Thank you for this opportunity. I'm wondering what the Buddha's perspective on mental illness is, specifically personality disorders, and how a practitioner and a family may heal herself and her family with this ongoing challenge.

Respected Thầy, dear Sangha, the question is that what is the Buddhist perspective on mental illness, in particular an illness with personality disorder, and how does the family help to deal with this problem when a person with personality disorder can fluctuate in moods or in personality, sometimes like this and sometimes like that. How does the family help the person and also cope with that stress?

Many of us have the seed of depression, mental illness in our cells, in our body. And if we are put in a good environment, these seeds will not manifest. But if we put the person in another kind of environment, they will manifest as illness, not only the seed. So first of all, the family has to look back to see how the atmosphere, the environment provided by the family, has helped water that seed in him or in her.

The way you consume, the way we talk to each other plays some kind of role in helping that seed of mental illness to manifest. So that is not the problem for that person who is ill, but the problem of all the family. We have to look back to see how much responsible we are in helping that seed of illness to manifest. Because the environment turns on that energy of illness in the person. And we change the environment, that illness will be turned off. So the problem is very much the environment.

And then there are practices that help us to go back to the stage when the seed of illness has not manifested. I think the collective energy generated by the environment is very important. And if you know how to put that person in a good environment where there is the collective energy of peace and brotherhood and joy, and then that person will consume that kind of environment and get better and come back to normal.

That is why Sangha building is very important. Community building is so important. If in a group of people, ten people, twenty people, one hundred people, everyone knows how to breathe mindfully, walk mindfully, generating the energy of joy and brotherhood and sisterhood, and then that environment is very good. It is very conducive to healing. If we can put that person in such an environment, that is the best thing to do. We may need some medication, but don't think of medication is the most important. Good energy, good environment is the answer.