scholarly journals The Multistream Self: Biophysical, Mental, Social, and Existential

2008 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
pp. 331-341 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vinod D. Deshmukh
Keyword(s):  
Well Being ◽  
Good Health ◽  
Human Experience ◽  
Coordination Dynamics ◽  
Social Model ◽  
Self Awareness ◽  
Self Actualization ◽  
Living Organisms ◽  
Positive Outlook ◽  
Energy Information

Self is difficult to define because of its multiple, constitutive streams of functional existence. A more comprehensive and expanded definition of self is proposed. The standard bio-psycho-social model of psyche is expanded to biophysical-mental-social and existential self. The total human experience is better understood and explained by adding the existential component. Existential refers to lived human experience, which is firmly rooted in reality. Existential living is the capacity to live fully in the present, and respond freely and flexibly to new experience without fear. Four common fears of isolation, insecurity, insignificance, and death can be overcome by developing a lifestyle of whole-hearted engagement in the present reality, creative problem solving, self-actualization, and altruism. Such integrative living creates a sense of presence with self-awareness, understanding, and existential well-being. Well-being is defined as a life of happiness, contentment, low distress, and good health with positive outlook. Self is a complex, integrative process of living organisms. It organizes, coordinates, and integrates energy-information within and around itself, spontaneously, unconsciously, and consciously. Self-process is understood in terms of synergetics, coordination dynamics, and energy-information–directed self-organization. It is dynamic, composite, ever renewing, and enduring. It can be convergent or divergent, and can function as the source or target of its own behavior-mentation. The experience of self is continuously generated by spontaneous activation of neural networks in the cerebral neocortex by the brainstem-diencephalic arousal system. The multiple constitutive behavioral-mental streams develop concurrently into a unique experience of self, specific for a person at his/her developmental stage. The chronological neuro-behavioral-mental development of self is described in detail from embryonic stage to old age. Self can be behaviorally-mentally oriented and realized in three complimentary modes of being: egocentric, allocentric, and ecosystemic or existential. The existential mode is both immanent and transcendent, and can be self-actualized, resulting in a healthy, creative, conflict-free, and meaningful life.

scholarly journals Exercise and Life-Satisfactory-Fitness: Complementary Strategies in the Prevention and Rehabilitation of Illnesses

2004 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 157-165 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christiane Jennen ◽  
Gerhard Uhlenbruck
Keyword(s):  
Family Environment ◽  
Leisure Time ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Good Health ◽  
Preventive Effect ◽  
The Metabolic Syndrome ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Retrospective View ◽  
Health Promoting ◽  
Positive Outlook

Moderate training of an endurance nature, but also other exercise activities, not only has a preventive effect on various illnesses and pre-illness states such as the metabolic syndrome and cancer, but is also effective in treating patients in the rehabilitation phase after illness, e.g. cardiovascular or cancer. Our investigation demonstrates that even low level physical activity has a very good preventive effect too, which is enhanced when it is accompanied by mental activity and psychological well-being. In total, we investigated 13 000 people on the basis of socio-economic panel polls with respect to life contentment, health status and leisure-time activities. Life contentment is positively linked to contentment with labor, which seems to be an essential aspect with regard to the increasing number of unemployed people in Europe. The second important factor is health-promoting activities during leisure time. Exercise, especially, has a significant influence on life satisfaction as a feeling of physical fitness feeling is regarded as synonymous with good health. The results underline the psycho-neuroimmunological network, which stabilizes our health and shows that different activities in older adults have a significant effect on the aging process and age-related illnesses. Besides the various activities that are important in this arena, namely muscle and mental mobility (‘brawn and brain’), a third component must be taken into consideration: life contentment in the form of a successful retrospective view and a positive outlook, embedded in a psychosocial family environment (‘brood’) and integrated in a stress-free biotope, where life does make sense. Alternative and complementary strategies should be considered in light of these three aspects when we think about additional anti-inflammatory strategies in preventing diseases or treating them and their relapses.Sport has made a few healthy people ill, but sport has also made a good few of ill people healthy! (Gerhard Uhlenbruck, Aphorisms)

The key role of spirituality in positive psychiatry and psychology

2021 ◽  
pp. 361-382
Author(s):  
Simone Hauck ◽  
C. Robert Cloninger
Keyword(s):  
Complex Adaptive Systems ◽  
Adaptive Systems ◽  
Character Strengths ◽  
Personality Development ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Self Control ◽  
Social Model ◽  
Self Awareness ◽  
Creative Processes ◽  
Complex Adaptive

The field of positive psychology and psychiatry has the goal of helping people to achieve greater happiness, fostering the factors that allow individuals, communities, and societies to thrive. It proposes a hierarchy of positive psychological character strengths, composed of 24 specific human qualities, including spirituality. Spiritually oriented well-being therapies are a promising and much-needed field. The bio-psycho-social model, developed by Cloninger and colleagues, is an empirically based model that considers the importance of spirituality in the human constitution and development, providing a systematic way to promote health as an integrated state, rather than merely the absence of disease or infirmity. Personality development depends on the creative process of integration through three complex adaptive systems of learning and memory, involving associative conditioning of habits, intentional self-control, and creative processes of self-awareness. The physical, mental, and spiritual aspects are interdependent, and must be addressed jointly aiming at a healthy, happy, and good life.

Narrative as active inference

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nabil Bouizegarene ◽  
maxwell ramstead ◽  
Axel Constant ◽  
Karl Friston ◽  
Laurence Kirmayer
Keyword(s):  
Well Being ◽  
Social Practices ◽  
Human Adaptation ◽  
Active Inference ◽  
Future Projection ◽  
Future Developments ◽  
The Social ◽  
Parsimonious Model ◽  
Living Organisms ◽  
Theory Research

The ubiquity and importance of narratives in human adaptation has been recognized by many scholars. Research has identified several functions of narratives that are conducive to individuals’ well-being and adaptation as well as to coordinated social practices and enculturation. In this paper, we characterize the social and cognitive functions of narratives in terms of the framework of active inference. Active inference depicts the fundamental tendency of living organisms to adapt by creating, updating, and maintaining inferences about their environment. We review the literature on the functions of narratives in identity, event segmentation, episodic memory, future projection, storytelling practices, and enculturation. We then re-cast these functions of narratives in terms of active inference, outlining a parsimonious model that can guide future developments in narrative theory, research, and clinical applications.

Integrating Focusing and Differentiation: A Therapeutic Path for Couples in Intimate Relationships

2018 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
Author(s):  
Evi Zohar
Keyword(s):  
Couples Therapy ◽  
Therapeutic Potential ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
The Body ◽  
Self Awareness ◽  
Emotional Healing ◽  
Felt Sense ◽  
Inner World

Continuing the workshop I've given in the WPC Paris (2017), this article elaborates my discussion of the way I interlace Focusing with Differentiation Based Couples Therapy (Megged, 2017) under the systemic view, in order to facilitate processes of change and healing in working with intimate couples. This article presents the theory and rationale of integrating Differentiation (Bowen, 1978; Schnarch, 2009; Megged, 2017) and Focusing (Gendlin, 1981) approaches, and its therapeutic potential in couple's therapy. It is written from the point of view of a practicing professional in order to illustrate the experiential nature and dynamics of the suggested therapeutic path. Differentiation is a key to mutuality. It offers a solution to the central struggle of any long term intimate relationship: balancing two basic life forces - the drive for individuality and the drive for togetherness (Schnarch, 2009). Focusing is a body-oriented process of self-awareness and emotional healing, in which one learns to pay attention to the body and the ‘Felt Sense’, in order to unfold the implicit, keep it in motion at the precise pace it needs for carrying the next step forward (Gendlin, 1996). Combining Focusing and Differentiation perspectives can cultivate the kind of relationship where a conflict can be constructively and successfully held in the inner world of each partner, while taking into consideration the others' well-being. This creates the possibility for two people to build a mutual emotional field, open to changes, permeable and resilient.

A Consumer Behavior-Influenced Multidisciplinary Transcendent Model of Motivation for Music Making

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Valerie L. Vaccaro
Keyword(s):  
Consumer Behavior ◽  
Music Education ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Social Needs ◽  
Self Identity ◽  
Music Making ◽  
Self Actualization ◽  
Psychic Energy ◽  
Self Transcendence

This chapter reviews multidisciplinary research from the fields of consumer behavior, humanistic and positive psychology, music education, and other areas to develop a new Transcendent Model of Motivation for Music Making. One’s “extended self” identity can be defined partly by possessions and mastery over objects, and objects can “complete” the self. Music making involves a person’s investment of “psychic energy,” including attention, time, learning, and efforts, and is a creative path which can lead to peak experiences and flow. Music making can help satisfy social needs, achieve self-actualization, experience self-transcendence, enhance well-being, strengthen spirituality, and improve the quality of life.

scholarly journals Understanding what matters most to patients in acute care in seven countries, using the flash mob study design

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Eva S. van den Ende ◽  
◽  
Bo Schouten ◽  
Marjolein N. T. Kremers ◽  
Tim Cooksley ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Acute Care ◽  
Patient Perspective ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Healthcare Professionals ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Good Health ◽  
Care Needs ◽  
Patient Centred Care ◽  
Trial Register ◽  
What Matters

Abstract Background Truly patient-centred care needs to be aligned with what patients consider important, and is highly desirable in the first 24 h of an acute admission, as many decisions are made during this period. However, there is limited knowledge on what matters most to patients in this phase of their hospital stay. The objective of this study was to identify what mattered most to patients in acute care and to assess the patient perspective as to whether their treating doctors were aware of this. Methods This was a large-scale, qualitative, flash mob study, conducted simultaneously in sixty-six hospitals in seven countries, starting November 14th 2018, ending 50 h later. One thousand eight hundred fifty adults in the first 24 h of an acute medical admission were interviewed on what mattered most to them, why this mattered and whether they felt the treating doctor was aware of this. Results The most reported answers to “what matters most (and why)?” were ‘getting better or being in good health’ (why: to be with family/friends or pick-up life again), ‘getting home’ (why: more comfortable at home or to take care of someone) and ‘having a diagnosis’ (why: to feel less anxious or insecure). Of all patients, 51.9% felt the treating doctor did not know what mattered most to them. Conclusions The priorities for acutely admitted patients were ostensibly disease- and care-oriented and thus in line with the hospitals’ own priorities. However, answers to why these were important were diverse, more personal, and often related to psychological well-being and relations. A large group of patients felt their treating doctor did not know what mattered most to them. Explicitly asking patients what is important and why, could help healthcare professionals to get to know the person behind the patient, which is essential in delivering patient-centred care. Trial registration NTR (Netherlands Trial Register) NTR7538.

scholarly journals Bibliometric Analysis of SARS, MERS, and COVID-19 Studies from India and Connection to Sustainable Development Goals

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (14) ◽  
pp. 7555
Author(s):  
Raghu Raman ◽  
Ricardo Vinuesa ◽  
Prema Nedungadi
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Bibliometric Analysis ◽  
Data Access ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Good Health ◽  
The United States ◽  
Social Sciences And Humanities ◽  
Semantic Associations ◽  
Number Of Publications

India is ranked fifth in the world in terms of COVID-19 publications accounting for 6.7% of the total. About 60% of the COVID-19 publications in the year 2020 are from United States, China, UK, Italy, and India. We present a bibliometric analysis of the publication trends and citation structure along with the identification of major research clusters. By performing network analysis of authors, citations, institutions, keywords, and countries, we explore semantic associations by applying visualization techniques. Our study shows lead taken by the United States, China, UK, Italy, India in COVID-19 research may be attributed to the high prevalence of COVID-19 cases in those countries witnessing the first outbreak and also due to having access to COVID-19 data, access to labs for experimental trials, immediate funding, and overall support from the govt. agencies. A large number of publications and citations from India are due to co-authored publications with countries like the United States, UK, China, and Saudi Arabia. Findings show health sciences have the highest number of publications and citations, while physical sciences and social sciences and humanities counts were low. A large proportion of publications fall into the open-access category. With India as the focus, by comparing three major pandemics—SARS, MERS, COVID-19—from a bibliometrics perspective, we observe much broader involvement of authors from multiple countries for COVID-19 studies when compared to SARS and MERS. Finally, by applying bibliometric indicators, we see an increasing number of sustainable development-related studies from the COVID-19 domain, particularly concerning the topic of good health and well-being. This study allows for a deeper understanding of how the scholarly community from a populous country like India pursued research in the midst of a major pandemic which resulted in the closure of scientific institutions for an extended time.

Helping Carers Care: An Education Programme for Rural Carers of People with a Mental Illness

2005 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 148-153 ◽  
Author(s):  
Faye Hayman
Keyword(s):  
Mental Illness ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Self Care ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Education Programme ◽  
Educational Programme ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Descriptive Information ◽  
Exchange Programme ◽  
Positive Outlook

Objective: To provide descriptive information about a short-term educational programme for rural carers of people with a mental illness, living in the Loddon Campaspe Southern Mallee region. Method: The Carers Education Exchange Programme is a flexible, needsbased model that can be modified to cater for individual groups. It consists of a number of sessions on topics relevant to caring for someone with a mental illness, held over a period of several weeks. The programme is offered at locations throughout the region, making it accessible to carers in isolated, rural areas. Results: Feedback indicates that the benefits of participating in the programme include the reduction of isolation and stigma, increased understanding of mental illness, development of skills relevant to the caring role and the formation of supportive networks, both professional and personal. Conclusions: Educational group programmes for carers are an effective way of providing both education and support. This programme can assist in reducing some of the distress and difficulties inherent in caring for someone with a mental illness. Carer well-being is enhanced by the promotion of self-care and a positive outlook.

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