Spirituality and PTSD

Most psychotherapy for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) involves making new meaning of the traumatic experience but very few talk about spirituality. Nearly equal numbers of trauma survivors describe their spirituality as helpful, hurtful or neutral in their recovery. Those who view their spirituality, church and God as sources of support, validation and acceptance are more able to make healthy meanings and recover while those who see these things as sources of judgment, punishment and rejection were less likely to. Researchers from the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota studied the effectiveness of a programme called Building Spiritual Strength. The programme is not designed to convert people or change their religious affiliation but to help them to recognise and resolve spiritual concerns that can contribute to distress and maintain and enhance areas of spiritual functioning that are contributing to positive adjustment. The researchers compared 26 people going through the programme with 28 on a waiting list - the people taking part in the programme showed a statistically-significant reduction in PTSD symptoms.

Harris, J. Irene ... [et al] - The Effectiveness of a Trauma Focused Spiritually Integrated Intervention

for Veterans Exposed to Trauma Journal of Clinical Psychology January 2011, 67(1), 1-14

Study backs religious and spiritual therapies

Religion can be defined as adherence to a belief system and practices associated with a tradition in which there is agreement about what is believed and practiced whereas spirituality can be defined as a more general feeling of closeness and connectedness to the sacred. In recent years psychotherapists have been trying to incorporate both - where appropriate and where the patient wants it - into psychotherapy. A team of researchers from Virginia Commonwealth University reviewed 46 studies, covering a total of 3,290 people, into the effectiveness of 'religious accommodative' and 'nonreligious spirituality' therapies. They found that patients receiving these therapies showed greater improvements in psychological and spiritual outcomes than those receiving alternative secular therapies.

Worthington, Everett L. ... [et al] - Religion and Spirituality Journal of clinical psychology: in session 67(2), 1--11

Belief in a caring God and depression

New research from Rush University in Chicago suggests that belief in a caring God can improve people's response to treatment for depression. Previous research has suggested that religious belief can help prevent people developing depression in the first place but this is the first study to show that it can help people recover more quickly from it. The study of 136 adults diagnosed with major depression or bipolar depression found that those with strong beliefs in a personal and concerned God were more likely to experience an improvement. Participants who scored in the top third of the Religious Well Being Scale were 75% more likely to get better with medical treatment for clinical depression. The improved response of the people with a belief in a caring God was not linked to feelings of hope engendered by religion but was tied specifically to a belief that a Supreme Being cared.

You can find out more about this research at

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/180150.php

It really could be the little things that make you happy

Past research into happiness has shown that even after major life events such as accidents and lottery wins people's levels of happiness tend to return to their 'default settings' over the long term. However, studies by researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have found that repeated 'doses' of less dramatic events can have an effect on people's happiness levels. People questioned after a religious service, a yoga class or a gym session were found to be happier than they had been before but it was also the case that the more services or gym classes a person attended the happier they were suggesting that these short-term boosts had a longer-term effect when repeated over time.

Mochon, D., Norton, M. and Ariely, D. - Getting off the hedonic treadmill, one step at a time: the impact of regular religious practice and exercise on well-being Journal of Economic Psychology 29(5), 632-642

Religion, depression and meaning in life

There has been a lot of research recently into the links between religion and mental health. Researchers at Temple University in the U.S. studied 918 people and looked into three aspects of religious belief: church attendance, religious well-being (the quality of a person's relationship with a higher power) and existential well-being, a person's sense of meaning and their purpose in life. People with high levels of religious well-being were 1.5 times more likely to have had depression than those with lower levels of religious well-being. However, people who attended church regularly were 30% less likely to have had depression in their lifetime and people who had a clear sense of meaning and purpose in their life were 70% less likely to have suffered from depression.

You can find out more about this research at

http://psychcentral.com/news/2008/10/24/spirituality-tops-religion-for-depression/3196.html

Religious coping and ethnicity

Recent studies suggest that religious behaviour and beliefs can have a protective influence that moderates the impact of adverse interpersonal life events and social adversity on physical and mental health. An in-depth study of 116 people compared religious coping in six different ethnic groups: Bangladeshi, Caribbean, Indian, Irish, Pakistani and White British. Religious coping was most commonly practiced by Bangladeshi Muslims and African Caribbean Christians. Coping included prayer, listening to religious radio, using amulets, talking to God, having a relationship with God and having trust in God. Cultural or spiritual coping practices were indistinguishable from religious coping among Muslims. There was a greater degree of choice and personal responsibility for change among Christians who showed a less deferential and more conversational quality to their relationship with God. Religious and spiritual coping practices were frequently used, and led to changes in emotional states.

Bhui, Kamaldeep ... [et al] - Ethnicity and religious coping with mental distress Journal of Mental Health April 2008, 17(2), 141-151

Religion and mental health

A study of 718 people in the U.S. looked into the links between religious activity and mental illness. The researchers found differences between men and women. Out of the 278 women who participated in the study 39% had always been religiously active whilst 51% had not been active since childhood. About 7% of the women who had always been religiously active met the criteria for generalized anxiety disorder compared to 21% of women who had stopped being religiously active. However, men who had stopped going to church were less likely to suffer from depression compared to men who were still religiously active.

You can find out more about this study at

http://psychcentral.com/news/2008/01/02/spirituality-linked-to-mental-health/1725.html

Psychiatrists and religion

Historically there has often been tension between psychiatry and religion. Freud equated religion with neurosis and even called it an enemy while DSM-III was also criticized as portraying religion negatively. Several studies of psychiatrists' religious characteristics have indicated that psychiatrists are measurably less religious than the general population, their patients and other physicians. However, studies of the health effects of religion and spirituality have linked it to reduced depression and anxiety, increased longevity and other physical and psychological health benefits. A survey of 1,144 psychiatrists and physicians in the U.S. found that although psychiatrists were less religious than other doctors they generally endorsed the positive influences of religion on health. They were more likely to be aware of the negative impact of religion but they were also more likely to encounter religious issues in clinical settings and were more open to addressing religious issues with patients.

Curlin, Farr A. ... [et al] - Religion, spirituality, and medicine : psychiatrists' and other physicians' differing observations, interpretations, and clinical approaches American Journal of Psychiatry December 2007, 164(12), 1825-1831

Spiritual interventions : how effective are they ?

The term spirituality refers to transcendent experiences with, and understandings about, God or other forces in the universe while 'religious' refers to an institutional system of beliefs, values and activities based on spiritual creeds. People can be neither, one or the other or both but both concepts have consistently been found to have an impact on people's mental health and religious or spiritual interventions have become more common in psychotherapy. A review of 31 studies of spiritual therapies carried out between 1984 and 2005 found that spiritual therapies could be effective for individuals with depression, anxiety, stress and eating disorders.

Smith, Timothy B., Bartz, Jeremy and Richards, P. Scott - Outcomes of religious and spiritual adaptations to psychotherapy : a meta-analytic review Psychotherapy Research November 2007, 17(6), 643-655

Depression, spirituality and gender in adolescence

Girls are twice as likely as boys to become depressed during adolescence, a trend that persists into adulthood. Much research has been devoted to looking into this disparity and one of the most robust protective factors identified so far is spirituality - a sense of closeness with God, feelings of interconnectedness with the world or an awareness of a transcendent dimension. Relational spirituality incorporates the idea that daily experience can be organized and understood through dialogue with God. A study of 615 adolescents in the U.S. found that, overall, both levels of depression and relational spirituality were higher in girls. Daily spiritual experiences, forgiveness and religious coping were associated with less depression - but only in girls.

Desrosiers, Alethea and Miller, Lisa - Relational spirituality and depression in adolescent girls Journal of Clinical Psychology October 2007, 63(10), 1021-1037

Religion and psychotherapy - what works ?

In recent decades psychologists have increasingly recognised the need to address spiritual and religious issues in mental health treatment, particularly when working with highly religious clients and there is an increasing amount of research to show how religousness may be effectively integrated within interventions and psychotherapy. However, there has been less research into which kinds of religious interventions are effective and when is the best time to raise religious issues in therapy. A U.S. study of 152 clients at a counselling centre sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints has found that out-of-session religious interventions were seen as more appropriate than in-session ones although the in-session interventions were seen as more helpful. Specific interventions that were considered to be helpful included : referencing scriptural passages, teaching spiritual concepts, encouraging forgiveness, involving religious community resources and conducting assessments of client spirituality.

Martinez, Jennifer S., Smith, Timothy B. and Barlow, Sally H. - Spiritual interventions in psychotherapy : evalutions by highly religious clients Journal of Clinical Psychology October 2007, 63(10), 943-960

Religion, schizophrenia and adherence to treatment

Despite overwhelming evidence for its effectiveness many people with schizophrenia do not continue to take their medication. Medication non-adherence among patients with schizophrenia ranges from 50%-60% in the first year after being discharged from hospital. There is a growing amount of literature suggesting that religion and spirituality may help people cope better with schizophrenia but there has been no research into how they affect people's adherence to medication. A study of 103 people with schizophrenia in Geneva has found that two thirds of them considered spirituality to be very important or even essential in everyday life. 57% of patients had ideas about their illness directly influenced by their spiritual beliefs (31% positive and 26% negative). However, 31% of non-adherent patients and 27% of partially-adherent patients saw an incompatibility or contradiction between their religion and taking medication, compared to only 8% of the adherent patients.

Borras, L. ... [et al] - Religious beliefs in schizophrenia : their relevance for adherence to treatment Schizophrenia Bulletin September 2007 33(5), 1238-1246