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Troubled Souls: Spirituality as a Mental Health Hazard

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The relationship between spirituality and/or religion and mental and physical health has increasingly come under study in recent years. It almost seems to have become conventional wisdom that spirituality is associated with better health, mental and physical. However, a recently published British study (link is external)found that people who consider themselves spiritual but not religious are more likely to have a mental disorder compared to conventionally religious people and to those who are neither religious nor spiritual. Conventionally religious people and those who were neither religious nor spiritual did not differ in their mental health status, suggesting that being religious offers few advantages in terms of mental health. The reasons for this are still unclear. Studies on the psychology of spirituality offer some clues as to why spiritual but not religious people might be prone to poorer mental health although more research is needed to fully explain the relationship.

https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/unique-everybody-else/201301/troubled-souls-spirituality-mental-health-hazard

An additional puzzle is why the three groups in the King et al. study did not differ in their overall happiness even though one group was more prone to mental disorder. Happiness was assessed with a single question, whereas mental health status was assessed with a clinical interview, so a more detailed assessment of well-being might provide a more nuanced picture.

Considering the increasing prominence in modern society of people who consider themselves spiritual but not religious, more in-depth research is needed to understand fully why this group seems to be particularly vulnerable to mental illness.

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I dunno Change, I'm always a bit wary of studies by psychologists.

It's quite easy to come up with a hypothesis and then design a study to prove it. If I wanted to prove that I'd just select (for the spiritual group) people that seem a bit out there, maybe the kind with mood rings, crystal pendants or even just people that seem a bit weird.

While I do agree with aspects of the study and I even know a few "spiritual" people that are borderline crazy, I don't believe it really presents the big picture accurately.

Like for instance. What about traditional indigenous spirituality, while there is a lot of myth and pure fantasy in those belief systems, their spirituality is often based on respect. Respect for the earth, respect for the spirit of animal they've hunted, respect for their ancestors etc. I imagine people with indigenous beliefs and spirituality would see the modern world as a perfect example of how almost and entire can be insane and the few sane ones are classed as insane.

I've also seen studies showing psychologists are 3 times as likely as the general population to develop psychological issues.

Interesting reading but I take it with a grain of salt.

Edited by Sally
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OK after reading the article again (I got distracted the first time) it seems like what I said earlier was wrong about the study being designed to fit the hypothesis.

Maybe spiritual people are nut jobs ?

It's not always a permanent thing though, some people get into stuff like that when they've had troubled times in their lives. Maybe it's an avenue people turn to when they have been tormented by the world we live in.

I'm looking at my crystal collection right now. My life was in turmoil when I bought those things.

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Thanks Sally, i really appreciate your comments above

Just to clarify im not saying spiritual people are nut jobs,

Im interested in looking at the avenues people turn to when they have been tormented by the world we live in, and how effective they are at healing.

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I've also seen studies showing psychologists are 3 times as likely as the general population to develop psychological issues.

I think this trend is a results of people going to a psychologists for help, then after not receiving the help they wanted they decided to study psychology in an attempt to learn how to heal themselves.

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This looks like an interesting read although i cant access the full paper.

Crisis as deferred closure-clairvoyant counselling in contemporary Danish society.

Clairvoyance, spiritualism and healing are popular ways of seeking guidance and personal development in contemporary Danish society. Although few Danes are self-declared spiritualists, many believe in the existence of ghosts and the ability of clairvoyants to communicate with the departed, and the market of alternative therapies offers a number of mediumistic activities. In anthropological writings, such activities are often associated with crisis and the re-establishment of order. The concept of crisis refers to a time of great difficulty or danger or when an important decision must be made. Looking at the people who seek guidance from the spiritual world, however, both the implication of a limited time span, the idea of great difficulty, and the indication of decision-making may be challenged. In some cases, spirit consultations initiate processes of new definitions and classifications of problems, but in others they just seem to confirm old problems in an ongoing effort to cope with the difficulties of everyday situations. The aim of this paper is to explore the diversity of outcomes from clairvoyance and spiritualist consultations. Focusing on the particularity of specific cases, the author wants to demonstrate the analytical implications of seeing these activities through the lens of crisis. Instead of pushing the framework of crisis, meaning and order, the author suggests a rethinking of spiritual healing as an integrated rather than extraordinary way of dealing with the challenges of everyday life, and of crisis as a context for the deferred closure of insecurity.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23898838

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Biographical similarities between spiritual healers and their clients in Germany - a qualitative study.

Spiritual healers in contemporary Germany comprise a heterogeneous and growing group, yet little data exists about them. Therefore, one aim of this study was to learn about which biographical aspects and events were important to the process of becoming a healer and which biographical aspects drove clients to consult a healer. The study was based on semi-structured interviews combined with participant observations. All data were recorded digitally, transcribed, entered into the software program MAXQDA and analysed subjected to Content Analysis. In total, 15 healers (nine male, six female) and 16 clients (13 female, three male) were included. According to the healers, a talent for healing can be inborn, inherited or developed through life experiences. Most of the healers experienced a crisis, which prompted their transformation to healers (the wounded healer type). A smaller group became healers mainly out of interest without going through crisis and by focusing on the spiritual attitude itself (the healer by interest type). The basis of healing is seen as a connection to a transcendent reality, which enables an open, loving and empathetic attitude. The experience of crises and illnesses and the importance of spirituality are major biographical similarities between healers and clients. Near-death experiences as an extreme form of crisis were reported from a few healers and clients. The connections between healing talents and crises, including a deepened exploration of near-death experiences and questions regarding inclining towards spirituality could be of interest in further studies.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26073376

Once again i cant get full access to this paper but it looks really interesting

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This looks like an interesting read although i cant access the full paper.

I've got the pdf for the journal

Unfortunately I can't post up a link to the thing because it requires log in access but anyone who is keen for the pdf let me know

I can send it through to you by email so you can read the hwole thing

Already sent to you change :P

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Thanks Ace,

That was a really interesting read highlighting the relationship between personal crisis and spiritual healing.

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Spirituality attenuates the association between depression symptom severity and meaning in life. Abstract
OBJECTIVES:

This cross-sectional study examined whether spirituality moderates the association between depression symptom severity and meaning in life among treatment-seeking adults.

METHOD:

Participants were 55 adults (≥60 years of age) newly seeking outpatient mental health treatment for mood, anxiety, or adjustment disorders. Self-report questionnaires measured depression symptom severity (Patient Health Questionnaire-9), spirituality (Spirituality Transcendence Index), and meaning in life (Geriatric Suicide Ideation Scale-Meaning in Life subscale).

RESULTS:

Results indicated a significant interaction between spirituality and depression symptom severity on meaning in life scores (β = .26, p = .02). A significant negative association between depression symptom severity and meaning in life was observed at lower but not the highest levels ofspirituality.

CONCLUSION:

In the presence of elevated depressive symptomatology, those participants who reported high levels of spirituality reported comparable levels of meaning in life to those without elevated depressive symptomatology. Assessment of older adult patients' spirituality can reveal ways that spiritual beliefs and practices can be can be incorporated into therapy to enhance meaning in life.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25808754

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Impact of Mood Spectrum Spirituality and Mysticism Symptoms on Suicidality in Earthquake Survivors with PTSD. Abstract

The aim of the present study was to explore the correlations between Spirituality/Mysticism/Psychoticism symptoms and suicidality in young adult survivors of the L'Aquila earthquake. The sample included 475 subjects recruited among high school seniors who had experienced the April 6, 2009, earthquake. Assessments included: Trauma and Loss Spectrum-Self Report and Mood Spectrum-Self Report (MOODS-SR). Mysticism/Spiritualitydimension and suicidality were evaluated by means of some specific items of the MOOD-SR. The Spirituality/Mysticism/Psychoticism MOODS-SR factor score was significantly higher among subjects with PTSD diagnosis with respect to those without. Similarly, subjects with suicidal ideation, as well as those who committed a suicide attempt, reported significantly higher scores than those without.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26112609

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Religion and spirituality in online suicide bereavement: an analysis of online memorials. Abstract
BACKGROUND:

Religion and spirituality can be valuable resources in coping with bereavement. There is a paucity of studies focusing specifically on their role in suicide bereavement, although there are indications that religion/spirituality can be helpful for suicide survivors.

AIMS:

The study explores the role of religion and/or spirituality in suicide bereavement by analyzing this theme in online memorials dedicated tosuicide victims.

METHOD:

We randomly selected 250 memorials in two online cemeteries: Faces of Suicide and Gone too Soon. Interpretative and deductive thematic analysis was used to identify themes in the collected material, including the theme of religion/spirituality.

RESULTS:

References to religion/spirituality were found in 14% of memorials. These memorials were written by family members, friends, and (ex-)partners of the deceased and were dedicated mostly to young adult males. Religion/spirituality was mentioned in the context of God's will, peace wish, continuation of the spirit, afterlife, reunion, gratitude, description of the deceased, and grief reactions of suicide survivors.

CONCLUSION:

Some suicide survivors spontaneously mention the role of religious/spiritual beliefs in coping with their loss. Future studies could explore which subgroups of the bereaved are likely to turn to these resources, and whether they can contribute to the well-being of the suicidesurvivors.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25189112

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[internet as a means of persuading a patient to commit a suicide]. Abstract

In this article we have described 25 year-old female student of the University of Gdańsk, treated for eight years because of depression and for four years because of anorexia nervosa, who to commit suicide had taken 50 tablets of carbamazepine (Tegretol CR á 200 mg), 30 tablets of clonazepam (Clonazepamum á 0.5 mg) and 50 tablets of flupentixol (Fluanxol á 3.0 mg). In 1999 the patient got an internet (IRC) contact with a person introducing herself as a 26 year-old lonely student. After getting acquainted with the life history of the patient she had systematically encouraged the patient to commit suicide. Almost everyday she used to send the patient instructions regarding the best way to kill herself. On parent's request, after the patient regained consciousness in the Clinic, the case was sent to public prosecutor's office. It was found, that the person who urged the girl to commitsuicide was a 33 year-old married woman, fascinated by psychology and parapsychology.

Parapsychology is a pseudoscience concerned with the investigation of paranormal and psychic phenomena. Parapsychologists study telepathy, precognition, clairvoyance, psychokinesis, near-death experiences, reincarnation, apparitional experiences, and other paranormal claims.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12184011

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I don't like the word schizotypy much but I do like what it describes

Edited by toby

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if believing in some sky demon who controls literally everyone's actions isn't a mental illness then I don't know what is

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...people who consider themselves spiritual but not religious are more likely to have a mental disorder compared to conventionally religious people and to those who are neither religious nor spiritual..

This might actually have a fairly simple explanation. Religious people are just spiritual types who have company in their beliefs, right? I mean, that's pretty much the definition of a religion. So they instantly get a whole lot of social/cultural support for their spiritual beliefs - people to chat with about it & tell them they're not crazy for believing in invisible creatures & whatnot. Whereas the other group might not. Or even if they do have some kind of spiritual guidance, it might not be as socially acceptable as weekly church. So it's inevitable that some of them would end up feeling a bit lost. And while I didn't look at their full study design details, IME basic mental health assessments are more about depression & anxiety issues than full-blown craziness. So if someone believes they have leprechauns in their socks but is quite happy about the situation, the assessments could miss that. While a person who has just lost both their parents to shark attacks & is a bit sad about it & has become nervous about swimming, will rank as having "mental health issues". What I'm trying to say here is that the "mental illness" found in the non-religious-spiritual group could be mostly loneliness & disenfranchisement.

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