Religion and Therapy: Religious Conversion and the Mental Health of Chronic Heroin-Addicted Persons

Eighty-six Chinese heroin-addicted men from different stages of a gospel drug rehabilitation programme, including the pre-conversion stage (N = 26), post-conversion stage (N = 20), halfway house stage (N = 19), and peer leaders stage (N = 21) were recruited. Participants responded to instruments assessing their depressive symptoms, sense of hopelessness, and purpose in life. Results showed that there was (a) a decrease of depressive symptoms, (b) a decrease of hopelessness symptoms, and (c) an increase of purpose in life through the different stages of the gospel drug rehabilitation program.