Bahá’í Publishing
1233 Central St, Evanston, Illinois 60201
Copyright © 2026 by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States
All rights reserved. Published 2026
Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper ∞
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Cover design by Carlos Esparza Book design by Patrick Falso
ISBN 978-1-61851-343-4
There is a growing realization of the need to understand how mental health impacts individuals and communities. Mental health is a broad term that encompasses psychological, emotional, and social well-being. It covers not only diagnosed illnesses and struggles, but also recognition and practices for coping with stressors and challenges in healthy ways. In the past, mental health has often been misunderstood and faced public stigma. And, while there is still much progress to be made, over time there has been a gradual shift as both science and society have deepened their awareness and acceptance of the need for mental and social-emotional health.
This book engages in this discourse on the importance of recognizing the role of mental health in our lives. It includes an essay that explores some of the latest scientific findings related to mental health and well-being and how these can be seen to relate to Bahá’í teachings and community life. Following the essay is a collection of quotations
from the Bahá’í writings on understanding the self, and our physical and spiritual health. The Bahá’í writings emphasize our dual nature, as both spiritual and physical beings. The passages collected here focus on the importance of relying on medical professionals, for both physical and psychological support, as well as the importance of prayer for spiritual assistance and healing. They also touch on the need for healthy, supportive environments within the family and community.
There is a lot we are still learning about the mind and mental health, as these sciences are still expanding their findings and knowledge. This book is not meant to be exhaustive or have all the answers, but it is hoped it can serve as a source of guidance and a resource for individuals and communities wishing to deepen their understanding of mental health from a Bahá’í perspective.
Across the ages, humanity has sought to understand the nature of human well-being, the roots of suffering, and the means by which the mind can thrive. The Bahá’í writings offer a profound vision of mental health, addressing ways to nurture the spirit, body, and mind. Scientific research increasingly demonstrates that Bahá’í teachings and practices align with well-established factors that promote human resilience and well-being. This essay, as well as the compilation of passages that follow it, are intended to be a resource for families, communities, institutions, and individuals who are seeking to understand Bahá’í teachings related to themes of mental health and how they correlate to recent developments from modern research. This
exploration is not meant to be exhaustive—neither of the research nor of the Bahá’í teachings. Instead, we hope that it provides added clarity and support to anyone trying to learn how “to examine existing circumstances, grasp the nature and impact of [disintegrative] forces, and, with full reliance on divine assistance, develop preventive and remedial measures in order to weather the tumultuous storms of a perilous age.”1
This striving and learning process helps lay the foundation for what the Bahá’í teachings describe as “a global civilization which embodies both the spiritual and material dimensions of existence.”
The Universal House of Justice explains that “The nature and scope of such a civilization are still beyond anything the present generation can conceive. The prosecution of this vast enterprise will depend on a progressive interaction between the truths and principles of religion and the discoveries and insights of scientific inquiry. This entails living with ambiguities as a natural and inescapable feature of the process of exploring reality. . . .”2
Within the social sciences, research continues to amply demonstrate the vast capacities human beings are capable of developing. In contrast to traditional frameworks that categorize human qualities primarily in terms of deficits and assign diagnoses based on pathology, scientists have increasingly begun to study strengths of human character—such as creativity, persistence, and kindness—in a more systematic and rigorous manner.
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O My servants! Could ye apprehend with what wonders of My munificence and bounty I have willed to entrust your souls, ye would, of a truth, rid yourselves of attachment to all created things, and would gain a true knowledge of your own selves—a knowledge which is the same as the comprehension of Mine own Being. Ye would find yourselves independent of all else but Me, and would perceive, with your inner and outer eye, and as manifest as the revelation of My effulgent Name, the seas of My loving-kindness and bounty moving within you. Suffer not your idle fancies, your evil passions, your insincerity and blindness of heart to dim the luster, or stain the sanctity, of so lofty a station.
‘ABDU’L-BAHÁ
There are two ways of healing sickness, material means and spiritual means. The first is by the treatment of physicians; the second consisteth in prayers offered by the spiritual ones to God and in turning to Him. Both means should be used and practiced. Illnesses which occur by reason of physical causes should be treated by doctors with medical remedies; those which are due to spiritual causes disappear through spiritual means. Thus an illness caused by affliction, fear, nervous impressions, will be healed more effectively by spiritual rather than by physical treatment. Hence, both kinds of treatment should be followed; they are not contradictory. Therefore thou shouldst also accept physical remedies inasmuch as these too have come from the mercy and favor of God, Who hath revealed and made manifest medical science so that His servants may profit from this kind of treatment also. Thou
one that requires all our attention, our will-power and energy. If we allow our attention and energy to be taken up in efforts to keep others right and remedy their faults, we are wasting precious time.
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As to your question concerning the meaning of physical suffering and its relation to mental and spiritual healing. Physical pain is a necessary accompaniment of all human existence, and as such is unavoidable. As long as there will be life on earth, there will be also suffering, in various forms and degrees. But suffering, although an inescapable reality, can nevertheless be utilised as a means for the attainment of happiness. This is the interpretation given to it by all the prophets and saints who, in the midst of severe tests and trials, felt happy and joyous and experienced what is best and holiest in life. Suffering is both a reminder and a guide. It stimulates us better to adapt ourselves to our environmental conditions, and thus leads the way to self improvement. In every suffering one can find a meaning and a wisdom. But it is not always easy to find the secret of that wisdom. It is sometimes only when all our suffering has passed that we become aware of its usefulness. What man considers to be evil turns often to be a cause of infinite blessings. And this is due to his desire to know more than he can. God’s wisdom is, indeed, inscrutable to us all, and it is no use pushing too far trying to discover
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It is not easy to be burdened with long years of mental illness such as you describe. And plainly you have sought aid from many persons of scientific and non-scientific training backgrounds, apparently to little avail over the years of your prolonged illness. . . . The science of the mind, of normality and of the disabilities from which it may suffer, is in its relative infancy, but much may be possible to aid you to minimize your suffering and make possible an active life.
. . . The therapy of mental disorders has seen important advances from which you may well benefit.
Your discovery of the Faith, of its healing Writings and its great purposes for the individual and for all mankind, have indeed brought you a powerful force toward a healthy life which will sustain you on a higher level, whatever your ailment may be. The best results for the healing process are to combine the spiritual with the physical, for it should be possible for you to overcome your illness through the combined and sustained power of prayer and of determined effort.
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Our appetites and inclinations are strongly influenced by the condition of our physical makeup, and our bodies are in varying degrees of health, depending upon factors such as heredity, environment, nourishment and our own treatment of
them. Genetic variations occur, producing conditions which can create problems for the individual. Some conditions are of an emotional or psychological nature, producing such imbalances as quickness to anger, recklessness, timorousness, and so forth; others involve purely physical characteristics, resulting not only in unusual capacities but also in handicaps or diseases of various kinds. Whether deficiencies are inborn or are acquired, our purpose in this life is to overcome them and to train ourselves in accordance with the pattern that is revealed to us in the divine Teachings.
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The House of Justice advises you to persevere in your efforts to secure good medical assistance, from psychiatrists or others, and to follow the advice of these specialists. It also suggests that through daily prayer, and specially by observing the daily obligatory prayers, through study of the Writings, through active participation in teaching efforts and in the activities of the community, and through constant effort to sacrifice for the Faith you love so well, you will obtain a spiritual counterpart to the professional help you will receive from the experts. In general, the best results for the healing process are found when the spiritual approach is combined with the remedy offered by competent doctors.
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