Psychiatric patients' belief in general health factors and sin as causes of illness

Talking with patients about spirituality and worldview: practical interviewing techniques and strategies

Psychiatrists now recognize that religion and spirituality are important to much of the populace and that attending to them probably will improve clinical psychiatric practice. This article presents a practical guide for addressing some of the key interviewing skills needed to explore a patient's framework for meaning-the patient's religion, spirituality, and worldview. It offers guidelines on the process of the interview, including ways to initiate conversation in this area, with suggestions and specific questions for a more thorough exploration of the patient's religious and spiritual life.

A qualitative study of religious practices by chronic mentally ill and their caregivers in South India

BACKGROUND

Socio-cultural explanatory factors for mental health problems determine help seeking behaviors. The study aimed to understand the reasons mentally ill patients and their families in India choose to seek help from a religious site.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Persons with mental illness and their families were interviewed at religious sites using a guideline questionnaire. Issues such as significant life events, explanations for perceived abnormal behavior and reasons for choosing a specific religious site for 'treatment' were explored.

DISCUSSION

Seeking religious help for mental disorders is often a first step in the management of mental disorders as a result of cultural explanations for the illness. This behavior also has social sanctions.

Vietnamese parental perceptions of child and adolescent mental illness

OBJECTIVES

To determine the symptoms and behaviors in children which are considered psychopathological by Vietnamese parents, to identify professionals and agencies in the community whom Vietnamese parents would consult if their child had a mental illness, and to determine Vietnamese parents' awareness of existing community mental health services.

METHOD

Structured interviews were conducted with a randomized community sample of 283 Vietnamese parents in Perth, Australia. Parents were asked to identify the symptoms and behaviors they considered psychopathological in children, where they would turn for help with a mentally ill child, their knowledge of community mental health services for children, and their understanding of the causes of child psychiatric disorders.

RESULTS

Vietnamese parents identified psychotic symptoms, disorientation, and suicidal thoughts and behavior as psychopathological. They preferentially endorsed Western-style treatment approaches but had little awareness of existing community mental health services for children. A biological/chemical imbalance, traumatic experiences, and a metaphysical/spiritual imbalance were identified as the most likely causes of child mental illness.

CONCLUSIONS

Despite a different cultural tradition, Vietnamese parents appear open to services provided by Western-trained mental health professionals. Their very limited awareness of child and adolescent mental health services in the community, however, may severely limit their utilization of such services.

Sintomas de conteúdo religioso em pacientes psiquiátricos

INTRODUÇÃO: Vários trabalhos têm identificado a importância da religiosidade na vida pessoal, nas relações sociais, nas atitudes e representações relacionadas a saúde e doença, assim como na composição dos sintomas psiquiátricos. Poucos estudos empíricos em nosso meio têm investigado as relações entre religiosidade e perfil psicopatológico. OBJETIVO: O presente trabalho visa avaliar fatores socioculturais e sintomas psicopatológicos gerais associados à presença e intensidade de sintomas com conteúdos religiosos ou místicos. MÉTODO: Foram estudadas 200 internações consecutivas na unidade psiquiátrica da Unicamp (Universidade Estadual de Campinas). As escalas de avaliação de sintomas psicopatológicos foram: BPRS-forma expandida e o GAS, acrescentando-se um item referente a sintomas religiosos, o qual explicitamente solicitava ao avaliador que verificasse a presença e intensidade de sintomas de conteúdo religioso. O nível de significância estatística considerado foi p<0,01. RESULTADO: Sintomas religiosos com grau de intensidade moderado a muito intenso estiveram presentes em 15,7% dos casos (n=28). Não foram encontradas relações significativas entre presença e intensidade de sintomas religiosos e as seguintes variáveis socioculturais: filiação religiosa, intensidade de prática religiosa e diagnóstico psiquiátrico. Foram encontradas correlações positivas entre presença e intensidade dos sintomas religiosos e sintomas do espectro maníaco. CONCLUSÕES: O presente trabalho, embora de natureza exploratória e preliminar, sugere que se deva estudar com mais cuidado e profundidade as experiências religiosas de pacientes bipolares, particularmente a associação de vivências maníacas a vivências religiosas e místicas.

Religion and adult mental health: state of the science in nursing

As a part of human spirituality, religion has been theorized to influence the health of the individual, both positively and negatively. Although the nursing literature has focused recently on broad aspects of spirituality, the specifics of religious influences on health have been examined cursorily or have been ignored. This article reviews the major empirical data on religion and mental health that are pertinent to nursing. Three areas covered are mental health impact, coping, and aging. Suggestions for future research on the subject are presented.