PFP
Page 14
Spiritual distress
We spend a lot of time thinking
about a person's spirituality, something which helps them, if it is in a
healthy state, to achieve comfort and peace of mind. Often healthy
spirituality can be tempered by an experience of spiritual distress.
This happens when a person finds that circumstances change, and they
become very distressed in something central to their
life.
We always have to keep in mind what spirituality is. We have emphasised in PFP that spirituality includes a number of elements. To reiterate, it involves our connectedness, (in varying degrees) with our individual self, to others, to something higher or bigger than ourselves (which may include God and/or religion), nature, and creative expression. Distress may occur when there is a breakdown in the connectedness between the person and any or all of these elements - depending on the severity.
We can become distressed within ourselves if we become unhappy with the way we are performing in whatever activity we want to be successful. As a result of a number of things in which we do not perform to the best we can, we might lose our self-esteem which could create in us some despondency. Another example might be our relationship with God. In this situation, we might be distressed because we find that God does not seem to help us in the way we would like. Another example might be a way a person is connected to nature. Many people who have a strong commitment to the land and spend their life in a way that relies on the closeness of themselves to nature, may find that when there is, for example, a natural calamity, their spirituality is become distressed because they are unable to connect in the way they have in the past. In this situation it might seem that nature has let them down.
If we have a clear understanding of what we believe spirituality is in terms of the elements we have already discussed, then when we are talking to a friend, we can listen for the element in which they may seem to be having difficulty, say, for example, family relationships, and explore that element with the person so that by exploring their feelings about their situations, we may be able to help them reconnect with the family or the person with whom they are having difficulties. The aim of this would be to restore the connectedness and reduce their spiritual distress. The same approach could also be used to identify, for example, the lack of connection a person has with God. Helping them to understand the relationship and talking through their breakdown, can help them understand their position in the scheme of things and their distress might be reduced.
The same can occur with
their own self esteem.
Exploring with them the reason
for their lack of self-esteem and trying to encourage their greater
self-belief, may help them to reduce that spiritual distress which has
become evident.
We need to remember, though,
that if our friend's
spiritual distress becomes beyond our ability to
help, we need to discuss the situation with our supervisor
(if we are working in an aged care home or a hospital) or,
with someone younger or in a different situation. This could well be
someone, say, a counsellor,
who can help the
friend restore their
positive spirituality and thus
their inner peace.
