Mental Health and the Power of the Mind

Many people consider the mind to be part of the brain, but as Rene Descartes – the father of modern philosophy said, “there is a vast difference between the mind and the body, in that the body...is always divisible, while the mind is completely indivisible” [1].

Our thoughts, our ideas, our feelings all seem to have physiological manifestations, but those processes miss the true subjective nature of those mental qualities. In a way these processes step outside of biological science and cannot fully be understood through science and it is because this subjective self – our mind – is in some way separate from our physical bodies that it is so incredibly powerful.

No one, no body or entity of any kind can have control over your internal mental being - or mind - and it is with this notion that the power of the mind can be conceived and understood. Certain poorly understood psychological “disorders”, such as Dissociative Personality Disorder, help to exemplify just how much power our minds are capable of.

Dissociative Personality Disorder is a perfect example of just how powerful the mind can be. In these cases, patients experiencing this lack of control over their mind experience a replacement, distortion or diminishment of their concept of self.

It is this loss of oneself that has led scientists Jeanette Kennett and Steve Mathews – out of Monash University and Charles Stuart University respectively - to argue that someone who is experiencing these dissociations should not be held responsible for their actions; there seems to be a complete lack of control of oneself through uncontrollable mental processes [2].

While this particular example might seem a little bit extreme, it nonetheless serves as an example of just how very powerful our mental being or mind can be – so powerful that it can in a sense take on a “personality” of it’s own.

While multiple personalities is an extreme example of the power of the mind, we can equate it to lesser versions of essentially completely loosing control of ones mind; for example, during extreme rage or stress. Many of us have experienced incidences where our mind is seemingly in autopilot doing its own thing and we may feel out of control of our wandering thoughts.

However, our minds are fundamentally ours and only ours and as a result we can have complete and utter control. The goal of many forms of psychotherapy - whether it be hypnotherapy, meditation techniques, behavioral therapy or some other form of therapy directly dealing with mental processes without the use of pharmaceuticals – is to teach the patient to have complete control over their troubling thought processes thereby converting them into positive life qualities.

As my example of multiple personalities shows, the mind is indeed a very powerful thing and can indeed slip out of our control – but, just imagine the capabilities of your mind if it were completely harnessed by you and under your control. The power of your mind would then become your power and the possibility of accomplishing your dreams and conquering your fears would be well within your reach – allowing you to grow and live - exactly the way you want to. You can start now at www.mindtosucceed.com where you will learn how to put your power of mind to work for you.

Sources:
1. Descartes, Rene. Meditations on First Philosophy. United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press, 1986.
2. Kennett, Jeanette and Steve Mathews. “Identity, control and responsibility: the case of Dissociative Identity Disorder”. Philosophical Psychology 15.4 (2002).