Mental Health and Religion - Essay Example

? Mental Health and Religion Mental Health and Religion This paper will compare and contrast the concepts related to mental health and religion between Sigmund Freud and C.G. Jung. Sigmund Freud was born to a Jewish family with deep roots on the teachings of the Roman Catholic (Thornton, 2010). As such, he had a foundation and deep concern on the understanding of religion and spirituality. He also grew up to become a physiologist, psychologist, physician, and a philosopher (Thornton, 2010). Indeed, his immense contribution to psychology made him the father of psychoanalysis. As a result, he sought to understand human psychology development and contributed to the treatment of abnormal mental conditions through his concepts and theories (Thornton, 2010). On the other hand, Carl Gustav Jung was the only son of a Protestant clergyman and had great influence on religion (Cowgil, 1997). Carl Gustav Jung grew up to become a philosopher and a psychiatrist who influenced psychology by founding the school of analytical psychology (Cowgil, 1997). Notably, Carl Gustav Jung and Sigmund Freud had similar concepts, theories, and ideas on humanity but differed on certain significant aspects like mental health and religion. Ideally, Carl Jung and Sigmund Freud identified with the concept of unconscious to explain certain human aspects but differed in philosophy. Indeed, Freud and Jung had a close relationship for a long time where Jung was a junior partner learning about the Freud’s theories of the unconscious. However, although they both relied on the concept of the unconscious to explain dreams, Jung sought to adopt the concept of the subconscious. Most assuredly, the two had significant differences on the concept of religion. Actually, Freud felt that religion was unnecessary and termed it as a fallacy that should not exist in the modern world. Indeed, just like Karl Max, Freud referred to religion as opium of the masses. As such, he had total disregard of religion but had immense faith on the ability of the mind to access unconscious thoughts and treat any neuroses (Freud, 2012). On the other hand, Carl Gustav Jung attached great significance to religion in relation to the safety of humanity. He thus explored the importance of religion in individualization and well-being of the society (Jung, 1938). He also asserted that religion played a great role in establishing a mode of communication between different people. He supported this with the fact that different religions have the same archetypes and symbols (Jung, 1938). However, Jung disregarded the traditional Christian religion and sought to advance in the occult. Notably, Jung had greater respect for the Jewish religion aspects than Freud did. In fact, where Sigmund Freud depicted religion as an illusion and neurosis (De Silva, 1992), Carl Jung had a converse view where he referred to religion as a means of truth that has a strong foundation in the unconscious mind (Verghese, 2008). Most specifically, Freud defined religion as a collective obsessional neurosis of humanity, which should face abolition from the modern society (Freud, 2012). Indeed, he claimed that the modern man has outgrown the need for the irrational religious behaviour. Conversely, Carl Jung had a personal believe that religion was a natural expression of the collective unconscious. Nevertheless, they both agreed on certain aspects relating to the concept of religion. In fact, both Freud and Jung believed that at a certain point in the human life, religion played a positive role in the society. In supporting this assertion, both Carl Jung and Freud based their theories of religion on the notion that human beings have instincts that are more primitive and possess different sections of our psyche (Jung, 1938). They also identified with the belief that religion played a great role in helping people to solve certain issues in the society. In fact, they both held the view that religion plays a direct and indirect role in the diagnosis and treatment of psychiatric disturbances like mental illnesses. They based this with the idea that too much and distorted religious practices manifest in cases of mental illness (Verghese, 2008). However, while Carl Jung adopted a psychological perspective on organized religion, Sigmund Freud who was a modern psychologist strongly criticized religion. In fact, Freud thought that religious ideas are baseless in reality and claimed that religion only sought to assure people’s wish for protection through the uncontrollable natural forces (Freud, 2012). In fact, Freud documented his works where he claimed that religion only attempted to control the Oedipal complex, established structural social groups, fulfilled the people’s wishes, and aimed at controlling the outside world (De Silva, 1992). As such, he dismissed Jung’s interest in religion and myths as an act that defied modern science. However, Jung maintained his believe in God by claiming that he knows and believes in the existence of God. We see Freud ridiculing Jung’s belief in God. On the other hand, Carl Jung and Sigmund Freud disagreed on the concept of mental health. Indeed, Sigmund Freud referred to the unconscious as the reserve for all repressed sexual desires, which amounts to pathological, or mental illness. As such, Sigmund Freud asserted that a person could only establish how to live happily and recover from mental illness by exploring the unconscious (De Silva, 1992). On the contrary, Carl Jung was of the view that the unconscious was independent on its own for entirety. More so, Jung claimed that mental illness does not refer to pathology but an unconscious control of emotions and reserved experience that tend towards individuation (Jung, 1938). In addition, Carl Jung initiated the notion of and believed in archetypes, mental facilities that play a major role in developing images of certain things (Jung, 1938). Notably, Sigmund Freud proposed that mental illness and neurotic behavior emanate from unpleasant or traumatic events that occur during early childhood, which faced suppression or repression from the conscious mind. In fact, he even derived a theory ascertaining that the unconscious mind used symbolism to communicate repressed thoughts and emotions in human beings. However, despite their differences on the concepts of mental health and religion, their theories about the unconscious mind still plays a huge role in supporting psychoanalysis and deriving our understanding of human behavior. As such, their contribution to religion and mental health is still important. References Cowgil, C. (1997). Carl Jung. Retrieved from: http://www.muskingum.edu/~psych/psycweb/history/jung.htm De Silva, P. (1992). Buddhist and Freudian Psychology. Singapore: NUS Press. Freud, S. (2012).The Future of an Illusion. Peterborough: Broadview Press. Jung. C. (1938). Psychology and Religion. New Haven: Yale University Press. Thornton, S. (2010). Sigmund Freud (1856—1939). Retrieved from: http://www.iep.utm.edu/freud/#H5 Verghese, A. (2008). Spirituality and mental health. Indian J Psychiatry 50(4): 233–237. Read More