# The ward that focused on the good hours

- Teacher: Ajahn Brahm
- Type: Story
- URL: https://beingmindfulstories.com/stories/brahm-singapore-psychiatric-ward
- Themes: difficult people, attention to the positive, mental health
- Life situations: difficult family member, caring for someone with mental illness, managing a difficult employee

## Synopsis (editorial summary)

After a talk at Singapore's mental-health institute, a Christian ward head quietly tells Ajahn Brahm his ward now focuses on patients' healthy periods rather than their episodes — and the healthy periods are lengthening.

## The story, as told by Ajahn Brahm (verbatim captions)

This whole attitude was reinforced when last weekend I was teaching at a conference of the Institute for Mental Health in Singapore. Those from Singapore, a few here, the old Woodbridge Hospital, which now they've moved and renamed because maybe it had a bad association with mental sickness. And I was so pleased that after I gave a presentation that was so well received, that one of the fellows there who was quite a staunch Christian, he asked me, "Can you come and bless my ward? Give a Buddhist blessing, please." Those of you who know Singapore know that's quite something. But when I was talking to him, and to many other staff there, the heads of departments, they told me that the philosophy in that hospital was to focus on that part of their patient which was sane, sociable, which was kind, which was intelligent. They weren't focusing on the psychosis. They weren't ignoring the schizophrenic fantasies. They were focused on something else. I thought, "Wow! You guys have understood." Because if you focus on somebody's faults -- you know the old two bad bricks -- the fact that sometimes they act in a dysfunctional way, or they speak in hallucinatory ways or they behave in sort of a violent to themselves or other ways. If you focus on that, then you make this person into someone.. or make this dysfunction the whole of them, rather than just a part of them. And a positive psychology says let's put that aside. Let's focus on the other half of them. Too often, we focus on the dysfunction. How about focusing on the rest of the time when they're perfectly -- I won't say normal because being normal is stigmatising the so-called abnormal -- when they are kind, sociable and able to sort-of flow in society without any problems or reactions from other people. When you focus on the other side, the healing happens. This is such an important psychology to see. I was so pleased that at last, somebody is getting the message.

## Teaching point

Focus on what is good in difficult people and it grows; fixate on their problems and it gets worse.

## Reflection (in the spirit of Ajahn Brahm's talk)

A ward in Singapore chose to notice the hours when patients were kind and sociable, not only their episodes, and those hours grew longer. It works at home too: water the flowers in a person, not the weeds. Nobody is only their illness or their worst days, and that includes you. Treatment decisions belong with the care team.

## Source

- [How To Be Positive | by Ajahn Brahm | 17 Oct 2008](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H94Dz4Iq2d4) (Buddhist Society of Western Australia) — watch from 15:27 to 18:06: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H94Dz4Iq2d4&t=927s

Other tellings of this story:

- [Dealing With Difficult People | Ajahn Brahm | 28 Nov 2008](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jniaUr_7438) (Buddhist Society of Western Australia) — watch from 9:56 to 12:24: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jniaUr_7438&t=596s
- [No-Self Esteem | by Ajahn Brahm](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hXd09oGHD0I) (Buddhist Society of Western Australia) — watch from 34:36 to 35:13: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hXd09oGHD0I&t=2076s
- [The Fault Finding Mind | Ajahn Brahm | 7 May 2021](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bekYLQ5buRQ) (Buddhist Society of Western Australia) — watch from 52:36 to 54:22: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bekYLQ5buRQ&t=3156s
- ['Out of Control' | by Ajahn Brahm](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yEnU5BBr_7Y) (Buddhist Society of Western Australia) — watch from 3:28 to 4:51: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yEnU5BBr_7Y&t=208s
- [Anger Eating Demons | Ajahn Brahm | 07-10-2011](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=me7Wm5LOpx0) (Buddhist Society of Western Australia) — watch from 13:33 to 15:38: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=me7Wm5LOpx0&t=813s
- [Positive Perspective and Acceptance | Ajahn Brahm | 3 June 2022](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4J5YVDTB1bE) (Buddhist Society of Western Australia) — watch from 21:19 to 22:10: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4J5YVDTB1bE&t=1279s
- [Changing our attitudes to who we think we are | Ajahn Brahm | 17 Jul 2015](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u1ldT6MBEP8) (Buddhist Society of Western Australia) — watch from 48:31 to 50:05: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u1ldT6MBEP8&t=2911s
- [How to Deal with Difficulties | Ajahn Brahm | 29 April 2022](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=teELqB3MAG4) (Buddhist Society of Western Australia) — watch from 54:14 to 55:45: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=teELqB3MAG4&t=3254s
- [The Nature of Suffering | Ajahn Brahm | 10 February 2023](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZwvMmZICc1Y) (Buddhist Society of Western Australia) — watch from 23:36 to 24:03: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZwvMmZICc1Y&t=1416s
- [Emotional Intelligence and Acceptance | Ajahn Brahm | 19 May 2023](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ejSaOOQ3VrY) (Buddhist Society of Western Australia) — watch from 35:08 to 37:08: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ejSaOOQ3VrY&t=2108s
- [O radzeniu sobie z trudnymi ludźmi - Ajahn Brahm [LEKTOR PL]](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gPz6-oAxM7Q) (Sasana.pl) — watch from 10:00 to 12:18: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gPz6-oAxM7Q&t=600s