Skip to main content Accessibility help

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.

Close cookie message
×
Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-gxg78 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-25T16:31:06.306Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Chapter 1 - Spirituality and Religion in Psychiatry

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 October 2022

By
Christopher C. H. Cook
Edited by
Christopher C. H. Cook  and
Andrew Powell
Christopher C. H. Cook
Affiliation:
Institute for Medical Humanities, Durham University
Andrew Powell
Affiliation:
Formerly Warneford Hospital and University of Oxford
Get access

Summary

Historically, mental health care was provided within a religious context. As scientific approaches to the study of mind and brain developed from the seventeenth century onwards, the spiritual and religious elements of care became separated from the biological, psychological and social elements. The rift grew under the combined influences of biological reductionism, Darwinism, behaviourism and psychoanalysis. In the later twentieth century, a new wave of scientific research on spirituality and religion began to reverse this trend. Spirituality came to offer a more subjective and individualised approach to transcendence, which did not necessarily require religious affiliation. Psychiatrists have found a more positive place for spirituality in both clinical practice and research. This has been reflected internationally, in professional organisations, policy, debate and training. A growing evidence base demonstrates the positive benefits of spirituality/religion for mental health, and patient-centred care requires that spiritual/religious issues be addressed with sensitivity and respect.

Keywords

boundariesmysticismpolicypsychiatric training, religionspiritualitytranscendence
Type
Chapter
Information
Spirituality and Psychiatry , pp. 1 - 22
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2022

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Aist, C. S. (2012) The recovery of religious and spiritual significance in American psychiatry. Journal of Religion and Health, 51, 615–629.Google Scholar
Allport, G. W. and Ross, J. M. (1967) Personal religious orientation and prejudice. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 5, 432–443.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
American Psychiatric Association (1990) Guidelines regarding possible conflict between psychiatrists’ religious commitment and psychiatric practice. American Journal of Psychiatry, 147, 542.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ammerman, N. T. (2013) Spiritual but not religious? Beyond binary choices in the study of religion. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 52, 258–278.Google Scholar
Anderson, M. R., Miller, L., Wickramaratne, P. et al. (2017) Genetic correlates of spirituality/religion and depression: a study in offspring and grandchildren at high and low familial risk for depression. Spirituality in Clinical Practice (Washington, DC), 4, 43–63.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ansah-Asamoah, E., Hacker-Huges, J., Hankir, A. and Cook, C. C. H. (2021) Religion, spirituality and mental health. In Ikkos, G. and Bouras, N., eds., Mind, State and Society: Social History of Psychiatry and Mental Health in Britain 1960–2010. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 373–383.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Awaad, R., Ali, S., Salvador, M. and Bandstra, B. (2015) A process-oriented approach to teaching religion and spirituality in psychiatry residency training. Academic Psychiatry, 39, 654–660.Google Scholar
Bowker, J., ed. (1999) The Oxford Dictionary of World Religions. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Bowman, E. S. (2009) Teaching religious and spiritual issues. In Huguelet, P. and Koenig, H. G., eds., Religion and Spirituality in Psychiatry. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 332–353.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Carrette, J. and King, R. (2005) Selling Spirituality: The Silent Takeover of Religion. London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Cook, C. C. H. (2004a) Addiction and spirituality. Addiction, 99, 539–551.Google Scholar
Cook, C. C. H. (2004b) Psychiatry and mysticism. Mental Health, Religion & Culture, 7, 149–163.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cook, C. C. H. (2011a) The faith of the psychiatrist. Mental Health, Religion & Culture, 14, 9–17.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cook, C. C. H. (2011b) Recommendations for Psychiatrists on Spirituality and Religion. London: Royal College of Psychiatrists.Google Scholar
Cook, C. C. H. (2013a) Controversies on the place of spirituality and religion in psychiatric practice. In Cook, C. C. H., ed., Spirituality, Theology and Mental Health. London: SCM, pp. 1–19.Google Scholar
Cook, C. C. H. (2013b) Recommendations for Psychiatrists on Spirituality and Religion. London: Royal College of Psychiatrists.Google Scholar
Cook, C. C. H. (2013c) Transcendence, immanence and mental health. In Cook, C. C. H.,, ed., Spirituality, Theology and Mental Health. London: SCM, pp. 141–159.Google Scholar
Cook, C. C. H. (2017) Spirituality and religion in psychiatry: the impact of policy. Mental Health, Religion & Culture, 20, 589–594.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cook, C. C. H. (2020) Spirituality, religion & mental health: exploring the boundaries. Mental Health, Religion & Culture, 23, 363–374.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cook, C. C. H., Breckon, J., Jay, C., Renwick, L. and Walker, P. (2012) Pathway to accommodate patients’ spiritual needs. Nursing Management, 19, 33–37.Google Scholar
Corrigan, P. W. (2020) Challenges to welcoming people with mental illnesses into faith communities. British Journal of Psychiatry, 217, 595–596.Google Scholar
De Oliveira e Oliveira, F. H. A., Peteet, J. R. and Moreira-Almeida, A. (2020) Religiosity and spirituality in psychiatry residency programs: why, what, and how to teach? Brazilian Journal of Psychiatry, 43, 424–429.Google Scholar
Deikman, A. J. (1977) Comments on the GAP report on mysticism. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 165, 213–217.Google Scholar
Fuller, R. C. (2001) Spiritual, But Not Religious: Understanding Unchurched America. Oxford: Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gayle, R. F. (1956) Conflict and cooperation between psychiatry and religion. Pastoral Psychology, 7, 29–36.Google Scholar
Group for the Advancement of Psychiatry, Committee on Psychiatry and Religion (1976) Mysticism: Spiritual Quest or Psychic Disorder? New York: Group for the Advancement of Psychiatry.Google Scholar
Heelas, P. and Woodhead, L. (2005) The Spiritual Revolution: Why Religion Is Giving Way to Spirituality. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing Ltd.Google Scholar
Houtman, D. and Aupers, S. (2007) The spiritual turn and the decline of tradition: the spread of post-Christian spirituality in 14 western countries, 1981–2000. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 46, 305–320.Google Scholar
Houtman, D. and Tromp, P. (2021) The Post-Christian Spirituality Scale (PCSS): misconceptions, obstacles, prospects. In Ai, P. L., Wink, P., Paloutzian, R. F. and Harris, K. A., eds., Assessing Spirituality in a Diverse World. Cham: Springer International, pp. 35–57.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
James, W. (1902) The Varieties of Religious Experience: A Study in Human Nature. New York: Longmans, Green & Co.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Johnson, T. M., Grim, B. J. and Bellofatto, G. A. (2013) The World’s Religions in Figures: An Introduction to International Religious Demography. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Karlsson, H. and Kamppinen, M. (1995) Biological psychiatry and reductionism: empirical findings and philosophy. British Journal of Psychiatry, 167, 434–438.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kemp, S. and Williams, K. (1987) Demonic possession and mental disorder in medieval and early modern Europe. Psychological Medicine, 17, 21–29.Google Scholar
King, M., Marston, L., Mcmanus, S. et al. (2013) Religion, spirituality, and mental health: results from a national study of English households. British Journal of Psychiatry, 202, 68–73.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Koenig, H. G. (2005) Faith and Mental Health. Philadelphia, PA: Templeton Foundation Press.Google Scholar
Koenig, H. G. (2008) Concerns about measuring “spirituality” in research. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 196, 349–355.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Koenig, H. G. (2018) Religion and Mental Health: Research and Clinical Applications. London: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Koenig, H. G. and Büssing, A. (2010) The Duke University Religion Index (DUREL): a five-item measure for use in epidemological studies. Religions, 1, 78–85.Google Scholar
Koenig, H. G., Mccullough, M. E. and Larson, D. B., eds. (2001) Handbook of Religion and Health. New York: Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Koenig, H. G., King, D. E. and Carson, V. B., eds. (2012) Handbook of Religion and Health. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Kozak, L., Boynton, L., Bentley, J. and Bezy, E. (2010) Introducing spirituality, religion and culture curricula in the psychiatry residency programme. Medical Humanities, 36, 48–51.Google Scholar
Larson, D. B., Pattison, E. M., Blazer, D. G., Omran, A. R. and Kaplan, B. H. (1986) Systematic analysis of research on religious variables in four major psychiatric journals, 1978–1982. American Journal of Psychiatry, 143, 329–334.Google Scholar
Leavey, G. and King, M. (2007) The devil is in the detail: partnerships between psychiatry and faith-based organisations. British Journal of Psychiatry, 191, 97–98.Google Scholar
López-Ibor, J. J., Okasha, A., Ruiz, P., Katona, C. and Mak, F. L. (2002) World Psychiatric Association Institutional Program on the Core Training Curriculum for Psychiatry. Yokohama, Japan: World Psychiatric Association.Google Scholar
Lukoff, D. (1985) The diagnosis of mystical experiences with psychotic features. Journal of Transpersonal Psychology, 17, 155–181.Google Scholar
McGovern, T. F., Mcmahon, T., Nelson, J. et al. (2017) A descriptive study of a spirituality curriculum for general psychiatry residents. Academic Psychiatry, 41, 471–476.Google Scholar
Mental Health Foundation (2002) Taken Seriously: The Somerset Spirituality Project. London: Mental Health Foundation.Google Scholar
Mercadante, L. (2014) Belief Without Borders: Inside the Minds of the Spiritual but Not Religious. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Miller, L., Bansal, R., Wickramaratne, P. et al. (2014) Neuroanatomical correlates of religiosity and spirituality: a study in adults at high and low familial risk for depression. JAMA Psychiatry, 71, 128–135.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Perroud, N. (2009) Religion/spirituality and neuropsychiatry. In Huguelet, P. and Koenig, H. G., eds., Religion and Spirituality in Psychiatry. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 48–64.Google Scholar
Poole, R., Cook, C. C. H. and Higgo, R. (2019) Psychiatrists, spirituality and religion. British Journal of Psychiatry, 214, 181–182.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Principe, W. (1983) Toward defining spirituality. Studies in Religion, 12, 127–141.Google Scholar
Puchalski, C. M., Larson, D. B. and Lu, F. G. (2001) Spirituality in psychiatry residency training programs. International Review of Psychiatry, 13, 131–138.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Richardson, J. T. (1993) Religiosity as deviance: negative religious bias in and misuse of the DSM‐III. Deviant Behavior, 14, 1–21.Google Scholar
Rosmarin, D. H. (2018) Spirituality, Religion, and Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy: A Guide for Clinicians. New York: Guilford.Google Scholar
Royal College of Psychiatrists (2018) Person-Centred Care: Implications for Training in Psychiatry. London: Royal College of Psychiatrists.Google Scholar
Royal College of Psychiatrists Person-Centred Training and Curriculum Scoping Group (2019) Training in psychiatry: making person-centred care a reality. BJPsych Bulletin, 43, 136–140.Google Scholar
Schaap-Jonker, H., Eurelings-Bontekoe, E., Verhagen, P. J. and Zock, H. (2002) Image of God and personality pathology: an exploratory study among psychiatric patients. Mental Health, Religion & Culture, 5, 55–71.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shooter, M. (1999) Proposal for a Special Interest Group in spirituality and psychiatry. Psychiatric Bulletin, 23, 310.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shorter, E. (2005) A Historical Dictionary of Psychiatry. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Silton, N. R., Flannelly, K. J., Galek, K. and Ellison, C. G. (2014) Beliefs about God and mental health among American adults. Journal of Religion and Health, 53, 1285–1296.Google Scholar
Sims, A. (1994) ‘Psyche’ – spirit as well as mind? British Journal of Psychiatry, 165, 441–446.Google Scholar
Slater, E. and Roth, M. (1979) Clinical Psychiatry. London: Baillière Tindall.Google Scholar
Stace, W. T. (1973) Mysticism and Philosophy. London: Macmillan.Google Scholar
Streib, H. and Hood, R. W. (2011) ‘Spirituality’ as privatized experience-oriented religion: empirical and conceptual perspectives. Implicit Religion, 14, 433–453.Google Scholar
Swinton, J. (2001) Spirituality and Mental Health Care. London: Jessica Kingsley Publishers.Google Scholar
Tyler, P., Mclean, J. and Cook, C. C. H. (2018) Introduction: mystical theology: renewing the contemplative tradition. In Cook, C. C. H., Mclean, J. and Tyler, P., eds., Mystical Theology and Contemporary Spiritual Practice: Renewing the Contemplative Tradition. London: Routledge, pp. 1–8.Google Scholar
Van Ness, P. H. (1996) Spirituality and the Secular Quest. London: SCM.Google Scholar
Van Nieuw Amerongen-Meeuse, J. C., Schaap-Jonker, H., Schuhmann, C., Anbeek, C. and Braam, A. W. (2019) The ‘religiosity gap’ in a clinical setting: experiences of mental health care consumers and professionals. Mental Health, Religion & Culture, 21, 737–752.Google Scholar
Verhagen, P. J. (2019) Psychiatry and Religion: Controversies and Consensus: A Matter of Attitude. Duren: Shaker Verlag.Google Scholar
Wixwat, M. and Saucier, G. (2020) Being spiritual but not religious. Current Opinion in Psychology, 40, 121–125.Google Scholar
Zaehner, R. C. (1973) Mysticism: Sacred and Profane. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Zilboorg, G. and Henry, G. W. (1941) A History of Medical Psychology. New York: Norton.Google Scholar

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure no-reply@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×