The Safety of the Mind

There is one thing that is desired by all and that is to be safe. In the recent days it’s hard to imagine anyone is really feeling very safe as we read about the cruelty that mankind is capable of, but the simple desire to have a place to rest your head and know you will wake untouched and alive in a place of safety can be nothing short of a basic human need.

But it turns out a small corner of peace to call your own isn’t the only thing humans require. According to a research paper I came across recently, we humans require far more than any physical place to rest our head. The study revealed that above the need for safety, we need the basic satisfaction of our psychological well-being.

There were two case studies conducted in which a group of young South African adults and a socio-economically deprived Chinese adult, were focused on and the results were surprisingly similar.

What the overall results came to show was that despite the general assumption that people would tend to prefer environmental safety or financial safety over psychological well-being, it was discovered that people prioritized psychological satisfaction above and beyond the effect of environmental or financial safety.

I find this to be very fascinating when I think of the many youths that go into their studies looking for a career that will bring them financial safety above all else or when I run across an old friend who is moving for the third time because, despite the cost, they’d rather live in a place that could guarantee them a safe environment no matter the trouble it’ll cause them later.

It’s interesting to see that people make these various decisions that first seemed to be based on psychological reasoning first before the cost is considered in terms of their environmental and financial stability. I guess regardless of what one does, you can never escape the reality of how things are perceived. We are creatures that are fully controlled by what we think and feel.

Curious, isn’t it? Despite the many assumptions one would have, it seems that the state of one’s mind is what makes us able to better deal with a situation than the environment we are actually in. It says a lot that our mental health is something of a large requirement before consideration can be given to that of our financial and safety needs. But I wonder if this is something many people seriously take into account as increases in mental illness seem to be the in thing in this generation.

Whatever the case may be, it is something to consider that our basic psychological needs are something of an important requirement when it comes to everyday living and despite our desire for a better job and safer home we should also consider if we like the work we’re doing and the people we work with as well as whether we get along with our neighbours or not.