The Mental Health Way on Martin Luther King Jr Day

PSYCHIATRIC VIEWS ON THE DAILY NEWS

Where is the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr when we need him once again? Many of us elders may be currently triggered by the traumas of his era of civil conflict and violence.

What we can do instead, though, is be inspired by what he said and did before his all-too-early assassination death. Among his concerns were those with mental illnesses and those who are vulnerable. I have tried to keep those concerns alive on a previous Martin Luther King Jr Day video and column right here in 2023 and 2024, respectively. Prior to that, for years I did a commentary on him for Shofar, our synagogue’s monthly newsletter.

Last year, though, I neglected to do so for either publication as our federal election results took hold. That omission was a mistake, given the rapid orders that often were mentally disorienting and worrisome for mental health. Today, I will try to make up a bit as I can.

To only isolate some of King’s major commentaries on mental health, we can start with his speech at the Annual Convention of the American Psychological Association in September 1967.¹ (I do not think that he ever spoke at the annual meeting of the American Psychiatric Association.) Among his points, I might mention:

• Urban riots. Urban riots are conveyed as a form of violence having elements of emotional catharsis.
• Unemployment. Unemployment of up to 40% at that time among Black youth led to violent alternatives.
• Role of social scientists. Most of all, help is needed for Black leadership to connect with the lower class.
• Political action. An inner psychological transformation is helping to also better understand the nature of the oppressor.
• Creative maladjustment. This unique and paradoxical recommendation called on maladjustments like that of the prophet Amos and Abraham Lincoln.

My January 11, 2023, video was “Shining Light Series: Martin Luther King Jr. and Mental Health.” The next year, on January 12, 2024, my column was on “Resolution #5: A Tribute to the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr, I Have a Social Psychiatry Dream.” I was dreaming of some increased consensus between psychiatrists and antipsychiatrists: that the social variables become equally prominent in our bio-psycho-social model; that we ethically need to quest for social justice; and that we can reduce what I call our social psychopathologies. Progress has seemed mixed.

This year, I imagine that given King’s leadership in marches, he would applaud the Buddhist monks’ Walk of Peace from Texas to the White House for healing, unity, and compassion. Their spiritual leader, Bhikkhu Pannakara, clarified the psychological transformation desired²:

“We walk not to protest, but to awaken the peace that already lives within each of us.”

References

1. American Psychological Association. King’s challenge to the nation’s social scientists. APA Monitor. 1999;30(1).

2. Del Rey M. Why are Buddhist monks walking across the US? Here's what to know. USA Today. Updated January 15, 2026. Accessed January 16, 2026. https://www.jconline.com/story/news/nation/2026/01/13/buddhist-monks-walk-peace/88160541007/