A message from The Forum acting Vice-Chair, Ben Bano
Welcome to our website where you will find a range of important information on the increasingly important topic of Spirituality and Mental Health. Both in the field of mental health and beyond there is an increasing awareness of the need to promote an approach based on 'mind and soul' and our aim is to promote this awareness through our regular events as well as through our website. We are unique in having representatives from most of the major faith traditions on our Council of Management.
We hold regular seminars each quarter at which a guest speaker presents on a topical theme relevant to spirituality and mental health. We also organise a memorial lecture each year to honour the memory of the late Professor Peter Gilbert who did so much to raise awareness of the link between spirituality and mental health. You will find details of previous and planned events by clicking here.
We also organise an Open Forum in June of each year where there is an opportunity to share developments and good practice in the area of Spirituality and Mental Health.
We would very much welcome your interest and involvement. For a modest donation of £25 you can join as a friend of the Forum - this entitles you to free admission to our quarterly events. You can also join our mailing list - for further details click here. We do hope that together we can work to raise awareness and promote action on the important issues of spirituality and and its links with our mental health in our increasingly complex world.
We are delighted to announce that the Third Professor Peter Gilbert Memorial Lecture took take place on Wednesday 24th May 2017 and was presented by Dr. Andrew Powell. This year’s Lecture title was : Whither the soul of Psychiatry?Mental Healthcare in the twenty first century is facing an epidemic crisis of demand. In the UK and other 'developed countries', as well as 2 per cent who experience severe mental illness, up to 20 per cent of the population are now taking prescription drugs for depression and anxiety, at a global cost in excess of 80 billion dollars annually and rising. Why is this happening and what can be done about it? I will be exploring how life in the industrial world with its culture of material realism is impacting on the human spirit. Rather than live unquestioningly with what may turn out to be a diagnosis of convenience, our patients need help to make sense of their unhappiness and confusion. In such cases, mental distress can be the spur that brings a person into alignment with their true self, and the values that give meaning and purpose to life.
