Nerve and Spirit blogspot refers to twin aspects of the human condition. "Nerve" refers to the nervous system. Our bodies are full of neurons that direct our physical functioning and the center of our nervous system is the human mind. Those who study psychiatry and psychology seek to understand how the human mind and the environment in which we live, influence human behavior and our interpretation of existence. The term "spirit" refers to the belief that we have another side to our existence that is spiritual in nature. The influence of this entity may often be more subtle than the physical realm of our existence, but to many people is very real and can also be very influential. Those who offer either psychological or spiritual counseling seek to understand these forces. This blogspace then seeks comments from those who read it. It is the comments of readers that differentiate a blogsite from a typical website. The comments are open to all readers. In keeping with the direction of this blog, the comments may seek to define these forces (psychology, psychiatry, spirituality, religion) or various aspects of these areas, or contribute experiences where it is believed that psychological or spiritual counseling made a contribution to one's life. To get this site started then, I will pose the following questions that might elicit some responses from readers to this site. If you can think of any of these questions in a different way, feel free to reinterpret them, or feel free to ask other questions not covered in the following list of questions:
--Has psychological therapy made a significant difference in your life? If so, how?
--Has psychiatric treatement or the use of drugs or other treatments made a difference in
your life? If so, how?
--Have you experienced a combination of the above, that is to say, both physical and
psychological treatment? Do you believe that they effectively reinforce one another, or
is one usually more reliable than another?
--Some say that psychiatry is a science, although psychiatrists will usually claim that it is far
from an exact science (which experts in most fields might claim). On the other hand, some
might see psychology more as an art form. How might you view this issue? Is there some
scientific basis of predicting behavior when it comes to psychology?
--In this life, we have expert opinion and we have so-called common knowledge. How might
common perceptions of psychology or psychiatry, in your view, or what has sometimes
been labeled "pop psych" differ from professional views? Do you think some counselors
are overly influenced by common perceptions of what constitutes psychology?
--Are there some methods of counseling or of prescribing that you would recommend, or are
there others that you would steer clear of?
--I mentioned earlier that you might comment on some positive experience that you had in
regards to psychiatry/psychology. Are there any negative experiences that you have had
in general in regards to such services? If you believe that there is some fundamentally
flawed aspects of these fields, what might they be, and what might explain this?
--Have you had any experiences in which spiritual/religious counseling was of significant
help?
--Do you have any experiences, which you might want to share, that have convinced you
that the spiritual side of existence is real?
--How might spiritual or religious counseling differ from psychiatric/psychological
counseling?
--Are there certain kinds of spiritual exploration of certain areas that you would recommend
and are there other forms that you would advise against?
--Do you feel that you have obtained personal counseling in a spiritual area without the help
of human advisers; perhaps through some type of meditation or prayer?
--Do you feel that you may have received some insight not from others, but from your own
spiritual side, that is from your own alter-ego but in spiritual form?
--Have you had any negative experiences with spiritual counseling that you might want to
share?
--A philosophical question. If there is a spiritual side to reality and we acknowledge that it
is something that is controversial and not fully acknowledged, what reasons might there be
for keeping such information semi-secret? If there is a divine purpose to such things, what
purpose might there be to limiting our spiritual knowledge in this existence?
--Finally, have you had any experiences or do you have any beliefs that might show that the
psychological/psychiatric side and the spiritual side might somehow be linked?
That's it for now. This is a blog site, so I will update it on occasion. Feel free to contribute. You can sign your full name and even add your location, if you wish or just leave initials or some nickname. You can be anonymous if you wish. Of course, if you leave some kind of name another reader could respond to your comment. I'll sign off with a couple of initials.
--N and S.
