MENTAL HEALTH SUPPORT MEANS OF SPIRITUAL DEVELOPMENT

The theoretical analysis of Ukrainian and foreign scientific works proved that today there is no common opinion regarding the understanding of the mental health concept. In our work, we define mental health as a state of psychological well-being that has many factors (ability to emotional regulation, flexibility of thinking, social well-being, etc.). This approach is based on the definition of the WHO "mental health is defined as a state of well-being in which each person realizes his own potential, can cope with ordinary life stresses, can work productively and fruitfully and is able to contribute to the community" [8].

Scholars argue about the key or leading mental health components. N.V. Pidbutska and O.M. Kuryavska summarized the existing mental health criteria: positive self-perception, spiritual growth and self-realization; adequacy of perception of reality and competence in overcoming the demands of the surrounding world; integration of personality, its balance and harmony; creativity and vitality, flexibility of thinking as freedom to go beyond traditional frameworks; scientific thinking, acceptance of ambiguity and uncertainty, tolerance for mistakes; developed prognostic abilities; objectivity as freedom from unrealistic illusions, self-acceptance, high stress resistance to the conditions of the surrounding world [3, c. 258-259].

Many researchers argue that that personalities turn towards religion and spirituality to assist in coping with adverse experience and to support mental health due to community [6; 7]. In a narrow sense, the term "spirituality" defines the mental reality of  suprapersonal meanings experience and the corresponding vital activity generation. Spirituality as a category means the individual expression in the  personal motives system of two fundamental needs: the need to know reality and the need to live and act for others. The main function of spirituality is to ensure harmonious relations between people in society. The importance of the spirituality psychological aspect lies in the combination of the universal, all-human with the creative-individual, which indicates that the universal, eternal, all-human is inherent in every person [1].

In psychology, there are discussions about the possibilities of considering spirituality not only as an abstract ideal, but as a real phenomenon of human life. Scientists distinguish three main contexts in which the concept of "spirituality" is used: 1. the problem of personal values and life priorities: the predominance of spiritual and moral values (selflessness, altruism, etc.) as opposed to material ones. 2. spiritual creativity in culture: creation of spiritual values, ideas, meanings, works of art. 3. transcendence to something higher, going beyond the boundaries of the individual personality. Most often, spirituality in this context is equated with religiosity, ascent to God. Most scholars argue that spirituality should not be equated separately with altruism, creativity, morality, or religiosity. Only a comprehensive overview of spirituality in all contexts makes sense.

Religiosity is a complex, multi-component psychological formation, characterized as a subject's implementation measure of transcendental, theistic - religious intentions in the surrounding reality, aimed at realizing the subject's connection with God and expressed by faith in the supernatural, as well as in specific experiences, cult actions, deeds and behavior in general. As N. M. Savelyuk notes, religiosity is a factor in individual's functioning and social relationships. Religiosity "plays one of the leading roles in the motivation to achieve success formation, it helps to maintain interest in activities, to be consistent and persistent in achieving the goal"[5]. Scientists consider religiosity as one of the spirituality forms, namely the expression of humanity, the leading active force in its formation. At the same time, spirituality is not an attribute of faith, but an attribute of both social and religious morality.

"Young people spiritual development is facilitated by their inclusion in the process of creative activity" [4, c. 9]. The study of creativity is often carried out from the standpoint of two aspects: activity - the creation of qualitatively new, unique, original and socio-historically unique; procedural - as personality development, its self-realization in the process of creating material and spiritual values. One of the most common definitions of creativity is by products or results. Creativity in this case is recognized as everything that leads to the creation of something new. Thus, I.  D. Pasichnik defines creativity as "human activity aimed at creating new material and spiritual values, in which imagination, intuition, unconscious components of mental activity, as well as the individual's need for self-actualization play a significant role" [2, c. 3]. According to the author, the product of creativity is the result of "the highest concentration of spiritual forces." We consider creativity from the standpoint of an activity approach as the ability to create new values, ideas, meanings, and works of art.

Based on the theoretical analysis, we offer a program to support mental health and psychological well-being by informing and developing all its components (dimensions): 1. motivational (motivation for success and goal setting); 2. affective (reduction of anxiety and emotional stability); 3. rational (positive and constructive thinking); 4. social (confidence in interpersonal interaction); 5. spiritual (self-respect and self-esteem).

We see the research prospects in the mental health further study and to carry out the approbation of the proposed mental health and well-being support program in order to improve and expand it.

References

1. Колісник, О. П. (2015). Духовний саморозвиток особистості: монографія. Луцьк : ПП Іванюк В.П.
2. Пасічник, І. Д. (2013). Мислення як предмет психології. Наук. зап. Нац. ун-ту «Острозька академія». Серія: Психологія і педагогіка, 25, 3-9.
3. Підбуцька, Н.В., Курявська, О.М. (2010). Критерії психологічного здоров’я особистості. Вестник НТУ «ХПИ»: Проблеми та перспективи формування національної гуманітарно-технічної еліти, 28, 255-260.
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5. Савелюк, Н.М. (2012). Релігійна віра як чинник психічного та психологічного здоров’я сучасної молоді. Психологічні перспективи, 19, 208-217.
6. Aggarwal, S., Wright, J., Morgan, A. et al. (2023). Religiosity and spirituality in the prevention and management of depression and anxiety in young people: a systematic review and meta-analysis. BMC Psychiatry 23, 729 https://doi.org/10.1186/s12888-023-05091-2
7. Manoiu, R., Hammond, N., Yamin, S., & Stinchcombe, A. (2023). Religion/Spirituality, Mental Health, and the Lifespan: Findings from a Representative Sample of Canadian Adults. Canadian Journal on Aging / La Revue Canadienne Du Vieillissement, 42(1), 115-125. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0714980822000162
8. World Health Organization (2004). Promoting mental health: concepts, emerging evidence, practice. Geneva: World Health Organization.