Welcome to Emotional Wellness Daily.
There's nothing that I enjoy more than learning something in a sefer that tells us about psychology and mental illness, because what's better than finding something in our sources?
Rabbenu Yonah, a Rishon who lived about 800 years ago, quotes Mishleh 18,14 in his famous Shaare Teshuva, 4th gate, 12th letter:
רוּחַ אִישׁ יְכַלְכֵּל מַחֲלֵהוּ וְרוּחַ נְכֵאָה מִי יִשָּאֶנָּה. פֵּרוּשׁ, כַּאֲשֶׁר יֶחֱלֶה הַגּוּף, הַנֶּפֶשׁ תִּסְבּוֹל חָלְיוֹ,
The spirit of man can take care of his disease, but a broken soul, who's going to lift it up?
He explains that when the body becomes sick הַנֶּפֶשׁ תִּסְבּוֹל חָלְיוֹ,/the soul will hold/ tolerate the disease.
When you have an illness, a challenge, a pain, or an ache, you need acceptance. You need to tolerance. Who gives you the ability? Your soul.
תַּעֲזוֹר לַגּוּף וְתִסְעָדֵהוּ כַּאֲשֶׁר תְּדַבֵּר עַל לִבּוֹ וּתְנַחֲמֵהוּ לְקַבֵּל וְלִסְבּוֹל תְּדַבֵּר עַל לִבּוֹ וּתְנַחֲמֵהוּ לְקַבֵּל וְלִסְבּוֹל
The soul will help the body and give it strength, speak to its heart, to comfort, to accept and to tolerate. Those are the two powerful words for how to get through a difficult situation. Acceptance. (They call it acceptance therapy) and Lisbol/ tolerating the pain. And you need your soul, your Nefesh to walk you through it. Your Nefesh is who you are. Mental health and mental illness happen in the Nefesh.
(It could also take place in your brain if you have bad cognitions, but that's not a disease. That's an improper way to look at things)
When it comes to sickness, there's physical sickness and there's the sickness of the soul. I once heard it said that mental illness is like a cancer of the soul. But it goes unseen by the outside world so the person suffers alone.
When a person has a sick body, his soul helps him accept and tolerate.
אֲבָל כַּאֲשֶׁר הַנֶּפֶשׁ חוֹלָה וּנְכֵאָה מִן הַיָּגוֹן וְהַדְּאָגָה, מִי יְנַחֵם הַנֶּפֶשׁ וּמִי יִסְבּוֹל וְיִסְעַד אוֹתָהּ. /But when the soul is sick, and broken from Yagon/ sorrow (we call that depression), and Da’agah/ worry (which we’d call anxiety) who is going to help the soul?
Unbelievable! These are the two most prevalent areas of mental illness, excluding the chemical imbalance type. The basic bread and butter of mental illness (30%) is chalked up to anxiety and depression, and here we are learning that they are a sickness of the soul. This is not to be confused with religious sickness, like if you eat something unkosher. He doesn't say the soul is sick because he ate something unkosher, he says the soul is sick because of mental illness. Yagon v Da’agah
מִי יְנַחֵם הַנֶּפֶשׁ
מִי יִסְבּוֹל וְיִסְעַד אוֹתָהּוף
Who is going to help the Nefesh?
You can't help yourself because your the tools have been stolen from you.
He continues,
הַדְּאָגָה וּמְרִירוּת הַלֵּב יְכְבְּדוּ מֵחֳלִי הַגּוּף, כִּי הַנֶּפֶשׁ סוֹעֶדֶת הַגּוּף בְּחָלְיוֹ. אֲבָל כְּשֶׁהַנֶּפֶשׁ חוֹלָה וּנְכֵאָה מִיגוֹנֶיהָ, לֹא יִסְעָדֶנָּה הַגּוּף
The worry and the bitterness of the heart are heavier/worse than physical disease because your soul/ your spirit can help and support the body, but when the soul is sick from its depression, the body is not able to support the soul.
Unbelievable. We have here an early source on what it means to have mental illness. Mental illness is worse than physical illness and when it comes to mental illness, you need outside help. This is Rabbenu Yonah speaking.
When a person is in need of mental health support, because he is suffering with anxiety and depression, he may not want to go to somebody else for help. He might try a self-help book. But it seems like self-help books can’t do it, because you’ve lost your tools.
This is a little pitch for the need to go for outside help sometimes, and as we said in the past, we are involved in an organization called SIMHA the Sephardic Initiative for Mental Health Awareness. Many people have come forth, having heard about us from Emotional Wellness Daily. But there are many more people that aren't coming forth. So, when you call and they ask who referred you, you can tell them, “Rabbenu Yonah in Shaare Teshuva. I'm a good, religious person. I called because Rabbenu Yonah told me it's okay to seek help for mental health.”
Have a wonderful day.
שערי תשובה השער הרביעי אות יב
כְּמוֹ שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (משלי יח, יד) רוּחַ אִישׁ יְכַלְכֵּל מַחֲלֵהוּ וְרוּחַ נְכֵאָה מִי יִשָּאֶנָּה. פֵּרוּשׁ, כַּאֲשֶׁר יֶחֱלֶה הַגּוּף, הַנֶּפֶשׁ תִּסְבּוֹל חָלְיוֹ, מִלְּשׁוֹן (מלאכי ג, ב) וּמִי מְכַלְכֵּל אֶת יוֹם בּוֹאוֹ, כְּלוֹמַר תַּעֲזוֹר לַגּוּף וְתִסְעָדֵהוּ כַּאֲשֶׁר תְּדַבֵּר עַל לִבּוֹ וּתְנַחֲמֵהוּ לְקַבֵּל וְלִסְבּוֹל. אֲבָל כַּאֲשֶׁר הַנֶּפֶשׁ חוֹלָה וּנְכֵאָה מִן הַיָּגוֹן וְהַדְּאָגָה, מִי יְנַחֵם הַנֶּפֶשׁ וּמִי יִסְבּוֹל וְיִסְעַד אוֹתָהּ. הִנֵּה כִּי הַדְּאָגָה וּמְרִירוּת הַלֵּב יְכְבְּדוּ מֵחֳלִי הַגּוּף, כִּי הַנֶּפֶשׁ סוֹעֶדֶת הַגּוּף בְּחָלְיוֹ. אֲבָל כְּשֶׁהַנֶּפֶשׁ חוֹלָה וּנְכֵאָה מִיגוֹנֶיהָ, לֹא יִסְעָדֶנָּה הַגּוּף