PESHAWAR: A senior mental health expert, Prof Dr Khalid Mufti, has said that literature, psychology and mental health were inter-related, adding that spiritual counseling had a role in addressing the associated issues.
He said this while speaking as a keynote speaker at the ongoing Dosti Peshawar Literature Festival being hosted at the History Department of the University of Peshawar. Present on the stage were Prof Nasir Ali Syed, Aslam Meer, Prof Dr Tariq Mufti and Dr Sajid Rahim.
The paper that he read to the audience – students, academicians, literati and people from other walks of life, centred around the relationship among literature, psychology and mental health. He addressed other associated subjects as well.
He talked about the topics linked to poetry, philosophy and physical fields by quoting from the work of poets, philosophers and mystics. Dr Khalid Mufti, who has been in the mental health field for the last over 42 years, dealt with the psychological problems linked to mental health.
He dwelt on the study of psychological problems and underlined different experiences and attitudes to resolve them. The importance of intellectual development and individual uplift in society were touched as well.
The speaker said literature was spread over the varied circumstances, situations, expressions and sensitivities of mental health.He said literature, poetry and music soothed minds but pointed out that literature also reflected various mental illnesses. Dr Khalid Mufti focused on the relationship between literature and science. He referred to three studies which, according to him, had proved that a person who reads books, recites and composed poetry had a more active brain.
“A study suggested that if two persons were physically ill. If one of them was associated with literature, he, who is inclined to literature, has a greater life span compared to the other ailing person who is not associated with literature,” he explained.
The speaker talked about the 21st-century approach to problem-solving. He said a psychiatrist-psychologist coordination was needed for problem-solving. “This calls for approaching a patient psychologically and empowering him in a way that he was able to solve half of his problems himself,” he explained.
Laying stress on spiritual psychotherapy, Dr Khalid Mufti said the practice was gaining importance not only in the subcontinent but also in other parts of the world.Elaborating on his point, he said those suffering from depression should opt for the Tahajjud (midnight) prayer. “They should be trained in that for some time as it leaves a very good effect on the patients,” he emphasized.
As far as Sufism (mysticism) is concerned, Dr Khalif Mufti referred to Maulana Rumi, Ibn Arabi, Abdur Rehman Baba, Ahmad Ali Saeen and other mystics. He said the Sufis tell us of the meditation as an exercise to put in focus a thought in the Creator without bothering about guilt and shame and that human beings should hope for mercy and blessings from their Creator.
The mental health expert talked of climatic change and environmental pollution in the context of the mutual relationship between man and nature. He felt that these changes affected mental health and welfare and led to emotional and psychological disorders. He recited the verses of Nazir Tabassum, Nasir Ali Syed, Abasin Yousufzai, and Samina Qadir, paying special tribute to the poetic psychology of noted English poet Ijaz Rahim by quoting a stanza from his poem; “Sometimes my poem is written upon eyelash of the storm, and sometimes erased by a flash of lightning…”
