Helpful Rituals
Rituals go back through history, providing humanity with emotional and behavioral patterns shaping every culture in the world. They are common in humans both secular and religious, as well as in the rest of the animal kingdom.
Rituals are generally defined as a set pattern of behaviors or actions carried out in a specific - sometimes formal - way. These behaviors and actions don’t directly affect the matters they address but are meant to be more symbolic.
When it comes to psychology and mental health, rituals can help us or hurt us. Disorders like anxiety and PTSD are characterized by harmful misguided rituals that can veer a sufferer off the path of a normal life. But those troublesome rituals will be discussed in a future blog.
Here we’ll discuss helpful rituals. Like the ones, we’ve developed for weddings, birthdays, graduations, and anniversaries. Even our rituals for the end of life help us unify and process grief. People create rituals based on values and therefore rituals are often held close to the heart for many.
These productive rituals have a comforting effect. They impart a sense of control and promote positive social and emotional behaviors. Along with “habits,” “rituals” have done a lot for individuals and society.
The difference is that habits are based on automated actions we do without thinking. Rituals are fully articulated and usually have a proper “order” - for example, a beginning, middle, and end.
They help us by enabling our minds to process negative or challenging emotions in a controlled way. Symbolic enactments seen in rituals can help people come to terms with hardship. But they also help by allowing us to process these emotions with others in a community.
This is why we see such positive, embraced rituals like birthdays - but also more challenging ones. Many remember lost loved ones by hosting annual gatherings where mourners share pleasant memories, or perhaps they have a quiet night at home looking at pictures. Either way, this organized emotional activity helps countless people in their lives.
We also see rituals in sports when certain players do curious pre-game routines in order to get themselves “in the zone,” or peculiar organized reactions to wins or losses. In fact studies show focus, execution, and confidence all increase with pre-performance rituals like the ones we see on the field and court. This is helped by rituals’ known ability to reduce anxiety.
Rituals can also be helpful for those who might forget to do tasks like taking the medication regularly. In this sense, combining the ideas of “habit” and “ritual” is a possible step forward. For example brushing one’s teeth every morning is a habit. By placing medication next to the toothbrush, it expressly reminds one to take their medicine at the same time. The brushing of teeth/medicine combination becomes more intentional and thought through as the routines are fused.
What kinds of rituals do you find yourself performing? Perhaps try to be mindful next time you find yourself in the midst of one, and recognize the ways it helps you move through life.
For a discussion with Dr. Bregman, MD about helpful rituals listen to our podcast The Breakdown with Dr. B on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or on our website www.bregmanmd.com
If you need help with your mental health, Bregman Medical Group has decades of experience treating various disorders. We offer online psychiatry and therapy right to your device! Simply schedule at www.bregmanmd.com or call 305-740-3340.
References:
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/9483256/
https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20210914-how-rituals-help-us-to-deal-with-uncertainty-and-stress