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Some notes of thoughts from Monday to mull further, for myself and anyone else interested ...

What are the differences among

1. "undirected change"
2. having a goal, moving toward it, learning from the experience in ways that might change not only how one moves but the goal itself
3. having a goal, moving toward it, learning from the experience so as to become better at getting to the goal

Meditation is indeed a nice illustration of "how little control we have over our own minds." Do most people's minds/brains in fact alternate between "raging monologue" and being asleep? Certainly acquiring the ability to will a "relaxation response" is useful in a mental health context. But I think there is more at stake here, that meditation is one of several routes by which one can learn to recognize some measure of space between the cognitive unconscious and the story teller, and so to become less driven by not only external factors but internal ones as well, more able to influence one's own behavior.

The history of efforts to define and deal at a social/institutional level with mental health is one of those topics to which I think it would be useful to devote a lot more time. What particularly struck me on this occasion was the issue of "dehumanization," and its relation to "stigmatization." We are not yet, I think, entirely beyond thinking of people with mental health problems as less than fully human; "stigmatization" may simply be a more polite word for that. On the other hand, a broad view of history would suggest humans are getting somewhat better at not excluding people from the human community. And the recent parity legislation, imperfect as it may be, is certainly a movement in that direction in the contemporary US. Maybe that should be among the things on our list to improve mental health: to regard everybody as human, regardless of their variations?