Welcome to Emotional Wellness Daily, a project of SIMHA, the Sephardic Initiative for Mental Health Awareness.
Rav Wolbe discusses an interesting thought in his pamphlet about religion and psychology (page 87). He asks, “Is there a place for a rabbi when it comes to helping someone who's mentally ill?”
He isn't referring to someone who is hallucinating, delusional, or obviously psychotic. A rabbi can't help that. That's a job for a doctor. But he says that when someone has depression, according to his experience, a rabbi can help and can give a lot of hizuk. He discusses something he read many years prior, from a Dr Schou, a psychiatrist who directed priests in dealing with mentally ill people. Dr Schou suggested that one of the ways to help a person who's sick is to give them pesukim from Tanach, that have the ability to lift someone's spirits. He said it works almost like giving psychiatric medicine.
He cites a few example, such as Tehilim 31,4 which refers to the the depression of the Jewish people at large, but he applies to the individual.
ע֤וֹד אֶבְנֵךְ֙ וְֽנִבְנֵ֔ית בְּתוּלַ֖ת יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל ע֚וֹד תַּעְדִּ֣י תֻפַּ֔יִךְ וְיָצָ֖את בִּמְח֥וֹל מְשַׂחֲקִֽים
Once again, you’ll dance in the circles.
Another that he cites is from Yirmiyah, 31,13:
וְהָפַכְתִּ֨י אֶבְלָ֤ם לְשָׂשׂוֹן֙ וְנִ֣חַמְתִּ֔ים וְשִׂמַּחְתִּ֖ים מִיגוֹנָֽם׃
I'll turn your mourning into happiness, and I'll give you comfort.
And another, further on (31,16) when Hashem is talking to Rachel Imenu,
כֹּ֣ה ׀ אָמַ֣ר יְהֹוָ֗ה מִנְעִ֤י קוֹלֵךְ֙ מִבֶּ֔כִי
Stop crying…
וְיֵשׁ־תִּקְוָ֥ה לְאַחֲרִיתֵ֖ך
There's hope.
Rav Wolbe says, I tried this many times and I saw it helps. I saw a good influence. I was able to break someone that was in a deep depression without medicine. But this does not work if the one who's reading it reads it dryly. He has to put his Emuna and Bitachon into the pesukim, and that will help the person
I’m sharing this because it's important to know, as we always stress, the connection between religion or spirituality and our mental health at large. It's interesting that Rav Wolbe discusses this concept of reading pesukim as a way to strengthen emotional wellness, because you pump into yourself the hope and upbeat attitude that is there in the pesukim.
In one of the premier mental health hospitals in America, the McLean Hospital in Boston, they have something called SPIRIT Groups.
The word SPIRIT is an acronym for Spiritual Psychotherapy for Inpatient Residents and Intensive Treatment. Basically, they offer guidelines on how to strengthen people in their difficult times. It's very interesting, that in one of the handouts that they give to people running these groups, called Meditating on the Psalms, it says “When looking for hope, comfort, and encouragement, the biblical book of Psalms is full of ancient words of wisdom. Some people pray the Psalms regularly while others memorize a few verses for times when they need an infusion of faith. The following may be relevant to you…” and they recommend about ten different pesukim.
All of this is actually the introduction to an advertisement for a new book we recently put out called Daily Dose of Pesukim of Bitachon, available at https://www.artscroll.com/Books/9781422640159.html
It’s a compilation of pesukim of Bitachon, drawn mostly from Tehilim, with some from Tanach, collected by Rav Yosef Zundel of Salant. By reading one pasuk a day, understanding and delving into it, you're actually helping your emotional wellness. So, this is a bit of a cross between our emotional wellness and our spirituality.
Have a wonderful day.