Provision of spiritual and pastoral care facilities in a high-security hospital and their increased use by those of Muslim compared to Christian faith

The relationship between religion and psychiatry remains controversial amongst British psychiatrists. We looked at the provision of spiritual and pastoral care facilities in a high-security hospital and the role of faith chaplains with particular reference to the Muslim minority group. There was a significantly higher uptake of pastoral care services amongst those of Muslim faith compared to Church of England and Roman Catholic Christians. Possible reasons for this are discussed. Resources allocated for the Muslim faith group were limited and heavily dependent on the availability of the Muslim faith chaplain. Our study highlighted the need for clearly defined standards for the provision of spiritual and pastoral care within high-secure psychiatric hospitals, and by implication other NHS psychiatric settings, a re-examination of the role of the faith chaplain in relation to the clinical team, and raised questions about the equitable allocation of resources between various faith groups within the hospital.     

The effect of religiosity and spirituality on psychological well-being among forensic psychiatric patients in Canada

All patients in a multilevel secure forensic psychiatric centre were surveyed to determine the relationship between religiosity and spirituality, and depression, anxiety and satisfaction with life. Of the whole population, 90% responded; 5% were females and 47% aboriginal. The mean anxiety and depression scores using the Beck anxiety and depression inventories were low at 11.4 and 17, respectively. Weekly attendance at worship and the private intrinsic religiosity scores were higher than comparable samples of Canadians and general mental-health inpatients. Satisfaction with life score was positively correlated with all religiosity and spirituality variables. There was an inverse relationship between the Existential Well-Being scale and depression scores. The Existential Well-Being scale also correlated positively with satisfaction with life. Weekly worship attendance was inversely correlated with depression scores. These results point to some important differences between this patient population and the general population.     

The diagnostic and statistical manual: sacred text for a secular community?

The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders is the most widely used diagnostic system by mental health professionals in North America. It provides a shared language and paradigm by which practitioners view clients. Can it be argued that the DSM represents a sacred text and defines a worldview for an identifiable community of mental health professionals? In what ways is the relationship between this community and document similar to and different from the relationships that explicitly religious communities maintain with their sacred texts?     

Mental illness has multiple causes: beliefs on causes of mental illness by congregants of selected neo-prophetic churches in Ghana

ABSTRACT

The present study explored perceived causes of, and preferred treatment approach for, mental illness among congregants of six Neo-prophetic churches in Accra and Kumasi through in-depth interviews. Using thematic analysis, five themes emerged from participants’ causal attributions of mental illness. These included lifestyles and environmental stressors, spiritual causes, interaction of multiple factors, trauma and biological causes. Additionally, participants discussed four main mechanisms through which stress leads to mental illness. These included persistent worrying over stressors, use of inappropriate coping strategies to cope with stress, refusal to talk about one's problems and individuals’ appraisal of stress and available coping resources. These beliefs directly determined congregants’ preferred treatment approach. Implications of the findings are discussed.     

Attachment and spiritual coping in patients with chronic schizophrenia

Many studies on spirituality in psychosis have shown that, compared to a nonclinical population, patients make more use of spiritual beliefs/religious practices to deal with their problems. Our research question was to test whether attachment to spiritual figures could be a good explanation for religious coping strategies in patients with psychosis. First, adult attachment was investigated in 28 patients with chronic psychosis and 18 controls, using the Adult Attachment Interview. Diagnostic evaluations were performed with the Structured Clinical Interview for the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th edition, Text Revision) Axis I disorders and symptomatic evaluation with the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale. Results also show a high prevalence of insecure avoidant attachment in patients, and suggest that a significant part of religious coping might be explained by the theory of attachment (64% of the patients, 78% of controls). The implications of these results are interpreted in light of correspondence and compensation hypotheses.     

Holistic Psychology: A Brief Primer

This article explicates the foundations, essential themes and healing principles of holistic psychology; an approach which provides a corrective for such trends in modern scientific psychology as disciplinary perspectives, the overemphasis on the economics and politics of professionalism. Holistic psychology emphasizes spiritual healing, multi-cultural counseling, community and ecological interventions. Its core pillars of practice and care stem from the spiritual and wisdom traditions widely applicable to combating illness, injustice, violence, materialism, and technocratic influences so prevalent in contemporary society. As a breath and/or spirit based healing practice, holistic psychology provides a foundational exercise for personal, social and cosmic transformation.     

临终关怀多维度困境及解决思路——以晚期肝癌患者为例

针对晚期肝癌,临终关怀的目标是提高患者生活质量。论述临终关怀在晚期肝癌患者“身、心、社、灵”四个维度存在的问题及解决相应问题的应对策略,以及医疗机构和临终关怀机构存在的问题及对策,对于晚期肝癌患者“双重角色”问题,提出加强“身、心、社、灵”的支持,呼吁政府政策及资金支持、匹配相应的专业服务人员数量和在临终关怀科室开展多学科诊疗合作以及加强社区服务,推进临终关怀在晚期肝癌中的应用。     

疾病的附魅与祛魅——为纪念苏珊·桑塔格而作

用马克斯·韦伯的祛魅理论来读解苏珊·桑塔格在《疾病的隐喻》一书中表述的反对隐喻、回到疾病本身的观点,探讨积极意义与局限性所在,并以此作为对这位当代美国最著名的“公共知识分子”的纪念。