Mental health and stability is a very important factor in a persons everyday life. Social skills, behavioral skills, and someones way of thinking are just some of the things that the human brain develops at an early age. Learning how to interact with others and how to focus on certain subjects are essential lessons to learn from the time we can talk all the way to when we are so old that we can barely walk. However, there are some people out there who have difficulty with these kind of skills and behaving like an average person. This is a most likely the cause of having a mental illness. A mental illness is a wide range of conditions that affect a persons mood, thinking, and behavior. About 26% of people in the United States, ages 18 and older, have been diagnosed with some kind of mental disorder. However, not much is said about children with mental illnesses even though there are many that will develop one, even as early as age three.

The most common mental illnesses in children include, but are not limited to, ADHD, autism and anxiety disorder, as well as depression in older children and teens. Having a mental illness at a younger age is much different from having one in your thirties. Children's brains are still developing and will continue to develop until around the age of twenty-five.[31] When a mental illness is thrown into the mix, it becomes significantly harder for a child to acquire the necessary skills and habits that people use throughout the day. For example, behavioral skills dont develop as fast as motor or sensory skills do.[31] So when a child has an anxiety disorder, they begin to lack proper social interaction and associate many ordinary things with intense fear.[32] This can be scary for the child because they dont necessarily understand why they act and think the way that they do. Many researchers say that parents should keep an eye on their child if they have any reason to believe that something is slightly off.[31] If the children are evaluated earlier, they become more acquainted to their disorder and treating it becomes part of their daily routine.[31] This is opposed to adults who might not recover as quickly because it is more difficult for them to adapt.

Mental illness affects not only the person themselves, but the people around them. Friends and family also play an important role in the childs mental health stability and treatment. If the child is young, parents are the ones who evaluate their child and decide whether or not they need some form of help.[33] Friends are a support system for the child and family as a whole. Living with a mental disorder is never easy, so its always important to have people around to make the days a little easier. However, there are negative factors that come with the social aspect of mental illness as well. Parents are sometimes held responsible for their childs own illness.[33] People also say that the parents raised their children in a certain way or they acquired their behavior from them. Family and friends are sometimes so ashamed of the idea of being close to someone with a disorder that the child feels isolated and thinks that they have to hide their illness from others.[33] When in reality, hiding it from people prevents the child from getting the right amount of social interaction and treatment in order to thrive in todays society.

Stigma is also a well-known factor in mental illness. Stigma is defined as a mark of disgrace associated with a particular circumstance, quality, or person. Stigma is used especially when it comes to the mentally disabled. People have this assumption that everyone with a mental problem, no matter how mild or severe, is automatically considered destructive or a criminal person. Thanks to the media, this idea has been planted in our brains from a young age.[34] Watching movies about teens with depression or children with Autism makes us think that all of the people that have a mental illness are like the ones on TV. In reality, the media displays an exaggerated version of most illnesses. Unfortunately, not many people know that, so they continue to belittle those with disorders. In a recent study, a majority of young people associate mental illness with extreme sadness or violence.[35] Now that children are becoming more and more open to technology and the media itself, future generations will then continue to pair mental illness with negative thoughts. The media should be explaining that many people with disorders like ADHD and anxiety, with the right treatment, can live ordinary lives and should not be punished for something they cannot help.

Sueki, (2013) carried out a study titled The effect of suiciderelated internet use on users mental health: A longitudinal Study. This study investigated the effects of suicide-related internet use on users suicidal thoughts, predisposition to depression and anxiety and loneliness. The study consisted of 850 internet users; the data was obtained by carrying out a questionnaire amongst the participants. This study found that browsing websites related to suicide, and methods used to commit suicide, had a negative effect on suicidal thoughts and increased depression and anxiety tendencies. The study concluded that as suicide-related internet use adversely affected the mental health of certain age groups it may be prudent to reduce or control their exposure to these websites. These findings certainly suggest that the internet can indeed have a profoundly negative impact on our mental health.[36]

Psychiatrist Thomas Szasz compared that 50 years ago children were either categorized as good or bad, and today "all children are good, but some are mentally healthy and others are mentally ill". The social control and forced identity creation is the cause of many mental health problems among today's children.[37] A behaviour or misbehaviour might not be an illness but exercise of their free will and today's immediacy in drug administration for every problem along with the legal over-guarding and regard of a child's status as a dependent shakes their personal self and invades their internal growth.

Mental health is conventionally defined as a hybrid of absence of a mental disorder and presence of well-being. Focus is increasing on preventing mental disorders. Prevention is beginning to appear in mental health strategies, including the 2004 WHO report "Prevention of Mental Disorders", the 2008 EU "Pact for Mental Health" and the 2011 US National Prevention Strategy.[38][pageneeded] Some commentators have argued that a pragmatic and practical approach to mental disorder prevention at work would be to treat it the same way as physical injury prevention.[39]

Prevention of a disorder at a young age may significantly decrease the chances that a child will suffer from a disorder later in life, and shall be the most efficient and effective measure from a public health perspective.[40] Prevention may require the regular consultation of a physician for at least twice a year to detect any signs that reveal any mental health concerns.[citation needed]

Mental health is a socially constructed and socially defined concept; that is, different societies, groups, cultures, institutions and professions have very different ways of conceptualizing its nature and causes, determining what is mentally healthy, and deciding what interventions, if any, are appropriate.[41] Thus, different professionals will have different cultural, class, political and religious backgrounds, which will impact the methodology applied during treatment.

Research has shown that there is stigma attached to mental illness.[42] In the United Kingdom, the Royal College of Psychiatrists organized the campaign Changing Minds (19982003) to help reduce stigma.[43] Due to this stigma, responses to a positive diagnosis may be a display of denialism.[44]

Many mental health professionals are beginning to, or already understand, the importance of competency in religious diversity and spirituality. The American Psychological Association explicitly states that religion must be respected. Education in spiritual and religious matters is also required by the American Psychiatric Association.[45]

Unemployment has been shown to have a negative impact on an individual's emotional well-being, self-esteem and more broadly their mental health. Increasing unemployment has been show to have a significant impact on mental health, predominantly depressive disorders.[46] This is an important consideration when reviewing the triggers for mental health disorders in any population survey.[47] In order to improve your emotional mental health, the root of the issue has to be resolved. "Prevention emphasizes the avoidance of risk factors; promotion aims to enhance an individual's ability to achieve a positive sense of self-esteem, mastery, well-being, and social inclusion."[48] It is very important to improve your emotional mental health by surrounding yourself with positive relationships. We as humans, feed off companionships and interaction with other people. Another way to improve your emotional mental health is participating in activities that can allow you to relax and take time for yourself. Yoga is a great example of an activity that calms your entire body and nerves. According to a study on well-being by Richards, Campania and Muse-Burke, "mindfulness is considered to be a purposeful state, it may be that those who practice it believe in its importance and value being mindful, so that valuing of self-care activities may influence the intentional component of mindfulness."[19]

Mental health care navigation helps to guide patients and families through the fragmented, often confusing mental health industries. Care navigators work closely with patients and families through discussion and collaboration to provide information on best therapies as well as referrals to practitioners and facilities specializing in particular forms of emotional improvement. The difference between therapy and care navigation is that the care navigation process provides information and directs patients to therapy rather than providing therapy. Still, care navigators may offer diagnosis and treatment planning. Though many care navigators are also trained therapists and doctors. Care navigation is the link between the patient and the below therapies. A clear recognition that mental health requires medical intervention was demonstrated in a study by Kessler et al. of the prevalence and treatment of mental disorders from 1990 to 2003 in the United States. Despite the prevalence of mental health disorders remaining unchanged during this period, the number of patients seeking treatment for mental disorders increased threefold.[49]

Emotional mental disorders are a leading cause of disabilities worldwide. Investigating the degree and severity of untreated emotional mental disorders throughout the world is a top priority of the World Mental Health (WMH) survey initiative,[50] which was created in 1998 by the World Health Organization (WHO).[51] "Neuropsychiatric disorders are the leading causes of disability worldwide, accounting for 37% of all healthy life years lost through disease.These disorders are most destructive to low and middle-income countries due to their inability to provide their citizens with proper aid. Despite modern treatment and rehabilitation for emotional mental health disorders, "even economically advantaged societies have competing priorities and budgetary constraints".

The World Mental Health survey initiative has suggested a plan for countries to redesign their mental health care systems to best allocate resources. "A first step is documentation of services being used and the extent and nature of unmet needs for treatment. A second step could be to do a cross-national comparison of service use and unmet needs in countries with different mental health care systems. Such comparisons can help to uncover optimum financing, national policies, and delivery systems for mental health care."

Knowledge of how to provide effective emotional mental health care has become imperative worldwide. Unfortunately, most countries have insufficient data to guide decisions, absent or competing visions for resources, and near constant pressures to cut insurance and entitlements. WMH surveys were done in Africa (Nigeria, South Africa), the Americas (Colombia, Mexico, United States), Asia and the Pacific (Japan, New Zealand, Beijing and Shanghai in the People's Republic of China), Europe (Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Spain, Ukraine), and the middle east (Israel, Lebanon). Countries were classified with World Bank criteria as low-income (Nigeria), lower middle-income (China, Colombia, South Africa, Ukraine), higher middle-income (Lebanon, Mexico), and high-income.

The coordinated surveys on emotional mental health disorders, their severity, and treatments were implemented in the aforementioned countries. These surveys assessed the frequency, types, and adequacy of mental health service use in 17 countries in which WMH surveys are complete. The WMH also examined unmet needs for treatment in strata defined by the seriousness of mental disorders. Their research showed that "the number of respondents using any 12-month mental health service was generally lower in developing than in developed countries, and the proportion receiving services tended to correspond to countries' percentages of gross domestic product spent on health care". "High levels of unmet need worldwide are not surprising, since WHO Project ATLAS' findings of much lower mental health expenditures than was suggested by the magnitude of burdens from mental illnesses. Generally, unmet needs in low-income and middle-income countries might be attributable to these nations spending reduced amounts (usually <1%) of already diminished health budgets on mental health care, and they rely heavily on out-of-pocket spending by citizens who are ill equipped for it".

Archaeological records have shown that trepanation was a procedure used to treat "headaches, insanities or epilepsy" in several parts of the world in the Stone age. It was a surgical process used in the Stone Age. Paul Broca studied trepanation and came up with his own theory on it. He noticed that the fractures on the skulls dug up weren't caused by wounds inflicted due to violence, but because of careful surgical procedures. "Doctors used sharpened stones to scrape the skull and drill holes into the head of the patient" to allow evil spirits which plagued the patient to escape. There were several patients that died in these procedures, but those that survived were revered and believed to possess "properties of a mystical order".[1] [2]

Lobotomy was used in the 20th century as a common practice of alternative treatment for mental illnesses such as schizophrenia and depression. The first ever modern leucotomy meant for the purpose of treating a mental illness occurred in 1935 by a Portuguese neurologist, Antonio Egas Moniz. He received the Nobel Prize in medicine in 1949. [3]. This belief that mental health illnesses could be treated by surgery came from Swiss neurologist, Gottlieb Burckhardt. After conducting experiments on six patients with schizophrenia, he claimed that half of his patients recovered or calmed down. Psychiatrist Walter Freeman believed that "an overload of emotions led to mental illness and that cutting certain nerves in the brain could eliminate excess emotion and stabilize a personality, according to a National Public Radio article[4]."

"Exorcism is the religious or spiritual practice of evicting demons or other spiritual entities from a person, or an area, they are believed to have possessed."

Mental health illnesses such as Huntingtons Disease (HD), Tourette syndrome and schizophrenia were believed to be signs of possession by the Devil. This led to several mentally ill patients being subjected to exorcisms. This practice has been around for a long time, though decreasing steadily until it reached a low in the 18th century. It seldom occurred until the 20th century when the numbers rose due to the attention the media was giving to exorcisms. Different belief systems practice exorcisms in different ways. [52]

Physical activity is a very good way to help improve your mental health as well as your physical health. Playing sports and doing any form of physical activity can trigger the production of endorphins. Endorphins are natural mood enhancers. [53]

Activity therapies, also called recreation therapy and occupational therapy, promote healing through active engagement. Making crafts can be a part of occupational therapy. Walks can be a part of recreation therapy. In recent years colouring has been recognised as an activity which has been proven to significantly lower the levels of depressive symptoms and anxiety in many studies. [54]

Expressive therapies are a form of psychotherapy that involves the arts or art-making. These therapies include music therapy, art therapy, dance therapy, drama therapy, and poetry therapy. It has been proven that Music therapy is an effective way of helping people who suffer from a mental health disorder.[55]

Psychotherapy is the general term for scientific based treatment of mental health issues based on modern medicine. It includes a number of schools, such as gestalt therapy, psychoanalysis, cognitive behavioral therapy and dialectical behavioral therapy. Group therapy involves any type of therapy that takes place in a setting involving multiple people. It can include psychodynamic groups, activity groups for expressive therapy, support groups (including the Twelve-step program), problem-solving and psychoeducation groups.

The practice of mindfulness meditation has several mental health benefits, such as bringing about reductions in depression, anxiety and stress.[56][57][58][59] Mindfulness meditation may also be effective in treating substance use disorders.[60][61] Further, mindfulness meditation appears to bring about favorable structural changes in the brain.[62][63][64]

The Heartfulness meditation program has proven to show significant improvements in the state of mind of health-care professionals[65]. A study posted on the US National Library of Medicine showed that these professionals of varied stress levels were able to improve their conditions after this meditation program was conducted. They benefited in aspects of burnouts and emotional wellness.

People with anxiety disorders participated in a stress-reduction program conducted by researchers from the Mental Health Service Line at the W.G. Hefner Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Salisbury, North Carolina. The participants practiced mindfulness meditation. After the study was over, it was concluded that the "mindfulness meditation training program can effectively reduce symptoms of anxiety and panic and can help maintain these reductions in patients with generalized anxiety disorder, panic disorder, or panic disorder with agoraphobia."[66]

Spiritual counselors meet with people in need to offer comfort and support and to help them gain a better understanding of their issues and develop a problem-solving relation with spirituality. These types of counselors deliver care based on spiritual, psychological and theological principles.[67][unreliable source?]

Social work in mental health, also called psychiatric social work, is a process where an individual in a setting is helped to attain freedom from overlapping internal and external problems (social and economic situations, family and other relationships, the physical and organizational environment, psychiatric symptoms, etc.). It aims for harmony, quality of life, self-actualization and personal adaptation across all systems. Psychiatric social workers are mental health professionals that can assist patients and their family members in coping with both mental health issues and various economic or social problems caused by mental illness or psychiatric dysfunctions and to attain improved mental health and well-being. They are vital members of the treatment teams in Departments of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences in hospitals. They are employed in both outpatient and inpatient settings of a hospital, nursing homes, state and local governments, substance abuse clinics, correctional facilities, health care services...etc.[68]

In psychiatric social work there are three distinct groups. One made up of the social workers in psychiatric organizations and hospitals. The second group consists members interested with mental hygiene education and holding designations that involve functioning in various mental health services and the third group consist of individuals involved directly with treatment and recovery process.[69]

In the United States, social workers provide most of the mental health services. According to government sources, 60 percent of mental health professionals are clinically trained social workers, 10 percent are psychiatrists, 23 percent are psychologists, and 5 percent are psychiatric nurses.[70]

Mental health social workers in Japan have professional knowledge of health and welfare and skills essential for person's well-being. Their social work training enables them as a professional to carry out Consultation assistance for mental disabilities and their social reintegration; Consultation regarding the rehabilitation of the victims; Advice and guidance for post-discharge residence and re-employment after hospitalized care, for major life events in regular life, money and self-management and in other relevant matters in order to equip them to adapt in daily life. Social workers provide individual home visits for mentally ill and do welfare services available, with specialized training a range of procedural services are coordinated for home, workplace and school. In an administrative relationship, Psychiatric social workers provides consultation, leadership, conflict management and work direction. Psychiatric social workers who provides assessment and psychosocial interventions function as a clinician, counselor and municipal staff of the health centers.[71]

Social workers play many roles in mental health settings, including those of case manager, advocate, administrator, and therapist. The major functions of a psychiatric social worker are promotion and prevention, treatment, and rehabilitation. Social workers may also practice:

Psychiatric social workers conduct psychosocial assessments of the patients and work to enhance patient and family communications with the medical team members and ensure the inter-professional cordiality in the team to secure patients with the best possible care and to be active partners in their care planning. Depending upon the requirement, social workers are often involved in illness education, counseling and psychotherapy. In all areas, they are pivotal to the aftercare process to facilitate a careful transition back to family and community. [72]

During the 1840s, Dorothea Lynde Dix, a retired Boston teacher who is considered the founder of the Mental Health Movement, began a crusade that would change the way people with mental disorders were viewed and treated. Dix was not a social worker; the profession was not established until after her death in 1887. However, her life and work were embraced by early psychiatric social workers, and she is considered one of the pioneers of psychiatric social work along with Elizabeth Horton, who in 1907 was the first psychiatric social worker in the New York hospital system, and others.[73] The early twentieth century was a time of progressive change in attitudes towards mental illness. Community Mental Health Centers Act was passed in 1963. This policy encouraged the deinstitutionalisation of people with mental illness. Later, mental health consumer movement came by 1980s. A consumer was defined as a person who has received or is currently receiving services for a psychiatric condition. People with mental disorders and their families became advocates for better care. Building public understanding and awareness through consumer advocacy helped bring mental illness and its treatment into mainstream medicine and social services.[74] In the 2000s focus was on Managed care movement which aimed at a health care delivery system to eliminate unnecessary and inappropriate care in order to reduce costs & Recovery movement in which by principle acknowledges that many people with serious mental illness spontaneously recover and others recover and improve with proper treatment.[75]

Role of social workers made an impact with 2003 invasion of Iraq and War in Afghanistan (200114) social workers worked out of the NATO hospital in Afghanistan and Iraq bases. They made visits to provide counseling services at forward operating bases. Twenty-two percent of the clients were diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, 17 percent with depression, and 7 percent with alcohol abuse.[76] In 2009, a high level of suicides was reached among active-duty soldiers: 160 confirmed or suspected Army suicides. In 2008, the Marine Corps had a record 52 suicides.[77] The stress of long and repeated deployments to war zones, the dangerous and confusing nature of both wars, wavering public support for the wars, and reduced troop morale have all contributed to the escalating mental health issues.[78] Military and civilian social workers are primary service providers in the veterans health care system.

Mental health services, is a loose network of services ranging from highly structured inpatient psychiatric units to informal support groups, where psychiatric social workers indulges in the diverse approaches in multiple settings along with other paraprofessional workers.

A role for psychiatric social workers was established early in Canadas history of service delivery in the field of population health. Native North Americans understood mental trouble as an indication of an individual who had lost their equilibrium with the sense of place and belonging in general, and with the rest of the group in particular. In native healing beliefs, health and mental health were inseparable, so similar combinations of natural and spiritual remedies were often employed to relieve both mental and physical illness. These communities and families greatly valued holistic approaches for preventative health care. Indigenous peoples in Canada have faced cultural oppression and social marginalization through the actions of European colonizers and their institutions since the earliest periods of contact. Culture contact brought with it many forms of depredation. Economic, political, and religious institutions of the European settlers all contributed to the displacement and oppression of indigenous people.[79][pageneeded] The officially recorded treatment practices started in 1714, when Quebec opened wards for the mentally ill. In the 1830s social services were active through charity organizations and church parishes (Social Gospel Movement). Asylums for the insane were opened in 1835 in Saint John and New Brunswick. In 1841 in Toronto, when care for the mentally ill became institutionally based. Canada became a self-governing dominion in 1867, retaining its ties to the British crown. During this period age of industrial capitalism began, which lead to a social and economic dislocation in many forms. By 1887 asylums were converted to hospitals and nurses and attendants were employed for the care of the mentally ill. The first social work training began at University of Toronto in 1914. In 1918 Clarence Hincks & Clifford Beers founded the Canadian National Committee for Mental Hygiene, which later became the Canadian Mental Health Association. In 1930s Dr. Clarence Hincks promoted prevention and of treating sufferers of mental illness before they were incapacitated/early detection. World War II profoundly affected attitudes towards mental health. The medical examinations of recruits revealed that thousands of apparently healthy adults suffered mental difficulties. This knowledge changed public attitudes towards mental health, and stimulated research into preventive measures and methods of treatment.[80] In 1951 Mental Health Week was introduced across Canada. For the first half of the twentieth century, with a period of deinstitutionalisation beginning in the late 1960s psychiatric social work succeeded to the current emphasis on community-based care, psychiatric social work focused beyond the medical models aspects on individual diagnosis to identify and address social inequities and structural issues. In the 1980s Mental Health Act was amended to give consumers the right to choose treatment alternatives. Later the focus shifted to workforce mental health issues and environment.[81]

The earliest citing of Mental disorders in India are from Vedic Era (2000 BC AD 600).[82] Charaka Samhita, an ayurvedic textbook believed to be from 400200 BC describes various factors of mental stability. It also has instructions regarding how to set up a care delivery system.[83] In the same era In south India Siddha was a medical system, the great sage Agastya, one of the 18 siddhas contributing to a system of medicine has included the Agastiyar Kirigai Nool, a compendium of psychiatric disorders and their recommended treatments.[84] In Atharva Veda too there are descriptions and resolutions about mental health afflictions. In the Mughal period Unani system of medicine was introduced by an Indian physician Unhammad in 1222.[85] Then existed form of psychotherapy was known then as ilaj-i-nafsani in Unani medicine.

The 18th century was a very unstable period in Indian history, which contributed to psychological and social chaos in the Indian subcontinent. In 1745 of lunatic asylums were developed in Bombay (Mumbai) followed by Calcutta (Kolkata) in 1784, and Madras (Chennai) in 1794. The need to establish hospitals became more acute, first to treat and manage Englishmen and Indian sepoys (military men) employed by the British East India Company.[86] The First Lunacy Act (also called Act No. 36) that came into effect in 1858 was later modified by a committee appointed in Bengal in 1888. Later, the Indian Lunacy Act, 1912 was brought under this legislation. A rehabilitation programme was initiated between 1870s and 1890s for persons with mental illness at the Mysore Lunatic Asylum, and then an occupational therapy department was established during this period in almost each of the lunatic asylums. The programme in the asylum was called work therapy. In this programme, persons with mental illness were involved in the field of agriculture for all activities. This programme is considered as the seed of origin of psychosocial rehabilitation in India.

Berkeley-Hill, superintendent of the European Hospital (now known as the Central Institute of Psychiatry (CIP), established in 1918), was deeply concerned about the improvement of mental hospitals in those days. The sustained efforts of Berkeley-Hill helped to raise the standard of treatment and care and he also persuaded the government to change the term asylum to hospital in 1920.[87] Techniques similar to the current token-economy were first started in 1920 and called by the name habit formation chart at the CIP, Ranchi. In 1937, the first post of psychiatric social worker was created in the child guidance clinic run by the Dhorabji Tata School of Social Work (established in 1936), It is considered as the first documented evidence of social work practice in Indian mental health field.

After Independence in 1947, general hospital psychiatry units (GHPUs) where established to improve conditions in existing hospitals, while at the same time encouraging outpatient care through these units. In Amritsar a Dr. Vidyasagar, instituted active involvement of families in the care of persons with mental illness. This was advanced practice ahead of its times regarding treatment and care. This methodology had a greater impact on social work practice in the mental health field especially in reducing the stigmatisation. In 1948 Gauri Rani Banerjee, trained in the United States, started a masters course in medical and psychiatric social work at the Dhorabji Tata School of Social Work (Now TISS). Later the first trained psychiatric social worker was appointed in 1949 at the adult psychiatry unit of Yervada mental hospital, Pune.

In various parts of the country, in mental health service settings, social workers were employedin 1956 at a mental hospital in Amritsar, in 1958 at a child guidance clinic of the college of nursing, and in Delhi in 1960 at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences and in 1962 at the Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital. In 1960, the Madras Mental Hospital (Now Institute of Mental Health), employed social workers to bridge the gap between doctors and patients. In 1961 the social work post was created at the NIMHANS. In these settings they took care of the psychosocial aspect of treatment. This had long-term greater impact of social work practice in mental health.[88]

In 1966 by the recommendation Mental Health Advisory Committee, Ministry of Health, Government of India, NIMHANS commenced Department of Psychiatric Social Work started and a two-year Postgraduate Diploma in Psychiatric Social Work was introduced in 1968. In 1978, the nomenclature of the course was changed to MPhil in Psychiatric Social Work. Subsequently, a PhD Programme was introduced. By the recommendations Mudaliar committee in 1962, Diploma in Psychiatric Social Work was started in 1970 at the European Mental Hospital at Ranchi (now CIP), upgraded the program and added other higher training courses subsequently.

A new initiative to integrate mental health with general health services started in 1975 in India. The Ministry of Health, Government of India formulated the National Mental Health Programme (NMHP) and launched it in 1982. The same was reviewed in 1995 and based on that, the District Mental Health Program (DMHP) launched in 1996 and sought to integrate mental health care with public health care.[89] This model has been implemented in all the states and currently there are 125 DMHP sites in India.

National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) in 1998 and 2008 carried out systematic, intensive and critical examinations of mental hospitals in India. This resulted in recognition of the human rights of the persons with mental illness by the NHRC. From the NHRC's report as part of the NMHP, funds were provided for upgrading the facilities of mental hospitals. This is studied to result in positive changes over the past 10 years than in the preceding five decades by the 2008 report of the NHRC and NIMHANS.[90] In 2016 Mental Health Care Bill was passed which ensures and legally entitles access to treatments with coverage from insurance, safeguarding dignity of the afflicted person, improving legal and healthcare access and allows for free medications.[91][92][93] In December 2016, Disabilities Act 1995 was repealed with Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act (RPWD), 2016 from the 2014 Bill which ensures benefits for a wider population with disabilities. The Bill before becoming an Act was pushed for amendments by stakeholders mainly against alarming clauses in the "Equality and Non discrimination" section that diminishes the power of the act and allows establishments to overlook or discriminate against persons with disabilities and against the general lack of directives that requires to ensure the proper implementation of the Act.[94][95]

Lack of any universally accepted single licensing authority compared to foreign countries puts Social Workers at general in risk. But general bodies/councils accepts automatically a university qualified Social Worker as a professional licensed to practice or as a qualified clinician. Lack of a centralized council in tie-up with Schools of Social Work also makes a decline in promotion for the scope of social workers as mental health professionals. Though in this midst the service of Social Workers has given a facelift of the mental health sector in the country with other allied professionals.[96]

Evidence suggests that 450 million people worldwide are impacted by mental health, major depression ranks fourth among the top 10 leading causes of disease worldwide. Within 20 years, mental illness is predicted to become the leading cause of disease worldwide. Women are more likely to have a mental illness than men. One million people commit suicide every year and 10 to 20 million attempt it.[97]

A survey conducted by Australian Bureau of Statistics in 2008 regarding adults with manageable to severe neurosis reveals almost half of the population had a mental disorder at some point of their life and one in five people had a sustained disorder in the preceding 12 months. In neurotic disorders, 14% of the population experienced anxiety disorders, comorbidity disorders were the next common mental disorder with vulnerability to substance abuse and relapses. There were distinct gender differences in disposition to mental health illness. Women were found to have high rate of mental health disorders and Men had higher propensity of risk for substance abuse. The SMHWB survey showed low socioeconomic status and high dysfunctional pattern in the family was proportional to greater risk for mental health disorders. A 2010 survey regarding adults with psychosis revealed 5 persons per 1000 in the population seeks professional mental health services for psychotic disorders and the most common psychotic disorder was schizophrenia.[98][99]

According to statistics released by the Centre of Addiction and Mental Health one in five people in Ontario experience a mental health or addiction problem. Young people ages 15 to 25 are particularly vulnerable. Major depression is found to affect 8% and anxiety disorder 12% of the population. Women are 1.5 times more likely to suffer from mood and anxiety disorders. WHO points out that there are distinct gender differences in patterns of mental health and illness. The lack of power and control over their socioeconomic status, gender based violence; low social position and responsibility for the care of others render women vulnerable to mental health risks. Since more women than men seek help regarding a mental health problem, this has led to not only gender stereotyping but also reinforcing social stigma. WHO has found that this stereotyping has led doctors to diagnose depression more often in women than in men even when they display identical symptoms. Often communication between health care providers and women is authoritarian leading to either the under-treatment or over-treatment of these women.[3]

Women's College Hospital is specifically dedicated to women's health in Canada. This hospital is located in downtown Toronto where there are several locations available for specific medical conditions. WCH is an organization that helps educate women on mental illness due to its specialization with women and mental health. The organization helps women who have symptoms of mental illnesses such as depression, anxiety, menstruation, pregnancy, childbirth, and menopause. They also focus on psychological issues, abuse, neglect and mental health issues from various medications.[100]

The countless aspect about this organization is that WCH is open to women of all ages, including pregnant women that experience poor mental health. WCH not only provides care for good mental health, but they also have a program called the "Women's Mental Health Program" where doctors and nurses help treat and educate women regarding mental health collaboratively, individually, and online by answering questions from the public.[100]

The second organization is the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH). CAMH is one of Canada's largest and most well-known health and addiction facilities, and it has received international recognitions from the Pan American Health Organization and World Health Organization Collaborating Centre. They practice in doing research in areas of addiction and mental health in both men and women. In order to help both men and women, CAMH provides "clinical care, research, education, policy development and health promotion to help transform the lives of people affected by mental health and addiction issues."[101] CAMH is different from Women's College Hospital due to its widely known rehab centre for women who have minor addiction issues, to severe ones. This organization provides care for mental health issues by assessments, interventions, residential programs, treatments, and doctor and family support.[101]

According to the World Health Organization in 2004, depression is the leading cause of disability in the United States for individuals ages 15 to 44.[102] Absence from work in the U.S. due to depression is estimated to be in excess of $31 billion per year. Depression frequently co-occurs with a variety of medical illnesses such as heart disease, cancer, and chronic pain and is associated with poorer health status and prognosis.[103] Each year, roughly 30,000 Americans take their lives, while hundreds of thousands make suicide attempts (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention).[104] In 2004, suicide was the 11th leading cause of death in the United States (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention), third among individuals ages 1524. Despite the increasingly availability of effectual depression treatment, the level of unmet need for treatment remains high.[citation needed] By way of comparison, a study conducted in Australia during 2006 to 2007 reported that one-third (34.9%) of patients diagnosed with a mental health disorder had presented to medical health services for treatment.[105]

There are many factors that influence mental health including:

Emotional mental illnesses should be a particular concern in the United States since the U.S. has the highest annual prevalence rates (26 percent) for mental illnesses among a comparison of 14 developing and developed countries.[106] While approximately 80 percent of all people in the United States with a mental disorder eventually receive some form of treatment, on the average persons do not access care until nearly a decade following the development of their illness, and less than one-third of people who seek help receive minimally adequate care.[107] The government offers everyone programs and services, but veterans receive the most help, there is certain eligibility criteria that has to be met. [108]

The mental health policies in the United States have experienced four major reforms: the American asylum movement led by Dorothea Dix in 1843; the "mental hygiene" movement inspired by Clifford Beers in 1908; the deinstitutionalization started by Action for Mental Health in 1961; and the community support movement called for by The CMCH Act Amendments of 1975.[109]

In 1843, Dorothea Dix submitted a Memorial to the Legislature of Massachusetts, describing the abusive treatment and horrible conditions received by the mentally ill patients in jails, cages, and almshouses. She revealed in her Memorial: "I proceed, gentlemen, briefly to call your attention to the present state of insane persons confined within this Commonwealth, in cages, closets, cellars, stalls, pens! Chained, naked, beaten with rods, and lashed into obedience."[110] Many asylums were built in that period, with high fences or walls separating the patients from other community members and strict rules regarding the entrance and exit. In those asylums, traditional treatments were well implemented: drugs were not used as a cure for a disease, but a way to reset equilibrium in a person's body, along with other essential elements such as healthy diets, fresh air, middle class culture, and the visits by their neighboring residents.[citation needed] In 1866, a recommendation came to the New York State Legislature to establish a separate asylum for chronic mentally ill patients. Some hospitals placed the chronic patients into separate wings or wards, or different buildings.[111]

In A Mind That Found Itself (1908) Clifford Whittingham Beers described the humiliating treatment he received and the deplorable conditions in the mental hospital.[112] One year later, the National Committee for Mental Hygiene (NCMH) was founded by a small group of reform-minded scholars and scientists including Beer himself which marked the beginning of the "mental hygiene" movement. The movement emphasized the importance of childhood prevention. World War I catalyzed this idea with an additional emphasis on the impact of maladjustment, which convinced the hygienists that prevention was the only practical approach to handle mental health issues.[113] However, prevention was not successful, especially for chronic illness; the condemnable conditions in the hospitals were even more prevalent, especially under the pressure of the increasing number of chronically ill and the influence of the depression.[109]

In 1961, the Joint Commission on Mental Health published a report called Action for Mental Health, whose goal was for community clinic care to take on the burden of prevention and early intervention of the mental illness, therefore to leave space in the hospitals for severe and chronic patients. The court started to rule in favor of the patients' will on whether they should be forced to treatment. By 1977, 650 community mental health centers were built to cover 43 percent of the population and serve 1.9 million individuals a year, and the lengths of treatment decreased from 6 months to only 23 days.[114] However, issues still existed. Due to inflation, especially in the 1970s, the community nursing homes received less money to support the care and treatment provided. Fewer than half of the planned centers were created, and new methods did not fully replace the old approaches to carry out its full capacity of treating power.[114] Besides, the community helping system was not fully established to support the patients' housing, vocational opportunities, income supports, and other benefits.[109] Many patients returned to welfare and criminal justice institutions, and more became homeless. The movement of deinstitutionalization was facing great challenges.[115]

After realizing that simply changing the location of mental health care from the state hospitals to nursing houses was insufficient to implement the idea of deinstitutionalization, the National Institute of Mental Health in 1975 created the Community Support Program (CSP) to provide funds for communities to set up a comprehensive mental health service and supports to help the mentally ill patients integrate successfully in the society. The program stressed the importance of other supports in addition to medical care, including housing, living expenses, employment, transportation, and education; and set up new national priority for people with serious mental disorders. In addition, the Congress enacted the Mental Health Systems Act of 1980 to prioritize the service to the mentally ill and emphasize the expansion of services beyond just clinical care alone.[116] Later in the 1980s, under the influence from the Congress and the Supreme Court, many programs started to help the patients regain their benefits. A new Medicaid service was also established to serve people who were diagnosed with a "chronic mental illness." People who were temporally hospitalized were also provided aid and care and a pre-release program was created to enable people to apply for reinstatement prior to discharge.[114] Not until 1990, around 35 years after the start of the deinstitutionalization, did the first state hospital begin to close. The number of hospitals dropped from around 300 by over 40 in the 1990s, and finally a Report on Mental Health showed the efficacy of mental health treatment, giving a range of treatments available for patients to choose.[116]

However, several critics maintain that deinstitutionalization has, from a mental health point of view, been a thoroughgoing failure. The seriously mentally ill are either homeless, or in prison; in either case (especially the latter), they are getting little or no mental health care. This failure is attributed to a number of reasons over which there is some degree of contention, although there is general agreement that community support programs have been ineffective at best, due to a lack of funding.[115]

The 2011 National Prevention Strategy included mental and emotional well-being, with recommendations including better parenting and early intervention programs, which increase the likelihood of prevention programs being included in future US mental health policies.[117][pageneeded] The NIMH is researching only suicide and HIV/AIDS prevention, but the National Prevention Strategy could lead to it focusing more broadly on longitudinal prevention studies.[118][not in citation given]

In 2013, United States Representative Tim Murphy introduced the Helping Families in Mental Health Crisis Act, HR2646. The bipartisan bill went through substantial revision and was reintroduced in 2015 by Murphy and Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson. In November 2015, it passed the Health Subcommittee by an 1812 vote.[citation needed]

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Have you ever tried to meditate?

If so, youve probably tried to focus on your breath, or repeat a mantra.

This is how I was taught to meditate, and it lead me down the completely wrong path.

Instead, I learned a simple trick from Alan Watts. He helped to demystify the experience and now its so much easier.

From meditating in this new way, I discovered that focusing on my breath and repeating a mantra affected my ability to achieve true peace and enlightenment.

Ill first explain why this was the wrong way for me to meditate and then will share the trick I learned from Alan Watts.

I should clarify that while this approach to meditation didnt help me, you may have a different experience.

Once I learned this trick by Alan Watts, I was then able to experience my breath in ways that put me in a meditative state. Mantras also became more effective.

The problem was this:

By focusing on the breath and repeating a mantra, meditation became a doing activity for me. It was a task that required focus.

Meditation is meant to happen spontaneously. It comes from remaining unoccupied with thoughts and from just experiencing the present moment.

The key point is to experience this moment without thinking about it. However, when I began meditating with the task in mind to focus on my breath or repeat a mantra, I had a focus. I was thinking about the experience.

I wondered whether this was it, whether I was doing it right.

By approaching meditation from the perspective shared by Alan Watts below, I wasnt so focused on doing anything. It transformed from a doing task to a being experience.

Check out the video below where Alan Watts explains his approach. If you dont have time to watch it, Ive summarized it below.

Watts understands the challenge of placing too much meaning on meditation and recommends beginning by simply listening.

Close your eyes and allow yourself to hear all the sounds that are going on around you. Listen to the general hum and buzz of the world the same way that you listen to music. Dont try to identify the sounds that youre hearing. Dont put names on them. Simply allow the sounds to play with your eardrums.

Let your ears hear whatever they want to hear, without letting your mind judge the sounds and guide the experience.

As you pursue this experiment you will find that naturally find that youre labeling the sounds, giving meaning to them. Thats fine and completely normal. It happens automatically.

However, over time youll end up experiencing the sounds in a different way. As the sounds come into your head, youll be listening to them without judgment. Theyll be part of the general noise. You cant control the sounds. You cant stop someone from coughing or sneezing around you.

Now, its time to do the same with your breath. Notice that while youve been allowing the sounds to enter your brain, your body has been breathing naturally. Its not your task to breathe.

While being aware of your breath, see if you can start breathing more deeply without putting effort into it. Over time, it just happens.

The key insight is this:

Noises happen naturally. So does your breathing. Now its time to apply these insights to your thoughts.

During this time thoughts have entered your mind like the chattering noises outside your window. Dont try to control your thoughts. Rather, let them continue to chatter away like noises without passing judgment and giving them meaning.

Thoughts are just happening. Theyll always happen. Observe them and let them go.

Over time, the outside world and the inside world come together. Everything is simply happening and youre just observing it.

Heres what I learned about this approach to meditation.

Meditation is not something to do or focus on. Rather, the key point is to simply experience the present moment without judgment.

Ive found that beginning with a focus on breathing or mantras set me down the wrong path. I was always judging myself and that took me away from a deeper experience of a meditative state.

It put me in a thinking state.

Now, when I meditate I let the sounds enter my head. I just enjoy the sounds passing through. I do the same with my thoughts. I dont get too attached to them.

The results have been profound. I hope youll have a similar experience.

If you found this approach to meditation useful, then I think youll love Hack Spirits new e-book on mindfulness. They cut through all the jargon and break down exactly what mindfulness is in the modern age and how you can embrace it. Hack Spirit is a partner of Ideapod and we only recommend products we love. Check it out here and let us know what you think.

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Alan Watts was a British philosopher, speaker and author;

Watts passed away in 1973, but his legacy lives on through his many inspirational speeches, some of which have millions of views on YouTube.

Here are 48 of the best Alan Watts quotes thatll blow your mind:

1.We cannot be more sensitive to pleasure without being more sensitive to pain. Alan Watts

2.Life exists only at this very moment, and in this moment it is infinite and eternal, for the present moment is infinitely small; before we can measure it, it has gone, and yet it exists forever. Alan Watts

3.There will always be suffering. But we must not suffer over the suffering. Alan Watts

4.Every individual is a unique manifestation of the Whole, as every branch is a particular outreaching of the tree. Alan Watts

5.The only way to make sense out of change is to plunge into it, move with it, and join the dance. Alan Watts

6.But Ill tell you what hermits realize. If you go off into a far, far forest and get very quiet, youll come to understand that youre connected with everything. Alan Watts

7.When you get free from certain fixed concepts of the way the world is, you find it is far more subtle, and far more miraculous, than you thought it was. Alan Watts

To have faith is to trust yourself to the water. When you swim you dont grab hold of the water, because if you do you will sink and drown. Instead you relax, and float. Alan Watts

9.There is always something taboo, something repressed, un-admitted, or just glimpsed quickly out of the corner of ones eye because a direct look is too unsettling. Taboos lie within taboos, like the skin of an onion. Alan Watts

10.No valid plans for the future can be made by those who have no capacity for living now. I have realized that the past and future are real illusions, that they exist in the present, which is what there is and all there is. Alan Watts

11.This is the real secret of life to be completely engaged with what you are doing in the here and now. And instead of calling it work, realize it is play. Alan Watts

12.If you really understand Zen you can use any book. You could use the Bible. You could use Alice in Wonderland. You could use the dictionary, because the sound of the rain needs no translation. Alan Watts

13.Try to imagine what it will be like to go to sleep and never wake up now try to imagine what it was like to wake up having never gone to sleep. Alan Watts

14.Only words and conventions can isolate us from the entirely undefinable something which is everything. Alan Watts

15.Meditation is the discovery that the point of life is always arrived at in the immediate moment. Alan Watts

16.The sense of wrong is simply failure to see where something fits into a pattern, to be confused as to the hierarchical level upon which an event belongs. Alan Watts

The only Zen youll find on mountain tops is the Zen you bring up there with you. Alan Watts

18.You didnt come into this world. You came out of it, like a wave from the ocean. You are not a stranger here. Alan Watts

19.To be free from convention is not to spurn it but not to be deceived by it. Alan Watts

20.The more we struggle for life (as pleasure), the more we are actually killing what we love. Alan Watts

21.Everyone has love, but it can only come out when he is convinced of the impossibility and the frustration of trying to love himself. Alan Watts

22.Life and love generate effort, but effort will not generate them. Faith in life, in other people, and in oneself, is the attitude of allowing the spontaneous to be spontaneous, in its own way and in its own time. Alan Watts

23.Parts exist only for purposes of figuring and describing, and as we figure the world out we become confused if we do not remember this all the time. Alan Watts

24.Muddy water is best cleared by leaving it alone. Alan Watts

25.What you are basically, deep, deep down, far, far in, is simply the fabric and structure of existence itself. Alan Watts

26.Your body does not eliminate poisons by knowing their names. To try to control fear or depression or boredom by calling them names is to resort to superstition of trust in curses and invocations. It is so easy to see why this does not work. Obviously, we try to know, name, and define fear in order to make it objective, that is, separate from I. Alan Watts

There is no formula for generating the authentic warmth of love. It cannot be copied. Alan Watts

28.The problem comes up because we ask the question in the wrong way. We supposed that solids were one thing and space quite another, or just nothing whatever. Then it appeared that space was no mere nothing, because solids couldnt do without it. But the mistake in the beginning was to think of solids and space as two different things, instead of as two aspects of the same thing. The point is that they are different but inseparable, like the front end and the rear end of a cat. Cut them apart, and the cat dies. Alan Watts

29.Total situations are, therefore, patterns in time as much as patterns in space. Alan Watts

30.There was never a time when the world began, because it goes round and round like a circle, and there is no place on a circle where it begins. Look at my watch, which tells the time; it goes round, and so the world repeats itself again and again. Alan Watts

31.We do not come into this world; we come out of it, as leaves from a tree. As the ocean waves, the universe peoples. Alan Watts

32.The meaning of life is just to be alive. It is so plain and so obvious and so simple. And yet, everybody rushes around in a great panic as if it were necessary to achieve something beyond themselves. Alan Watts

33.Problems that remain persistently insoluble should always be suspected as questions asked in the wrong way. Alan Watts

34.To put is still more plainly: the desire for security and the feeling of insecurity are the same thing. To hold your breath is to lose your breath. Alan Watts

35.If you say that getting the money is the most important thing, youll spend your life completely wasting your time. Youll be doing things you dont like doing in order to go on living, that is to go on doing things you dont like doing, which is stupid. Alan Watts

36.But the attitude of faith is to let go, and become open to truth, whatever it might turn out to be. Alan Watts

37.You are a function of what the whole universe is doing in the same way that a wave is a function of what the whole ocean is doing. Alan Watts

What the devil is the point of surviving, going on living, when its a drag? But you see, thats what people do. Alan Watts

39.The menu is not the meal. Alan Watts

40.We seldom realize, for example, that our most private thoughts and emotions are not actually our own. For we think in terms of languages and images which we did not invent, but which were given to us by our society. Alan Watts

41.What I am really saying is that you dont need to do anything, because if you see yourself in the correct way, you are all as much extraordinary phenomenon of nature as trees, clouds, the patterns in running water, the flickering of fire, the arrangement of the stars, and the form of a galaxy. You are all just like that, and there is nothing wrong with you at all. Alan Watts

42.You are the big bang, the original force of the universe, coming on as whoever you are. A society based on the quest for security is nothing but a breath-retention contest in which everyone is as taut as a drum and as purple as a beet. Alan Watts

43.The greater part of human activity is designed to make permanent those experiences and joys which are only lovable because they are changing. Alan Watts

44.You and I are all as much continuous with the physical universe as a wave is continuous with the ocean. Alan Watts

45.Things are as they are. Looking out into it the universe at night, we make no comparisons between right and wrong stars, nor between well and badly arranged constellations. Alan Watts

46.Philosophy is mans expression of curiosity about everything and his attempt to make sense of the world primarily through his intellect. Alan Watts

47.Parts exist only for purposes of figuring and describing, and as we figure the world out we become confused if we do not remember this all the time. Alan Watts

48.How is it possible that a being with such sensitive jewels as the eyes, such enchanted musical instruments as the ears, and such fabulous arabesque of nerves as the brain can experience itself anything less than a god. Alan Watts

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Friedrich Nietzsche introduced several ideas into Western philosophy that have had a huge influence on the culture of the 20th and 21st centuries. Existentialism, postmodernism, and poststructuralism have all been touched by Nietzsches work.

His impact isnt just seen in academic philosophies, though, but also in the way many modern Westerners approach their lives. The love of struggle, the quest for autonomy and personal greatness, the clarion call of following your passion and making your life a work of art these are all cultural currents Nietzsche helped shape and set in motion. Thus to really understand modern life in all its wonder, and weirdness, one must understand Nietzsche.

Below I highlight just a few of Nietzsches biggest and most intriguing ideas; even if you decide you vehemently disagree with them, they are excellent fodder for examining how you live and exist in the world. Do you, as Nietzsche exhorts, say yes to life? Or do you deny its powers and possibilities and simply loaf through your existence?

Keep in mind that this article isnt an exhaustive look at Nietzsches work; its designed to be an accessible primer for those who wish to dip their toes into his philosophy. As such, I tried to simplify and condense the explanations as much as possible. For a more exhaustive and in-depth treatment, youll have to read the myriad books that have been written by Nietzsche and about his work; Ill suggest some of the best to check out at the end.

In Nietzsches first published work, The Birth of Tragedy, he describes two divergent outlooks embodied by the ancient Greeks: the Apollonian and the Dionysian. Together, Nietzsche argues, these two ethoses birthed one of the worlds most famous art forms the Athenian tragedy.

Apollo was the sun god who brought light and rational clarity to the world. For Nietzsche, those who view things through an Apollonian lens see the world as orderly, rational, and bounded by definite borders. The Apollonian views humanity not as an amorphous whole, but as discrete and separate individuals. Sculpture and poetry were the arts best represented by the Apollonian ethos because they have clear structuresand definedlines.

Dionysus was the god of wine, celebration, ritual madness, and festivity. Viewed through the Dionysian prism, the world is seen as chaotic, passionate, and free from boundaries. Instead of seeing humanity as being made up of atomized individuals, the Dionysian views humanity as a united, passionate, amorphous whole into which the self is absorbed. Music and dance, with their free-flowing forms, were the arts best represented by the Dionysian ethos.

For Nietzsche, the pre-Socratic Greek tragedies fused these two outlooks together perfectly. The works of Sophocles and Aeschylus forced the audience to answer one of lifes most burning questions: How can human life be meaningful if human beings are subject to undeserving suffering and death? The Apollonian answers this query by arguing that suffering brings forth a transformation chaos can be turned into beauty and order. The Dionysian, on the other hand, contends that dynamism and chaos are not necessarily bad things. Simply being part of the chaotic flow of life and joyfully riding its waves was a beautiful and worthy pursuit in and of itself; any suffering that came along with the ride was simply the price of admission.

Nietzsche argued that after Socrates, tragedies began to emphasize the Apollonian ethos at the expense of the Dionysian. Instead of seeing tragedy as the natural result of living in a world of chaos and passion, the post-Socratic dramatists saw it as the consequence of some tragic flaw in a persons character. Nietzsche believed this more rationalized view of tragedy extinguished some of lifes mystery and romanticism.

While this theory may seem very specific to a certain time, place, and art form, it has far wider implications. Its important to have a basic understanding of the two concepts because theyre woven throughout the rest of Nietzsches work. For Nietzsche, the Dionysian perspective was the more life-affirming and vitality-spurring approach to life; consequently, he emphasizes it over the Apollonian.

Besides the Dionysian and Apollonian archetypes, Nietzsche looked to other Ancient Greek ideas to inform his worldview. He was particularly fond of the pre-Socratic Greeks and their Homeric warrior ethics. Strength, courage, boldness, and pride were virtues that Nietzsche championed throughout his life.

There are no facts, only interpretations, Nietzsche famously wrote. From this, he is often accused of being a relativist, but a closer look at his work shows that this isnt quite the case. Nietzsche doesnt deny that there could be some big T Truth out there, but if there were, we would never be in a position to confirm its veracity because our observations are biased and conceived within a language, within a culture, within a perspective, within the constraints and expectations of a theory.

Instead of relativism, Nietzsche advocates for something that has been called perspectivism. Perspectivism in a nutshell means that every claim, belief, idea, or philosophy is tied to some perspective and that its impossible for humans to detach themselves from these lenses in order to suss out the objective Truth. Now, this may sound like relativism, but according to Nietzsche, its not the same thing. Unlike strict relativism, which says all views are equally valid because theyre relevant to each person, perspectivism doesnt claim that all perspectives have equal value some are in fact better than others. The job of the philosopher, according to Nietzsche, is to learn, adopt, and test as many different perspectives as possible to get a better picture of the Truth. This process may even require looking at the world with what appears to be opposing perspectives. While Nietzsche doesnt think taking on different viewpoints can ultimately reveal the big T Truth (remember, it can never fully be unveiled because of our biases), he does feel it can get you pretty close to it.

As I read about Nietzsches perspectivism, I was struck by how similar it was to John Boyds OODA Loop. If youll remember, the OODA Loop is a methodology for making strategic decisions in the face of opposition at least thats how its often viewed in todays business and military culture. For Boyd, though, the OODA Loop is more than just a decision cycle for military tacticians. It is a meta-paradigm for intellectual growth and evolution in an ever-shifting and uncertain landscape. The most important step in the OODA Loop is the Orient step, in which you constantly re-direct and re-frame your mind based on your observations of the world around you. Because our environment is always changing, we must always be orienting. A vital part of that is building a robust toolbox of mental models and testing out those mental models in the real world. According to Boyd, the more mental models one had at their disposal (even competing ones!), the more likely they were to understand the world and make good decisions. Sounds pretty much like Nietzsches perspectivism.

Nietzsche is perhaps most famous for his critiques and deconstruction of modern morality and religion. It is in Beyond Good and Evil and On the Genealogy of Morals that Nietzsche fleshes out this critique. An important element in Nietzsches criticism is the concept of master morality and slave morality. While Nietzsche presents the development of master-slave morality as a historical and anthropological reality, its better viewed as Nietzsches big picture psychological explanation for why we (we, as in all of humanity) have the morality that we do.

According to Nietzsche, morality began as master morality. He sees the aristocratic warrior values of the Homeric Greeks and other pre-Judeo-Christian cultures as the origin of true virtue. For them, the world wasnt divided into good and evil, but rather noble and ignoble. To be noble meant successfully asserting your will on the world and getting what you wanted through your strength, courage, and excellence. Being noble meant being the best at whatever you did. This worldview required a hierarchical vision of humanity some people were more excellent and noble than others. Whats more, there was no room for humility in this conception of nobility. As Nietzsche put it, Egoism is the very essence of a noble soul. If you did great things, you took responsibility for them and basked in the glory you received from your peers. The noble, or masters, were the ones who determined what was moral.

The ignoble, or slaves as Nietzsche called them, were the complete opposite of the noble. They were weak, timid, and pathetic. The ignoble couldnt get what they wanted because they lacked the virtues of excellence and the ability to assert their will on the world. In fact, the ignoble avoided expressing their wants and desires because that could get them in trouble with the noble. They got along to get along. The noble did not esteem the slaves; they were at best pitied, at worst disdained.

Living a code based on the noble/ignoble dichotomy is what Nietzsche calls master morality. But, the philosopher argues, master morality only bred resentment in the slaves or lower classes. And it is this resentment that gave birth to slave morality. Slave morality, according to Nietzsche, was a spiritual revenge against the ruling class which sought to turn master morality on its head. Beginning with the Ancient Hebrews and continuing with Christianity, the ignoble or lower classes began to declare that the values of the master class were not only offensive to God, but that it was actually more righteous and excellent to be weak, humble, and submissive. Instead of splitting the world between the noble or ignoble, slave morality divided the world into good and evil. Under the rubric of slave morality, the noble man was seen as the evil man, and the ignoble man was seen as the good man. For Nietzsche, slave morality was a way to not just protect the weak, but to also exalt them.

Whats more, unlike master morality, which was created by the self-assertion of the noble individual himself and thus unique to him, slave morality was external and applied to everyone. Think the Ten Commandments.

While Nietzsche certainly praises master morality and casts slave morality in a bad light, he does see slave morality as serving an important psychological purpose in that it gave those without power a sense of self-esteem. The problem for Nietzsche is that, its dignity-bestowing properties aside, slave morality always puts its adherents in a secondary, dependent position. The slave can never have a sense of self-worth without thinking of someone else as evil; its reactive instead of proactive.

Nietzsche notes that its possible for an individual to be guided by both master and slave morality. Take the Pope for example. At one time in history, the Pope had actual political and military power. He governed nations and directed armies. He could, in a sense, be guided by master morality. But as a Christian, he followed a morality that emphasized humility and restraint. So there was a struggle between the two types of morality within a single man.

Its not just popes who have to deal with this internal struggle; according to Nietzsche, we all do. What we call a bad or a guilty conscience is the result of our desire to live by a code of master morality butting against the pull of slave morality. We want to be rich and powerful, but we feel guilty for wanting those things because weve been told that the desire for wealth and power is evil. The battle between master and slave morality within ourselves also manifests itself when we feel bad about our successes or when we downplay them by providing self-deprecating excuses like, Oh, it was just luck. Slave morality for Nietzsche then becomes a sort of self-hatred.

Nietzsche argues that with the passage of time, slave morality overtook master morality and what we call morality today is almost entirely composed of the formers values. Instead of seeking personal excellence, slave morality encourages us to judge and find fault in others so that we can say, Well, at least Im not as bad/evil/sinful as that guy. It encourages us to paint our enemies in the worst possible light in order to feel justified in going after them; in the world of slave morality, theres no room for the idea of the noble adversary. Slave morality also manifests itself in societys overweening emphasis on humility; to even mention ones accomplishments is seen as bragging. We balk at anyone who claims to be better than us. All in all, Nietzsche thought that living by the code of slave morality was a weak and pathetic way to go about life.

So if slave morality is so bad, whats Nietzsches alternative? Interestingly, he doesnt encourage us to go back to master morality because he feels were past the point of no return and it would be psychologically impossible to do so. Instead, Nietzsche argues that we must move beyond good and evil, and towards a morality that doesnt depend on calling certain things bad in order for goodness to exist a morality thats proactive and not reactive, and focused on attaining personal excellence. According to Nietzsche scholar Robert Solomon, a type of Aristotelian virtue ethics would be a good candidate for this new (old) morality.

Of all the bold claims Nietzsche put forth in his life, none is more (in)famous than the idea that God is dead. Some have mistakenly interpreted this statement as Nietzsche celebrating the death of Deity. But a closer reading reveals a different story. Nietzsche was simply making explicit what had silently been happening in the West since the beginning of modernity. He was describing, not exulting. Instead of placing their faith in God and basing their worldview on a divine, universal law, most modern Westerners even those who claimed to be devoted to their faith conducted their lives and viewed the world through the Enlightenment-born prism of scientific materialism.

Rather than feeling that this evolution was something to celebrate, Nietzsche saw the death of God as tragic and traumatic. To get a sense of the travesty Nietzsche believed had happened in replacing God with science, read the following passage from The Gay Science in which Nietzsche has a madman announce that God is dead:

Whither is God? he cried; I will tell you. We have killed him you and I. All of us are his murderers. But how did we do this? How could we drink up the sea? Who gave us the sponge to wipe away the entire horizon? What were we doing when we unchained this earth from its sun? Whither is it moving now? Whither are we moving? Away from all sun? Are we not plunging continually? Backward, sideward, forward, in all directions? Is there still any up or down? How shall we comfort ourselves, the murderers of all murderers? What was holiest and mightiest of all that the world has yet owned has bled to death under our knives: who will wipe this blood off us? What water is there for us to clean ourselves? What festivals of atonement, what sacred games shall we have to invent?

Nietzsche predicts that the death of God will bring with it the rejection of the belief in a universal moral law, which in turn will cause existential nihilism a philosophy hedetested. While Nietzsche didnt think highly of slave morality, as we just discussed, he did think it was good for the psyche, and that religion played an important role in creating meaning a center of gravity in the world. Nietzsche predicted that once a universal basis of morality eroded away, there will be wars the like of which have never been seen on earth before a prediction which came true not long after he died in 1900.

What often gets overlooked about Nietzsches pronouncement of Gods death is that he also points out that no one really noticed the Almightys passing. And why is that? First, even while Westerners put more and more of their faith in science and reason, they continued to profess a belief in God and kept up their religious practices. Its not that people actively sought to prove the non-existence of God at the time, like todays New Atheists. They simply started to ignore Him, even if they didnt realize they were.

Second, Nietzsche argues that modern Westerners failed to notice the death of God because they continued to practice faith just that now it was one centered on science and reason rather than the divine; if people were honest with themselves, Nietzsche would say, they would admit that they planned their days, made decisions, and picked careers based not on scripture and prayer, but on economic, sociological, and technological factors. While Nietzsche was an atheist and a fan of the scientific process, he believed this new faith in science wasnt any better than the old faith in God. In fact, it was worse, for it made no room for a passionate, Dionysian spirituality that lent life vitality and meaning. Whats more, the reductivist explanations of scientific materialism promoted an empty, nihilistic outlook on the world.

Nietzsche believed that joy required a man to love this mortal life right at this moment with all of its ups and downs. My formula for greatness in a human being, Nietzsche argued, is amor fati [literally, love of fate, the embracing of ones fate]: that one wants nothing to be different, not forward, not backward, not in all eternity. Not merely bear what is necessary, still less conceal it but love it.

For Nietzsche, life itself, with all of its pleasures and pains, is what gives human existence meaning. Because struggles provide us a chance to test ourselves, we should not just welcome them, but love them, and love them dearly. The same goes for our enemies. We should respect and love our enemies, not out of piety, but because they challenge and push us. Nietzsche wants us to say yes to life. Rather than hide from it embrace it head on. His idea of eternal recurrence (see below) really drives home this idea.

Life-denying philosophies are philosophies that attempt to downplay or even eliminate both the pains and pleasures of this life. For Nietzsche, the most pernicious type of life-denying philosophies are those that cause an individual to hold out for some pie in the sky future that will free them from all pain and sorrow. Instead of seeing mortalitys trials as something to struggle with and overcome, and in the process become stronger, life-denying philosophies encourage individuals to hate this life and look forward to another.

According to Nietzsche, Christianity and even scientific materialism promoted this sort of life-denying thinking. Christianity, Nietzsche argued, was from the beginning, essentially and fundamentally, lifes nausea and disgust with life, merely concealed behind, masked by, dressed up as, faith in another or better life. Hatred of the world, condemnations of the passions, fear of beauty and sensuality, a beyond invented the better to slander this life.

Nietzsche saw scientific materialism as fomenting a similar dissatisfaction with life, by holding out hope not for heaven, but for a better future just over the horizon. Those who put their faith in science believe that through reason and innovation well be able to overcome our physical limitations and become free from all suffering.

Nietzsche detested both of these views because both take a persons focus off the vital present and direct it towards a distant future. Life, Nietzsche argued, had to be lived now.

The other type of life-denying philosophy Nietzsche criticized was asceticism. As a lover of the passionate Dionysus, Nietzsche believed that asceticism devalued the human passions by encouraging individuals to mortify and deny lifes vital energies. He felt that asceticism prevented people from enjoying all that mortality had to offer. Nietzsches critique of this philosophy as life-denying isnt just directed towards religious practices like fasting, celibacy, or intense meditation. He also argued that the dogged pursuit of scientific knowledge was a form of asceticism as well, in that it caused a person to evade life its hard to experience the fullness of mortality when youre holed up in a laboratory or have your nose in a book all the time. Nietzsche also saw type-A workaholics who never have the time to enjoy the fruits of their labor as yet another category of life-denying ascetics.

An important doctrine (if you can call it that) buttressing Nietzsches life-affirming philosophy is that of eternal recurrence or eternal return. The idea is that time repeats itself over and over again with the same events. Its not a new idea. Several ancient cultures had some conception of eternal recurrence, including the Persians, the Vedics of India, and the Ancient Greeks. Nietzsche simply expanded on the idea and used it as an existential test for modern man.

Nietzsche best captures his idea of eternal recurrence near the end of The Gay Science:

What, if some day or night a demon were to steal after you into your loneliest loneliness and say to you: This life as you now live it and have lived it, you will have to live once more and innumerable times more; and there will be nothing new in it, but every pain and every joy and every thought and sigh and everything unutterably small or great in your life will have to return to you, all in the same succession and sequence even this spider and this moonlight between the trees, and even this moment and I myself. The eternal hourglass of existence is turned upside down again and again, and you with it, speck of dust! Would you not throw yourself down and gnash your teeth and curse the demon who spoke thus? Or have you once experienced a tremendous moment when you would have answered him: You are a god and never have I heard anything more divine?

If this thought gained possession of you, it would change you as you are, or perhaps crush you. The question in each and everything, Do you desire this once more and innumerable times more? would lie upon your actions as the greatest weight. Or how well disposed would you have to become to yourself and to life to crave nothing more fervently than this ultimate confirmation and seal?

Eternal recurrence is a thought experiment that serves as an existential gut check: Do you really love life?

People say they love their life all the time, but when they say that, they usually mean they love all the good things in life that happen to them. For Nietzsche, love of life requires loving all of life, even its pains and sorrows. For many, thats a tough pill to swallow. If the thought of living your life over and over again fills you with dread, well, then according to Nietzsche, you dont really love life.

So how does one come to love life? Nietzsche prescribes his philosophy of amor fati the love of fate. Love and embrace all that life throws at you both the good and the bad. Instead of resenting lifes trials, see them as opportunities to test yourself and grow.

Nietzsche had doubts about the human capacity for personal improvement (he was somewhat of a determinist; you were born the way you were, and pretty much stayed that way), but he does suggest that we can take action to create the kind of life we would gladly put on an infinite loop.

Does contemplating replaying your life fill you with feelings of anxiety and regret? Nietzsche would advise you to change course: Ask that girl out; write that novel; learn that new skill youve always wanted to learn; make amends with your estranged friend; head out on a long-dreamed of adventure. And at the same time, dont despair over lifes hardships and uncertainties; ride them like a wave that takes you to a different, and even higher place.

Eternal recurrence would have a tremendous influence on the Existential philosophers of the 20th century. You can see it especially in Albert Camus essay The Myth of Sisyphus. The Existential psychologist Viktor Frankl echoed the idea of eternal recurrence in his book Mans Search for Meaning when he writes: So live as if you were living already for the second time and as if you had acted the first time as wrongly as you are about to act now! In other words, live with no regrets!

To be clear, Nietzsche likely didnt believe that wed actually repeat our life over and over again. He did have some notes in which he tried to create a scientific proof of eternal recurrence, but it was deeply flawed, and he never published it. Nevertheless, for Nietzsche it doesnt matter if eternal recurrence is an actual phenomenon what matters is the motivating effect which comes from meditating on the idea.

Nietzsche first coined the phrase the will to power in his early aphoristic works as a response to Schopenhauers will to life philosophy. For Schopenhauer, all living creatures had a motivation for self-preservation and would do anything just to survive. Nietzsche thought this outlook was overly pessimistic and reactive. He felt there was more to life than merely avoiding death, and believed that living beings are motivated by the drive for power.

But what does Nietzsche mean by power? Its hard to say. While Nietzsche used the phrase will to power throughout his published works, he never systematically explained what he meant by it. He just gives hints here and there. Many have interpreted it as the drive for control over others. While it could mean that, if we look at the original German phrase (Der Wille zur Macht), we discover that Nietzsche likely had something bigger and more spiritual in mind.

Macht means power, but its a power thats more akin to personal strength, discipline, and assertiveness. With this in mind, many scholars believe that Nietzsches conception of the will to power is that of a psychological drive to assert oneself in the world to be effective, leave a mark, become something better than you are right now, and express yourself. Exercising ones will to power requires self-mastery and the development of personal strength by embracing struggle and challenge.

According to Nietzsche, this notion of will to power is much more proactive and even noble than Schopenhauers will to live. Humans are driven not just to survive, Nietzsche proclaims, but to dare mighty deeds.

In Thus Spoke Zarathustra, Nietzsche introduced two archetypes of humanity: the bermensch and the Last Man.

The bermensch or Overman is an oft-misunderstood Nietzschean concept. Some have interpreted it as a biological, evolutionary goal that through our mastery of technology and nature, humanity will be able to become a race of Supermen.

But thats not what Nietzsche had in mind. He doesnt think a person can actually become an bermensch. Rather, the bermensch is more of a spiritual goal or way of approaching life. The way of the bermensch is filled with vitality, energy, risk-taking, and struggle. The bermensch represents the drive to strive and live for something beyond oneself while simultaneously remaining true and grounded in earthly life (no other-worldly longings in Nietzsches world). Its a challenge to be creators and not mere consumers. In short, the bermensch is the full manifestation of the will to power.

Nietzsche never states what exactly we should be striving for thats beyond ourselves or what we should be creating. Thats for each man to figure out for themselves. It could be a work of art, a book, a business, a piece of legislation, or a strong family culture. Through the act of creation, we can forge a legacy that lives beyond our mortal life. By seeking to live as the bermensch, we can attain immortality in a this-worldly sense.

Contrast the bermensch with the Last Man. The Last Man is the very antithesis of a Superman:

Lo! I show you THE LAST MAN.

What is love? What is creation? What is longing? What is a star? so asketh the last man and blinketh. The earth hath then become small, and on it there hoppeth the last man who maketh everything small. His species is ineradicable like that of the ground-flea; the last man liveth longest. We have discovered happiness say the last men, and blink thereby. They have left the regions where it is hard to live; for they need warmth. One still loveth ones neighbor and rubbeth against him; for one needeth warmth.

Turning ill and being distrustful, they consider sinful: they walk warily. He is a fool who still stumbleth over stones or men! A little poison now and then: that maketh pleasant dreams. And much poison at last for a pleasant death. One still worketh, for work is a pastime. But one is careful lest the pastime should hurt one. One no longer becometh poor or rich; both are too burdensome. Who still wanteth to rule? Who still wanteth to obey? Both are too burdensome. No shepherd, and one herd! Everyone wanteth the same; every one is equal: he who hath other sentiments goeth voluntarily into the madhouse.

They have their little pleasures for the day, and their little pleasures for the night, but they have a regard for health. We have discovered happiness, say the last men, and blink thereby.

The Last Man plays it small and safe. He blinks and misses lifes energies. There is no ambition, no risk-taking, and no vitality in the Last Man. He avoids challenges because challenges result in discomfort. The Last Man doesnt want to create or be a leader because creation and leadership are burdensome. There is no desire to live for something beyond himself. The Last Man has discovered happiness in his little pleasures and just wants to be left alone so that he can live a long, unremarkable life. The Last Man is simply surviving, and not truly living. In the words of Robert Solomon, the Last Man is the ultimate couch potato.

While Nietzsche didnt think it possible to transform oneself into a full-on bermensch, the Last Man represented a decidedly attainable state. Look around you and even at yourself. Youve likely seen glimpses of the Last Man within yourself; he serves as a warning of what youll become if you cease striving for things beyond yourself if you dont nurture the flashes you sometimes also get of your superhuman potential.

A favorite directive of Nietzsches to his readers is one he borrowed from the ancient Greek poet Pindar: Become who you are. But what exactly does this exhortation mean?

For Nietzsche, becoming who you are doesnt mean becoming who you want to be. That can only lead to frustration.

For example, I would love to be an NFL player, but Im 32 years old, havent played football in 17 years, and wasnt blessed with natural athleticism. Professional football isnt and never was in the picture for me.

Rather, the mandate to become who you are requires us to acknowledge the limitations that biology, culture, and even blind luck have placed on us. Within these limitations, we must strive to live our natural talents and abilities to the fullest extent possible. In fact, we should embrace our limitations because they provide us the opportunity to exercise more creative power than if we had complete freedom. In a way, Nietzsches notion of becoming who you are is akin to a haiku. The constraints of haiku poetry force the poet to think deeply about which words to use and how to structure his prose. The constraints counterintuitively encourage creativity.

Thus, become who you are requires you to love fate, to relish the cards life has dealt you even if its a terrible hand and do the best you can with them. Become who you are is a mandate to exercise creative power and become the author your life. This notion of self-realization helps you avoid the feelings of resentment and angst that come when you wish for a life that simply doesnt and cant exist. Instead, Nietzsche argues, we should channel our energies into focusing on the here and now and find joy in the journey.

I hope this two-part series has given you a clearer understanding of the basics of Nietzsches famous philosophy. Regardless of your beliefs and background, grappling with Nietzsches ideas can give you insight about how you want to live your life, as well as the why behind how many others live in the modern West.

If youre a theist, Nietzsches diagnosis of the death of God serves as a spiritual gut check, forcing you to ask yourself, Do I really live my life as if there is a God? If I really believed without a doubt that the claims of my faith are true, how would my daily behavior, how I spend my time, and my life goals change? He also causes you to reflect on whether youre enjoying this earthly existence, in all its wonder, or simply pining for the next world; do you see life as something to be enjoyed, or simply endured?

If youre an atheist, Nietzsche challenges you to not simply replace your faith with science, which can ultimately lead to nihilism, but to actively seek a vital spiritual life filled with meaning.

For Nietzsche, the challenge for all modern men is to create and live by their own life-affirming values to become autonomous and to find meaning in a world that has become void of any such thing. In the present age we often feel like we are straying as through an infinite nothing; Nietzsches exhortation to all is to fight against this empty drift, to become who you are, to love suffering and challenge as much as ease and comfort, and to always, always say yes to life.

Did you enjoy this series and would like to see other philosophers given the same treatment? Let us know in the comments, as well as who youd like us to hit next!

Sources and Further Reading

What Nietzsche Really Said by Robert Solomon and Kathleen Higgins. The best Intro to Nietzsche book that I came across. They do a great job explaining Nietzsches big ideas as well as dispelling many of the myths that exist about Nietzsche.

The Will to Power: The Philosophy of Friedrich Nietzsche. Audio lectures by Solomon and Higgins. Very accessible. The lectures follow their book, What Nietzsche Really Said, so Id recommend going with their book or their audio lectures.

Nietzsches Noble Aims: Affirming Life, Contesting Modernity by Paul Kirkland. This book is dense and academic, but if you can will yourself through it, youll discover all sorts of great insights about Nietzsches love of contest and his idealization of the noble adversary.

Introducing Nietzsche: A Graphic Guide by Laurence Gane. A graphic novel introduction to Nietzsche and his philosophy. Its a bit disjointed, so if you dont have any knowledge about Nietzsches philosophy, youll likely be lost while reading it.

Life Lessons From Nietzsche by John Armstrong. A really short book that highlights a few of Nietzsches ideas. At the end of each chapter, the author includes actionable steps on how you can apply that principle in your own life.

Where to Start Reading Nietzsche?

A few readers asked what order they should read Nietzsches works in if they were to do their own personal course.

Heres myrecommendation based on my own self-study experience:

Read an Intro to Nietzsche-type book first. I tried reading Nietzsches works first without any background information, and it was rough going. I had a hard time following him. After I read a few of the above books, things started to click once I went back to the direct sources. So, my recommendation would be start off with reading something like What Nietzsche Really Said.

Read The Birth of Tragedy. After youve read an intro book, read Nietzsches first work, The Birth of Tragedy. While its not as exciting as his later works, youll get a good understanding of Nietzsches concept of the Apollonian and Dionysian that is woven throughout all of his work.

Read in chronological order or just read what interests you. Reading in chronological order will allow you to see how Nietzsches ideas develop, but it can be a slog when you get to works that dont really interest you for whatever reason. If you think youll get bored trying to barrel through Nietzsche, a better approach would be to read what interests you. If the idea of the Ubermensch and The Last Man intrigues you, read Thus Spoke Zarathustra; if you want to tackle Nietzsches critique against modern morality, read On the Genealogy of Morals and Beyond Good and Evil. Eternal recurrence? The Gay Science.

Read anthologies. Another approach is to simply read the curated anthologies of Nietzsches work produced by scholars. You wont find all of Nietzsches works in these anthologies, just the ones the authors thought were important for a reader to be exposed to. The Portable Nietzsche by Walter Kaufman is a classic. Basic Writings of Nietzsche is a great one as well.

Last updated: November 30, 2017

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A Primer of the Philosophy of Nietzsche | The Art of Manliness

Over four years and going strong! With over 500,000 downloads from over 9 countries and 5 continents. this is the Warrior Mind Podcast.

In this episode of the Warrior Mind Podcast Im going to go over your personal success path for peak performance.

In Stu McLarens TRIBE he has a concept of a Success Path. This is the process a member will go through a learn/training site.

I was so inspired by this I want to equate this to your life.

Stages These are the BIG steps or phases that your audience needs to take to get from where they are now to where they want to be. Typically, there will be from 3 (minimum) to 7 stages (maximum). Having more than 7 stages creates more overwhelm for your audience.

Characteristics These are the descriptions of somebody at that particular stage. What does someone at this stage think, feel, or do? These are the characteristics of a person who is at this stage. When describing these, start with the extremes, worst case scenario first (far left), then best case scenario (far right). This makes it a little easier to fill in the ones in between.

Enjoy this podcast on your personal success path

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Milestones These are indicators for people to be able to measure their progress. These will be yes or no responses to questions you may ask someone to indicate whether they are ready for the next stage.

Action Item These are the things that people need to do in order to progress along the Success Path.

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Your Personal Success Path: Warrior Mind Podcast #382

Please raise your hand if you have ever created a personal strategic plan.

Dont feel badly if your response is No. The reality is that few people begin their career with a personal strategic plan. And many do not have a career management plan either. In fact, William S. Burroughs once said, Only one in a million know what they want to do. Still fewer do it. It's doubtful that the quote is based on any research, but it is a powerful one anyway. The most successful companies have a strategic plan that they follow to guide their success in the industry in which they operate. They also have top strategic imperatives that are critical for smooth and continued operation. Likewise, it is important for individuals to have a personal strategic plan that will guide personal and career success.

Theres good news! Creating a personal strategic plan doesnt have to be a daunting task. With the right process, anyone can create a plan that includes all the drivers that are critical to your success. Outlined below is a four-step process to help you create your personal strategic plan.

The key to having a happy, satisfied and fulfilled life is to accomplish the things that are most important to you, and this is much easier to do if you have a personal strategic plan to guide your career and life success.

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Creating a Personal Strategic Plan for Personal Success ...

Success is what everyone college student dreams of. My Philosophy of Success, I believe that success is being able to wake up each morning, look in the mirror and be satisfied with your life. I believe successful people have learned to appreciate all the good things in their lives. If they have food, clothing and chance to learn, they are grateful to have these things because they are fortunate compared to about 80 percent of the rest of the world. Success does not mean being extremely wealthy. It means being able to enjoy the life you have now. It means having the love and support of your family and friends. I believe that learning is one road that leads to a successful life not because having an education means earning a bigger income, but having education provides us with knowledge and critically thinking skills and a chance to meet different people and communities, which help us to know the importance of taking personal responsibility for our lives.

The first success strategy I plan on using all the time is accepting personal responsibility. There will be time when I need to focus on school and worry less about my free time. For example, I have a test to do on Monday and I have to study in order to get an A and pass the course. The weekend comes around and all I do is procrastinating my studying. The smart thing to do about this situation would be to think wise and use my self-management strategy. Free time will always be available but a test that determines your grade will not. This helps me to be a creator about things and keeping up with the self-management strategy.

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Personal Philosophy of Success Essay - 289 Words