Buddhist Mindfulness Approaches to Mental Health

Current Buddhist views of mental health incorporate the Dharma and Western psychological approaches to mental health that include a broad range of behavioural, cognitive, and experiential approaches. Key features of approaches using mindfulness are the cultivation of a fluid sense of self, emotion regulation and the modulation of the causes of stress. These parallel the Buddhist concepts of non-self, skillful or appropriate responses, and the understanding of the causes of suffering. This understanding of mental health has shifted concepts of mental illness with promises of success and cautionary tales of risk. Buddhist and Western psychological perspectives of mental health share a commonality of being culturally influenced. To understand the impact and implications of the Buddhist view of mental health, the root Buddhist teachings need to be understood in their cultural context. Because we are embedded in a culture vastly different from the Buddha's time, the exploration must include our perspectives of mental health and how our own views are socio-cultural constructions. From this platform, we can examine how Buddhist teachings and their integration with Western models seek to sustain mental health. Secularized adaptations of the Dharma for psychological treatment will be examined with consideration of risks of appropriation, dilution, and distortion as well as potential negative effects of mindfulness-based therapies.