Building Resilience through Spiritual Approaches to Overcome Self-Injury Conflicts: A Comprehensive Literature Review

Abstract

Self-injury, a critical psychological issue defined by the intentional infliction of harm upon oneself, has become increasingly widespread across the globe. Traditional psychological approaches often focus on behavior modification and coping mechanisms, but these methods may overlook deeper spiritual needs. This gap highlights the importance of exploring alternative inner healing pathways and building resilience, emphasizing a journey of self-awareness that enables individuals to uncover their true selves, purpose, and values. By addressing deeper spiritual needs, these approaches can lead to significant personal growth and transformation, offering a more comprehensive solution to overcoming self-injury conflicts. This literature review addresses this gap by examining the spiritual approaches of Al-Ghazali and Ibn Ataillah. The methodology involves a systematic review of recent studies and foundational texts to integrate Islamic spiritual approaches into the context of mental health. The results indicate that spiritual approaches centred on ten core elements, including repentance, fear of Allah, asceticism, patience, gratitude, sincerity and truthfulness, tawakkul, compassion, acceptance of Allah's decree, and remembering death, can foster self-resilience and offer a comprehensive framework for overcoming self-injury conflicts. The discussion suggests incorporating these spiritual approaches into therapeutic practices can significantly enhance emotional regulation and resilience. This review contributes to the field by proposing an integrative approach that combines psychological and spiritual strategies, offering valuable implications for developing more holistic mental health interventions.