Spirituality and Mental Health

What is the relationship between spirituality and mental health?

Little is understood about the relationship between spirituality and religion as it intersects with mental health and illness.  The project aims to explore the neurophysiological mechanisms that may serve as causal pathways mediating spirituality and religious experience.  The project also seeks to better characterize the intersection of religious experience and mental disorders—such as the phenomenon of hyper-religiosity and mental illness—culminating in educational processes that can assist clinicians and religious communities in identifying and most aptly supporting those experiencing mental illness. (See prior publications).

Faculty:  Susan BlockJohn DenningerArthur KleinmanJohn Peteet, John KnightDavid RosmarinDavid SilbersweigTyrone Williams

 

CURRENT PROJECTS
_____________________________________________________________________________

Spirituality/Religion and Geriatric Mood Disorders
This project aims to investigate the relevance of spiritual and religious beliefs and practices to symptom severity in a sample of geriatric mood disordered patients.
 
Spiritually Integrated Psychotherapy for Acute Psychiatric Patients
This project aims to develop best practice guidelines for integrating spirituality into mental health care treatment and practice.
 
Spirituality/Religion, Symptoms, and Treatment Outcomes Among Acute Psychiatric Patients. 
This project aims to investigate how spirituality/religion factors predict treatment outcomes in psychiatric patients across multiple disorders.