Mental Wellness: A Spiritual Journey

When I was asked by Dr. Hamdy El-Rayes to write a foreword for his book, "Mental Wellness: A Spiritual Journey," I thought it was simply another publication meant to convince clinicians of the importance of incorporating spiritual practices and beliefs into clinical practice. I was pleasantly surprised that the focus of the entire book was integrating mental health and mental wellness in relation to spirituality.

The book has ample sections on self-disclosure and self-help; advice on how to discover self; understanding the difference between spirituality and religion; and how individual perceptions can become one's own enemy.

The author shares his own personal experience with depression and his search for healing, and the connection between the two. He also offers practical solutions to foster the connection between mind, body, and spirit.

This book offers useful knowledge about integrating spirituality into the daily practice and knowledge base of health-care practitioners, as well as how to educate the general reader of the importance of this facet of human life.
--Soma Ganesan, MD, FRCPC, Clinical Professor, Department of Psychiatry, University of British Columbia

I warmly recommend this book to anyone who seeks genuine mental wellness and not just the absence of disease. Succinct and engagingly written, it combines humanity, deep psychological understanding and spiritual clarity with a practical program for life that has transformative power. --Gabor Maté MD, Author of When The Body Says No: The Cost of Hidden Stress

This book is truly inspiring. It is a blueprint for healing emotionally, socially, psychologically, and spiritually. The message is clearly and coherently stated, with ample explanations and helpful examples. --Tanya Wulff, MD, FRCPC

I enjoyed this book and loved Dr. El-Rayes' definition of Mental Wellness: how it goes beyond mental health to shift the focus from illness to a holistic approach... an active life-long process of making choices that will guide you to reach your potential and live life to its fullest. Through following the guidelines herein, investing time in the exercises and excellent questions, as well as trusting your intuition and inner guidance, you will step onto a path of mental wellness, experience greater strength, fuller belief in yourself--and live a healthier, more empowered life. As the author stresses, "when you practice spirituality, life ceases to be a struggle; you seek to live a meaningful life and follow your heart." --Melba Burns, Ph.D., author of Romance Your Writer Within and Reawaken Your Passion to Write

This book prescribes an important link that complements the process of healing from depression, anxiety, and addiction. In this book, Dr. El-Rayes offers a practical, comprehensive program that melds medical sciences, spirituality, and personal experience. It is presented in a clear, systematic way that makes it easy to use by individuals and groups. I highly recommend this book for everyone seeking, life purpose, meaning, and self-transcendence.

--Samir Abdel Barr, MD, DPM, MRCP(UK), FRCPC

When I was asked by Dr. Hamdy El-Rayes to write a foreword for his book, "Mental Wellness: A Spiritual Journey," I thought it was simply another publication meant to convince clinicians of the importance of incorporating spiritual practices and beliefs into clinical practice. I was pleasantly surprised that the focus of the entire book was integrating mental health and mental wellness in relation to spirituality.

The book has ample sections on self-disclosure and self-help; advice on how to discover self; understanding the difference between spirituality and religion; and how individual perceptions can become one's own enemy.

The author shares his own personal experience with depression and his search for healing, and the connection between the two. He also offers practical solutions to foster the connection between mind, body, and spirit.

This book offers useful knowledge about integrating spirituality into the daily practice and knowledge base of health-care practitioners, as well as how to educate the general reader of the importance of this facet of human life. --Soma Ganesan, MD, FRCPC, Clinical Professor, Department of Psychiatry, University of British Columbia. He is also Head and Medical Director, Department of Psychiatry, Vancouver Acute; Medical Director, Adult Community Mental Health Services; Director, Cross Cultural Psychiatry Program, University of British Columbia; and Physician Leader, Riverview Hospital.

I warmly recommend this book to anyone who seeks genuine mental wellness and not just the absence of disease. Succinct and engagingly written, it combines humanity, deep psychological understanding and spiritual clarity with a practical program for life that has transformative power. --Gabor Maté, MD, Author of When The Body Says No: The Cost of Hidden Stress

I enjoyed this book and loved Dr. El-Rayes' definition of Mental Wellness: how it goes beyond mental health to shift the focus from illness to a holistic approach... an active life-long process of making choices that will guide you to reach your potential and live life to its fullest. Through following the guidelines herein, investing time in the exercises and excellent questions, as well as trusting your intuition and inner guidance, you will step onto a path of mental wellness, experience greater strength, fuller belief in yourself--and live a healthier, more empowered life. As the author stresses, "when you practice spirituality, life ceases to be a struggle; you seek to live a meaningful life and follow your heart." --Melba Burns, Ph.D., author of Romance Your Writer Within and Reawaken Your Passion to Write.

This book prescribes an important link that complements the process of healing from depression, anxiety, and addiction. In this book, Dr. El-Rayes offers a practical, comprehensive program that melds medical sciences, spirituality, and personal experience. It is presented in a clear, systematic way that makes it easy to use by individuals and groups. I highly recommend this book for everyone seeking, life purpose, meaning, and self-transcendence. --Samir Abdel Barr, MD, DPM, MRCP(UK), FRCPC

This book focuses on how to achieve optimal mental wellness—to heal from depression, anxiety and addictions; to discover your talents and gifts and use them effectively to make a difference in the world; to find your life purpose; and to put yourself on the path to self-actualization to become the very best you.

It discusses the difference between mental wellness and mental health. It shows that the pursuit of mental wellness leads to healing from depression and anxiety and contributes to improving your physical health and well-being. The pursuit of mental wellness also enhances your self-worth, self-acceptance, the quality of your ties to others, and your spiritual growth. You choose to undertake projects that give value to your personal life and significantly contribute to your mental health and well-being.

A deeply felt life purpose and a keen desire for spiritual growth, along with other aspects of well-being, can prevent relapses of depression by enabling your body to remain stable in response to stressors. Living meaningfully enables your body and mind to work together to enjoy health and wellness. A life purpose enhances your physical health and your body's function, as well as its physical fitness. This contributes to a stronger immune system, which in turn helps your body to cope with stressors and improve your brain function.

Following the program described in this book will enable you to become an independent thinker, adept at managing your life. You will be better able to share, give of your time generously, accept yourself and others, find your own life purpose, grow spiritually, and make your life a continuous process of learning, changing, and growth. You will also begin to engage in causes that extend beyond your self-interest and support the growth and development of others, as well as improving your environment. You will learn to make a unique contribution to society, pass your skills and gifts to others, and have a positive influence on the lives of many people.

Severe depression is 10 times more prevalent today than it was 50 years ago. It assaults women twice as often as men, and now it strikes a full decade earlier in life on average than it did a generation ago. Consequently, the economic cost of mental illness has been escalating. In Canada and the USA, the annual economic cost of mental illness is estimated to be more than $33 billion and $318 billion, respectively, with the single biggest factor being depression.

The program offered in this book can save the economy millions of dollars and rid patients of unnecessary pain and suffering caused by lengthy episodes of depression and frequent relapses.

I hope that you find the material in this book rewarding, not only for yourself, but also for those with whom you interact.

Spirituality plays an important role in human experience, contributes to our view of the world, and influences our ability to heal from illness, both physical and mental. Being spiritual does not mean having to adhere to a particular set of religious beliefs. However, it does require the development and practice of some skills as described in Chapters 2 and 6.

Several years ago, the author developed and used this program to help himself heal from anxiety and depression. Because of its success, he felt it was his calling to dedicate his life to helping others. He established and funded his charitable organization, the El-Rayes Foundation, to help those who suffer from these illnesses. For five years now, this program has successfully helped thousands of people, both in self-help support groups and one-on-one coaching. The program, which complements medical services, is designed to integrate body, mind, and spirit.

Although it plays a very important role in healing from depression and anxiety, mainstream psychotherapy has ignored spirituality for more than three centuries because of a deliberate disconnection between spirituality and medicine. During the past 350 years, the medical field's perception of spirituality has gone through several stages as described in this book. This book offers clinicians and patients with a process for integrating spirituality in therapy of depression, anxiety, and addiction.