Functional recovery is considered as one of the important outcomes of a person recovering from a disabling illness or receiving rehabilitation. The goal of recovery programmes is to enhance functionality of the person in various domains of life, as mentioned below.

The physical and psychosocial component of recovery is addressed in clinical situations. Clinical assessments of such recoveries focus on the ability of the persons to perform activities expected of them, for example, looking after their personal care and hygiene, ability to do activities of daily living, work, study or earn. Mobility is another important dimension of recovery.

A cultural aspect of this recovery model takes into consideration satisfaction with the above activities. The persons may not be capable to perform the activity expected, but are nevertheless, satisfied with whatever they are able to achieve. This is perhaps related to their awareness of their deficits and disabilities. Contentment is conceptually bit different from satisfaction as it could imply the person having accepted the outcome and is happy with the same. These are important components of quality of life [1].

The spiritual component of this satisfaction and contentment is yet another abstract or philosophical concept. The spiritual satisfaction with the activities has additional layers of calmness and fulfilment with the satisfaction achieved. There is no more desire or greed to achieve more. Ideally, the spiritual satisfaction should be the ultimate goal—more than what could be achieved physically, more than the satisfaction of the achieved goal, or contentment, by accepting that there is no more greed or desire for further achievement. Thus, this takes away the spiritual conflict and desire to get more, achieve more, and keep striving for more. The spiritual satisfaction shifts the focus to other objectives of life, without desire or attachment and gives peace of mind. Peace of mind or peace with oneself is perhaps the most important component for quality of life [1].

According to the ancient scriptures of Shrimada Bhagwada Purana, it is difficult to conquer lobh or greed. Greed comes in the way of satkarma—good deeds, hence greed needs to be conquered through santosh or spiritual satisfaction or gratification. Greed is dispelled by spiritual satisfaction, and hence one must inculcate the habit of such spiritual satisfaction or santosh. [Shrimada Bhagawada Rahasya, Orator Shri Ramachandra Dongre ji Maharaja] [2].

I got these insights and revelations recently while performing my duties as a priest at our ancestral temple of Shri Aadi Varaha. Lord Varaha is one of the ten avatars (third avatar) of Lord Vishnu who was created by God Brahma to rescue mother earth from the clutches of a demon, who took the earth under primordial waters of deep sea. Varaha, a form with boar’s head and a human body, fought with the demon, killed him and retrieved the earth (Bhudevi) and brought it out on it’s tusks.

Though this is the legend in mythology, there is a deeper symbolic interpretation of this made by scholars [2]. Mother earth was burdened by lobh or insatiable greed and drowned in sorrow, when Varaha extricated it from the predicament. ‘Varaha is the embodiment of santosh and santosh is at the feet of Varaha’ [2]. As long as there is greed, there will be sin, dishonesty and turmoil and one will not find peace. How this aspect can be assessed in clinical situations, is another question, which is difficult to answer.

Thus, satisfaction refers to the body, contentment to mind, and spiritual satisfaction or santosh to the soul!

This issue of the journal has interesting articles on well-being, though not on satisfaction, contentment or spiritual calmness.

There is a wide representation of articles from Turkey, Iran, Sweden, USA, Scotland and Australia. Research from Scotland evaluated the effectiveness of Active Living Becomes Achievable (ALBA), a behaviour change intervention designed to specifically target individuals with mental and physical health conditions to increase motivation and adherence to physical activity to improve physical and mental wellbeing. The intervention was effective at improving mental wellbeing but did not have a significant effect on physical activity levels.

The findings from a study from USA support the virtual Clubhouse model and highlight the efficacy of Clubhouses’ rapid adaptations to the pandemic. The findings of a qualitative study from Turkey demonstrate that almost all the research participants have been prone to verbal violence while the majority of them faced physical violence in their family life as well as social life. The patients mostly anticipated respect, recognition, and a decent living just as other members of society. The research shows that patients with schizophrenia expect their family and their surrounding environment to treat them just as the other members of society.

The case series from North India highlights the multiple facets of problems faced and ways to counter them so as to effectively rehabilitate homeless persons with mental illness, with focus on the pandemic at hand. The involvement of a multidisciplinary team, utilization of technological advances and promoting effective liaison with various public sectors are suggested as the way forward.

This issue of the journal carries a study from Australia on cognitive strengths in first episode psychosis and shows that Cognitive strength-based approaches in first episode psychosis (FEP) are promising areas of investigation according to experts in the field of cognition and FEP. Consultation with other key stakeholders like, clinicians, people with psychosis, is an essential first step towards understanding the feasibility of this type of approach in mental health settings.

Further a study from Iran, presents the psychometric properties of the Persian version of the Attribution Questionnaire to assess the mental illness stigma. There is another article on stigma from the USA on perceptions of stigma and discrimination among individuals experiencing the first episode of psychosis. The Journey to My Student Identity: A Grounded Theory Study on Supported Education for Young Adults with Mental Health Problems has been presented by authors from Sweden. A study from rural Kenya reports the mental health knowledge, anticipated discrimination and social functioning among women living with psychosocial disability.

This issue also carries an important guest editorial on psychosocial rehabilitation in older adults by Kallur Suresh, Chair, Eastern Division, The Royal College of Psychiatrists, London, UK. Another editorial focuses on services to address tobacco use should be integral part of rehabilitation of persons with severe mental illnesses by Krishna Prasad Muliyala and Jagadisha Thirthalli. I wish the readers get their own satisfaction and contentment or spiritual satisfaction.