The 'spiritual current' that came to the agenda with architect Ece Gürel, who was found 4 days after disappearing in Istanbul's Belgrade Forest but lost her fight for life in the hospital, particularly attracts the attention of adults who are spiritually, religiously, and existentially empty. AKŞAM Newspaper asked Üsküdar Üniversitesi Founding Rector Psychiatrist Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan why people turn to such movements and the damage they will cause.
Üsküdar Üniversitesi Founding Rector Psychiatrist Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan, evaluating the spiritual current from a psychological and faith perspective, warned that spiritual voids drag people towards spiritual approaches, and when they fail to receive satisfying answers, traumas leading to suicide can occur.
‘I Must Be the Best’
Psychiatrist Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan stated that as a result of spiritual voids, people embark on different quests, such as spiritual approaches, and individuals who cannot find what they are looking for experience psychological damage. Tarhan said; “A person who adopts atheism as an ideology evaluates their life from a perspective formed by inorganic matter. If their needs are not met appropriately, people may turn to unreasonable spiritual areas. Modernism's competitive, 'I must be the best' approach does not spiritually satisfy young people. The spiritual void is sometimes tried to be filled with atheism, entertainment, or drugs. Because it does not provide satisfying answers to questions, some can even resort to outcomes like suicide.”
No Scientific Basis…
“Today, as a result of spiritual voids, people enter different quests. Instead of methods like scream therapy, which were popular in the 70s but abandoned due to lack of scientific support, healthy methods should be found to meet people's spiritual and existential needs. When compatible with religious beliefs, such as the Tawhid (oneness of God) belief in the Holy Quran, it also helps young people find satisfying answers to these questions. This situation shows that we need to develop new methods to reach young people.” Tarhan warned that individuals can suffer significant psychological damage if their need for meaning is not met.