Approximately 60 million Americans experienced some form of mental illness in 2023.
More and more people suffer from anxiety. More and more suffer from depression and various addictions than ever before. Yet, while acknowledging we have room for improvement, we also have better access to mental health care than in the past, increased visibility of mental illness, and decreased stigma. So, how do we interpret the increased number of cases of mental illness along with the increased support? The Western model of helping people with mental illness is promising. Pills help. Therapy helps. But the numbers still rise.
First, I challenge you to consider what anxiety means without describing the symptoms. What about depression? Our current model of mental illness is similar to the allopathic terms of the medical community. If you need surgery, we remove the diseased body part. You come in with symptoms, you get this pill. If we call the experience of depression and anxiety an illness or disorder, then it makes sense that our approach would be to remove the illness or prescribe a modality to treat the symptom.
Indigenous people do not have words for anxiety or depression. They use terms such as soul loss and possession. And the healing modalities involve the 3 R’s—restoration/retrieval, release, and reconnection. Restoration/retrieval is restoring the fragmented soul to the client’s energy body. Release is finding any energies that do not belong and helping them find their rightful place in the universe. Reconnection involves re-weaving one’s healthy relationship with body, mind, soul, helping spirits, humanity, and non-human beings.
With our current depiction of depression as a slew of symptoms, and our belief that the causes are biological, psychological, and social, we are left with a soul that is aching for healing. The biopsychosocial model has its merits, but why does it come at the expense of the soul? When I see people who experience symptoms of depression, that is often a sign of soul disruption or loss that results in diminished power, authenticity, and life force. When I see people who have anxiety I wonder if there are energies connected to them that need to be released at the level of the soul. After a restoration and release, people often need reconnection--to weave together their original soul pattern within their energy body and physical body, and connect to life outside—nature, the elements, and spiritual and universal energies.
In short, I’m not advocating for completely disregarding the biopsychosocial model. Instead, I’m suggesting that it is incomplete. Most religious traditions believe in some form of soul. Most spiritual people believe in the soul. Why not discuss this aspect of a person’s life within a therapeutic and healing container? Why not learn tried and true techniques passed down from our indigenous elders? This is a different framework, diagnosis, and treatment plan than the Western model. And the results can be life-changing. Often after a shamanic healing, with the soul more fully embodied and the body more fully ensouled, the symptoms of anxiety and depression automatically, magically, just disappear.
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