Obsessive-compulsive disorder and Jewish religiosity

Effect of Religious Cognitive Behavioral Therapy on Religious Obsessive-compulsive Disorder (3 and 6 months Follow-up)

Background:

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a chronic disorder that strongly affects one's life and social, emotional, and occupational functioning. Due to the effect of religious beliefs on phenomenology of OCD, in this paper, we assess the effectiveness of religious cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) within 3 and 6 months follow-up.

Materials and Methods:

This study is a clinical trial with follow-ups which last 2 months consisting eight sessions of 1.5 h of religious CBT. The research is conducted in a group of 40, with pre- and post-test after 3 and 6 months. Used Yale-Brown OCD symptom scale, before, the end, after 3 months and after 6 months of intervention. Treatment is carried out by a psychiatrist and a clergyman through religious CBT. The trial is held in OCD clinic affiliated with Noor Hospital. Results are analyzed by ANOVA repeated measure with SPSS18.

Results:

The results showed a considerable decrease in OCD symptoms which remained almost persistent after 3 and 6 months (F = 3/54. P = 0/024). It also shows that religious CBT can leave substantial effect on OCD symptoms; permanency of this intervention after 3 and 6 months is noticeable (P < 0/001). In Conclusion this therapy could be helpful for OCD patients with religious content.

Conclusion:

RCBT have a positive effect on people with religious obsessive -compulsive.

Influence of religious aspects and personal beliefs on psychological behavior: focus on anxiety disorders

The current paper presents literature relevant to the relationship of religiosity, spirituality, and personal beliefs with mental health and, in particular, anxiety disorders as an empirical narrative review, providing an overview on the most important and clinically relevant research results on the topic. The relationship between religiosity/spirituality, personal beliefs (ie, magical ideation and paranormal beliefs), and mental health has lately been studied extensively, and results have indicated significant associations among these variables. However, scientific approaches to this field are complex and multidimensional, partly leading to poor operationalization, incomparable data, and contradictory results. Literature demonstrates that higher religiosity/spirituality and magical ideation scores have often been associated with increased obsessive–compulsive traits. Similar results could not be confidently replicated for other anxiety disorders. However, it is still unclear if these differences suggest a specific association with obsessive–compulsive traits and reflect deviating etiopathogenetic and cognitive aspects between obsessive–compulsive disorder and other anxiety disorders, or if these results are biased through other factors. Religiosity/spirituality and personal beliefs constitute important parameters of human experience and deserve greater consideration in the psychotherapeutic treatment of psychiatric disorders.

Religiosity, magical ideation, and paranormal beliefs in anxiety disorders and obsessive-compulsive disorder: a cross-sectional study

The relation between religiosity/spirituality (R/S), personal beliefs, and mental health has been extensively studied. However, concerning anxiety disorders (ADs), empirical evidence is scarce. This study investigated the differences in R/S and magical/paranormal ideation among obsessive-compulsive disorder patients (OCD; n = 49), patients with other ADs (n = 36), and healthy controls (HCs; n = 35). Our results suggest negative religious coping as being the only parameter showing significantly higher scores in OCD and AD participants in comparison with HCs. Negative religious coping reflects negative functional expressions of R/S in stressful situations. Logistic regression also suggested negative religious coping as the strongest predictor of group affiliation to the nonhealthy group. Further results show no significant differences between other R/S, magical, and paranormal ideation traits among groups. This study underlines an important role of negative religious coping in ADs yet does not clearly indicate a specific causality. Religious-sensitive treatment targeting cognitive aspects of negative religious coping are discussed.

Religious involvement and obsessive compulsive disorder among African Americans and Black Caribbeans

Prior research is equivocal concerning the relationships between religious involvement and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). The literature indicates limited evidence of denomination differences in prevalence of OCD whereas findings regarding OCD and degree of religiosity are equivocal. This study builds on prior research by examining OCD in relation to diverse measures of religious involvement within the National Survey of American Life, a nationally representative sample of African American and Black Caribbean adults. Bivariate and multivariate analyses (logistic regression) examine the relationship between lifetime prevalence of OCD and religious denomination, service attendance, non-organizational religiosity (e.g., prayer, religious media) subjective religiosity, and religious coping. Frequent religious service attendance was negatively associated with OCD, whereas Catholic affiliation (as compared to Baptist) and religious coping (prayer when dealing with stressful situations) were both positively associated with OCD. With regard to demographic factors, persons of older age and higher education levels were significantly less likely to have OCD.

Is thought–action fusion related to religiosity? Differences between Christians and Jews

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the relationship between thought-action fusion (TAF) and religiosity in Christians and Jews (Orthodox, Conservative, and Reform). There is a growing body of evidence that suggests that religiosity is related to obsessive cognitions in Christian samples, but conceptual and empirical ambiguities complicate the interpretation of that literature and its application to non-Christian groups. As predicted on the basis of previous research, Christians scored higher than Jews on moral TAF. This effect was large and not explained by differences in self-reported religiosity. The Jewish groups did not differ from each other. Furthermore, religiosity was significantly associated with TAF only within the Christian group. These results qualify the presumed association between religiosity and obsessive cognitions. General religiosity is not associated with TAF; it rather depends on what religious group. Moreover, large group differences in a supposed maladaptive construct without evidence of corresponding differences in prevalence rates call into question the assumption that TAF is always a marker of pathology.