Abstract
In Chapter 7 we looked at the Buddhist concept of mental health and sickness; this chapter attempts to look at the positive concepts of well-being in the light of the ‘bridge building between Buddhism and western psychology’ taking place in the contemporary setting. A movement has emerged in recent times pioneered by M. Seligman, former President of the American Psychological Association, described as the search for positive qualities for developing mental well-being and a critique of the exclusive focus on pathology which was:
Clinical psychology has focused primarily on the diagnosis and treatment of mental disease, and only recently has scientific attention turned to understanding and cultivating positive mental health. The Buddhist tradition, on the other hand, has focused for over 2,500 years on cultivating exceptional states of mental well-being as well as identifying and treating psychological problems.1
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Notes
Padmasiri de Silva, 1998, Environmental Philosophy and Ethics in Buddhism, Macmillan, London, pp. 168–171.
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Padmasiri de Silva, 2010b, ‘Mental Balance and Four Dimensions of Well-being: A Buddhist Perspective’, Proceedings of the UNDV Conference, Thailand, Bangkok.
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© 2014 Padmasiri de Silva
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de Silva, P. (2014). Mental Well-being. In: An Introduction to Buddhist Psychology and Counselling. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137287557_8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137287557_8
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London
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