Love and Work?

[Sunstone]

When asked what a psychologically healthy person would do, Freud said "to love and to work". Are the abilities to love and to work still the best definition of psychological health? Is there a better definition? If so, what is it?

Also, is there a difference between psychological health and spiritual health? If so, what's the difference?

(I understand "spiritual" to mean at least in part a feeling or perception of connectedness to all things)

 

[Lightkeeper]

I think good psychological and spiritual health is acceptance. The serenity prayer explains it well. Having the courage to change what we can change, accepting what we cannot change and having the wisdom to know the difference. I think a healthy person is going to work even if they are well off financially.

 

[Sunstone]

What about the notion that insanity is repeating the same behavior again and again while expecting different results? Doesn't that imply that a key aspect of mental and emotional health is the ability to learn from our mistakes?

I have noticed that some of my friends who suffer from various disorders tend to repeat their mistakes. For instance, one friend in particular finds looser boyfriends again and again -- and all of her looser boyfriends resemble one another in how they abuse her. She also has a bi-polar disorder, and I wonder if that doesn't have something to do with her finding the same sort of loosers over and over again.

 

[fromthe heart]

When asked what a psychologically healthy person would do, Freud said "to love and to work". Are the abilities to love and to work still the best definition of psychological health? Is there a better definition? If so, what is it?

Also, is there a difference between psychological health and spiritual health? If so, what's the difference?

(I understand "spiritual" to mean at least in part a feeling or perception of connectedness to all things)

I think Freud had it all wrong there...I'm not sure there is a psycoligically healthy person all the time...things,events,and circumstances in ones life tend to create who we are...sometimes we all could be capable to do things we'd never have dreamed we could have.

I believe spiritual health is totally different from psycoligical health. There are people who are caught up in their own minds but still have their spiritual health.

 

[Ceridwen018]

Freud was a smart guy....I'm thinking that there is more to that quote of his that perhaps he just chose not to elaborate on.

fromthe heart, you have a good point when you suggest that no one can be perfectly sane all of the time.