Are rituals important for mental health?

Rituals of various varieties are important in participating in the social and community activities but also in providing a sense of purpose and belonging to individuals. However, in some cases of obsessive-compulsive disorders, these may take on a pathological role where individuals are too focused on performing rituals in a compulsive manner.

Why do we have rituals, and do we really need them? Why do we cross our fingers or perform other similar – some innocuous and some not so innocuous rituals to avoid tempting fate or offer succour to ourselves and others when feeling threatened.

Johnson (2021) notes that one of the earliest rituals noted dates to 70,000 years ago. In the article, he reports that these rituals carry a certain degree of power embedded in them. He goes on to define rituals as a pre-defined sequence of actions which carry a certain degree of symbolism and also have a certain degree of formality. In addition, there is an element of repetition to these which may help reduce individual anxiety in knowing and acknowledging the familiarity because the actions and order of actions is fixed. Secondly because they do not have any specific function, they can offer a degree of comfort to the individual performing these rituals but also to those around them. Johnson (2021) goes on to note that rituals are not only voluntary but also are relatively common in our daily lives. From rituals pre-birth in many cultures such as baby showers, rituals at birth, after birth, throughout various stages in life to dying and death help us deal with transitions of various kinds at various points. They provide a sense of purpose and belonging but also help reduce anxiety often in the face of the unknown. That degree of constancy and predictability can offer a possible buffer to anxiety prone responses and behaviours.

Rituals can be comforting to the person performing these but may well be confusing to those observing these. Their special nature can help us prepare for these and while we are doing that, such preparation itself can reduce anxiety. Equally rituals can be stressful especially if as perceived they are not conducted carefully and thoroughly.

In many settings and situations, for a variety of reasons, people need rituals to provide them with not only predictability but also a degree of comfort. There may also be superstitions attached to performing or not performing certain rituals in that if things are not done properly in their proper order, this may cast an evil eye or create other problems. Every culture has its own rituals-some are related to religion and religious values whereas others are not. The routine nature of some of these and predictability helps reduce levels of anxiety and stress and on occasion help deal with losses.

Renowned anthropologist Malinowski (2017) in his well-known studies in Western Pacific, studied rituals conducted by fishermen in Papua New Guinea before they set out to sea to catch fish. He observed that these rituals carried out by fishermen, made them feel better about their trip on the sea in the face of uncertainty. However, another significant function was also recognised in that not only these rituals comforted and gave confidence to the fishermen, these rituals also provided comfort to their families and those who had been left behind while fishermen were out to sea.

Rituals have fixed sequences which are pre-defined and constitute repetition and structures with clear symbolic meanings and perceived consequences. Rituals are predictable to those within that specific culture. Familiarity, structures, managing stress and distress especially anxiety are associated with rituals. Prout (n.d.) sees rituals as confirming human beings as social beings thus highlighting that rituals have a social facet to them.

As Gino and Norton (2013) highlight there are other functions inherent in rituals and these include religious ones which can be at both community and personal levels. They argue that even though rituals have very many functions, they can improve confidence by influencing thought, behaviours and emotions. Interestingly, irrespective of their effectiveness-perceived or true-very often people carry on with these rituals partly to emphasise social functionality (Vernimment, 2021).It has been noted that certain behaviours as part of the rituals (such as handshakes in greeting or hugs) helped reduce spread of virus in recent pandemic.

Other rituals such as degree graduation ceremonies in universities help emphasise a stage in life (Lester, 2020) enabling graduates to progress to the next stage of their lives. Rituals can thus, celebrate milestones through both personal, private and public acknowledgement and celebration. In many cultures religion and religious rituals are not as prominent as they used to be but in other cultures, religion has become stronger and related rituals more prominent. The disappearance of certain rituals and their replacement by others indicates that human beings as social animals need rituals. Various rituals to mark rites of passage throughout one’s life will continue. These help people transition through three stages based on Van Gennep’s (1960) work have been described by Turner (1970). These three stages are separation, liminality and re-integration. An individual can separate from what is comfortable and re-integrate within the social context well or poorly and the time in-between three stages may vary and carry a certain degree of discomfort. These are certainly likely to be varying in nature across cultures and clinicians need to be aware of their significance and acknowledge their importance.

All of us carry cultural capital with us wherever we go, and rituals can form an important part of this. Inability to perform these can contribute to distress. As Eisenbruch’s (1991) work with refugees showed that not being able to perform certain rituals such as paying homage to and performing expected rituals for acknowledging ancestors led to feelings and expressions of cultural bereavement. This may also include feelings of anxiety and depression. Nobel (2013) proposes that rituals can help in grief but also in business as rituals provide a sense of being in control. Interestingly coping with the pandemic with performing rituals was recognised by Berinato (2020).

As cultures and societies change, some rituals disappear, and others emerge. Han (2020) argued that some rituals disappeared due to the rise of neo-liberal capitalism. This may be true of rituals related to businesses but in many cultures in transition these have become stronger as people want to maintain their identity. In addition, rituals related to social media raise interesting questions about the impact that may have on emotional and mental wellbeing of people especially the younger generation.