Religion and Psychiatry: Beyond Boundaries »

Peter J. Verhagen is a graduate of the School of Medicine (1983) and the School of Theology (1988) of the University of Utrecht, the Netherlands. In 1988 he was registered as a psychiatrist. He is a practicing psychiatrist and theologian, group psychotherapist and supervisor (2002) of the Dutch Association for Group Dynamics and Group Psychotherapy. He is Director of the Program for the Treatment of Personality Disorders, Meerkanten GGz Ermelo/Harderwijk. He is also co-founder and present chair of the WPA Section on Religion, Spirituality and Psychiatry, founded in 2003, and Secretary of the Dutch Foundation for Psychiatry and Religion. He is lead editor of the Dutch journal, 'Psyche & Geloof' (Psyche & Faith).  

Herman M. van Praag is Professor Emeritus of the Dutch Universities of Groningen, Utrecht, Maastricht, and the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, New York, USA. He established the first department of biological psychiatry in Europe (Groningen) and became the first European Professor of Biological Psychiatry in 1968. He is well known for his extensive research on the biological determinants of depression and depressive symptoms for which he was decorated many times. He chaired the WPA Section on Religion, Spirituality and Psychiatry.

 Juan J. López-Ibor, Jr is Professor and Chairman of Psychiatry and Director of the Institute for Psychiatry and Mental Health of the San Carlos Hospital of the Complutense University in Madrid. He is also Director of the World Health Organization Collaborating Center for Research and Training in Mental Health, Spain, and Fellow of the Royal National Academy of Medicine of Spain, Corresponding Fellow of the Royal Academy of Medicine of Zaragoza, and Honorary Fellow of the Spanish Medical Chirurgical Academy. He has been Secretary General, President-Elect and President of the World Psychiatric Association. He is author, alone or in collaboration, of 53 books and of 219 chapters in monographs by other authors. He has published more than 330 papers in scientific journals and has presented more than 1,500 papers and communications in scientific meetings.

John L. Cox is Professor Emeritus at Keele University and Visiting Professor at the Institute of Psychiatry, London.  During his period as President and Dean of the Royal College of Psychiatrists, he encouraged greater emphasis on international mental health, and the bridging of arts and science. He is the Immediate Past Secretary General of the World Psychiatric Association. He has a longstanding interest in the relationship between religion, spirituality and mental health, and was the lead editor of a book based on the work of Paul Tournier. He co-authored Modern Management of Perinatal Mental Disorder, and has published widely in perinatal mental health and transcultural psychiatry.

 Driss Moussaoui is the Founder and the Chairman of the Ibn Rushd University Psychiatric Centre in Casablanca, Morocco, a WHO Collaborating Centre in Mental Health since 1992. He is the President-Elect of the World Association of Social Psychiatry and a member of the French Academy of Medicine. He is the Vice-Chair of the World Psychiatric Association Section on Spirituality, Religion and Psychiatry. Driss Moussaoui has published (or edited) 10 books and hundreds of papers in international journals.

Religion (and spirituality) is very much alive and shapes the cultural values and aspirations of psychiatrist and patient alike, as does the choice of not identifying with a particular faith.  Patients bring their beliefs and convictions into the doctor-patient relationship.  The challenge for mental health professionals, whatever their own world view, is to develop and refine their vocabularies such that they truly understand what is communicated to them by their patients. Religion and Psychiatry provides psychiatrists with a framework for this understanding and highlights the importance of religion and spirituality in mental well-being. 

This book aims to inform and explain, as well as to be thought provoking and even controversial.  Patiently and thoroughly, the authors consider why and how, when and where religion (and spirituality) are at stake in the life of psychiatric patients.  The interface between psychiatry and religion is explored at different levels, varying from daily clinical practice to conceptual fieldwork.  The book covers phenomenology, epidemiology, research data, explanatory models and theories.  It also reviews the development of DSM V and its awareness of the importance of religion and spirituality in mental health.

What can religious traditions learn from each other to assist the patient? Religion and Psychiatry discusses this, as well as the neurological basis of religious experiences.  It describes training programmes that successfully incorporate aspects of religion and demonstrates how different religious and spiritual traditions can be brought together to improve psychiatric training and daily practice.

• Describes the relationship of the main world religions with psychiatry

• Considers training, policy and service delivery

• Provides powerful support for more effective partnerships between psychiatry and religion in day to day clinical care

This is the first time that so many psychiatrists, psychologists and theologians from all parts of the world and from so many different religious and spiritual backgrounds have worked together to produce a book like this one. In that sense, it truly is a World Psychiatric Association publication.

Religion and Psychiatry is recommended reading for residents in psychiatry, postgraduates in theology, psychology and psychology of religion, researchers in psychiatric epidemiology and trans-cultural psychiatry, as well as professionals in theology, psychiatry and psychology of religion.

List of Contributors ix

Foreword xiii

Preface xv

General Introduction: Religion and Science Peter J. Verhagen 1

Part 1 Prolegomena (First Issues): History, Philosophy, Science and Culture 11

Introduction 11

1.1 Evil in Historical Perspective: At the Intersection of Religion and Psychiatry Michael H. Stone 13

1.2 Linguistic Analysis and Values-Based Practice: One Way of Getting Started with Some Kinds of Philosophical Problems at the Interface Between Psychiatry and Religion Bill (K.W.M.) Fulford 39

1.3 Science and Transcendence in Psychopathology; Lessons from Existentialism Juan J. López-Ibor María Inés López-Ibor Alcocer 63

1.4 Psychiatry of the Whole Person - Contribution of Spirituality in form of Mystic (Sufi) Thinking Ahmad Mohit 73

Part 2 Main issues: The Interface Between Psychiatry, Mental Health and Major Religious Traditions 87

Introduction 87

2.1 Judaism and Psychiatry Ayala Uri Noa Navot Alan Apter 89

2.2 Christianity and Psychiatry John R. Peteet 105

2.3 Religion and Mental Health in Islam Ahmed Okasha 119

2.4 Psychiatry and African Religion Frank G. Njenga Anna Nguithi Sam G. Gatere 143

2.5 Hinduism and Mental Health R. Srinivasa Murthy 159

2.6 Buddhism and Psychotherapy in Japan Naotaka Shinfuku Kenji Kitanishi 181

2.7 Psychiatry and Theravada Buddhism Pichet Udomratn 193

Part 3 Core Issues: Religion and Psychopathology 209

Introduction 209

3.1 Religious Experience and Psychopathology Juan J. López-Ibor María Inés López-Ibor Alcocer 211

3.2 God's Champions and Adversaries: About the Borders between Normal and Abnormal Religiosity Herman M. van Praag 235

3.3 Religion and Psychopathology:Psychosis and Depression Andrew C. P. Sims 253

3.4 Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and Religion: A Reconnaissance Harold J. G. M. van Megen Dianne A. den Boer-Wolters Peter J. Verhagen 271

3.5 Religion and Psychoanalysis: Past and Present Allan M. Josephson Armand Nicholi Allan Tasman 283

3.6 On the Psychology of Religious Fundamentalism John Lord Alderdice 305

3.7 Measurement at the Interface of Psychiatry and Religion: Issues and Existing Measures Peter C. Hill Carissa Dwiwardani 319

Part 4 Research issues 341

Introduction 341

4.1 Religion and Mental Health: What Do You Mean When You Say 'Religion'? What Do You Mean When You Say 'Mental Health'? Charles H. Hackney 343

4.2 A Moment of Anger, a Lifetime of Favor: Image of God, Personality, and Orthodox Religiosity Elisabeth H.M. Eurelings-Bontekoe Hanneke Schaap-Jonker 361

4.3 The Relationship Between an Orthodox Protestant Upbringing and Current Orthodox Protestant Adherence, DSM-IV Axis II B Cluster Personality Disorders and Structural Borderline Personality Organization Elisabeth H.M. Eurelings-Bontekoe Patrick Luyten 373

4.4 When Religion Goes Awry: Religious Risk Factors for Poorer Health and Well-Being Hisham Abu Raiya Kenneth I. Pargament Gina Magyar-Russell 389

4.5 Religious Practice and Mental Health: a Moroccan Experience Driss Moussaoui Nadia Kadri 413

4.6 Religious and Spiritual Considerations in Psychiatric Diagnosis: Considerations for the DSM-V David Lukoff C. Robert Cloninger Marc Galanter David M. Gellerman Linda Glickman Harold G. Koenig Francis G. Lu William E. Narrow John R. Peteet Samuel B. Thielman C. Paul Yang 423

Part 5 Interdisciplinary Issues: Psychotherapy, Pastoral Care and Meaning Giving 445

Introduction 445

5.1 Gods of the Horizon: The Therapist's and the Patient's Religious Representations and the Inevitability of Countertransference Moshe Halevi Spero 447

5.2 Assumptions About Pastoral Care, Spirituality and Mental Health Peter J. Verhagen Adamantios G. Avgoustidis 479

5.3 Coming to Terms with Loss in Schizophrenia - The Search for Meaning Hanneke (J.K.) Muthert 497

Part 6 Controversial Issues: Religion and the Brain 513

Introduction 513

6.1 The Limits of Scientific Understanding and their Relevance for the Role of Religion in Psychiatry Robert H. Belmaker 515

6.2 Seat of the Divine: A Biological 'Proof of God's Existence'? Herman M. van Praag 523

6.3 Neuro-Theology: Demasqué of Religions Dick F. Swaab Wilma T.P. Verweij 541

Part 7 Training Issues: Residency Training and Continuous Education 569

Introduction 569

7.1 Religion and the Training of Psychotherapists Allan M. Josephson John R. Peteet Allan Tasman 571

7.2 Multicultural Education and Training in Religion and Spirituality Peter J. Verhagen John L. Cox 587

Epilogue: Proposal for a World Psychiatric Association Consensus or Position Statement on Spirituality and Religion in Psychiatry Peter J. Verhagen Christopher C.H. Cook 615

Notes on Contributors 633

Index of Names 647

Index of Subjects 651