This is an interdisciplinary collection of previously unpublished papers on the controversial relationship between religious behavior and mental health. Schumaker has assembled a distinguished international roster of contributors--sociologists and anthropologists as well as psychiatrists and psychologists of religion--representing a wide range of opinions concerning the mental health implications of religious belief and practice. Taken together, the papers provide a comprehensive overview of theory and research in the field. Included are papers on the interaction of religion and self-esteem, life meaning and well-being, sexual and marital adjustment, anxiety, depression, suicide, psychoticism, rationality, self-actualization, and various patterns of anti-social behavior. Religion is also dealt with in relation to mental health of women, the elderly, and children. Contributions dealing with mental health in non-Western religious groups add an important cross-cultural dimension to the volume.

References to 1836 journal articles, dissertations, and books published since 1970. Also contains foreign-language titles. Focuses on literature dealing with the theoretical and practical relationships between religion and mental health. Classified arrangement. Each entry gives bibliographical information and abstract. Author, subject indexes.

The Handbook of Religion and Mental Health is a useful resource for mental health professionals, religious professionals, and counselors. The book describes how religious beliefs and practices relate to mental health and influence mental health care. It presents research on the association between religion and personality, coping behavior, anxiety, depression, psychoses, and successes in psychotherapy and includes discussions on specific religions and their perspectives on mental health. - Provides a useful resource for religious and mental health professionals - Describes the connections between spirituality, religion, and physical and mental health - Discusses specific religions and their perspectives on mental health - Presents research on the association between religion and personality, coping behavior, anxiety, depression, psychoses, and successes in psychotherapy

Religion and Mental Health: Research and Clinical Applications summarizes research on how religion may help people better cope or exacerbate their stress, covering its relationship to depression, anxiety, suicide, substance abuse, well-being, happiness, life satisfaction, optimism, generosity, gratitude and meaning and purpose in life. The book looks across religions and specific faiths, as well as to spirituality for those who don't ascribe to a specific religion. It integrates research findings with best practices for treating mental health disorders for religious clients, also covering religious beliefs and practices as part of therapy to treat depression and posttraumatic stress disorder. - Summarizes research findings on the relationship of religion to mental health - Investigates religion's positive and negative influence on coping - Presents common findings across religions and specific faiths - Identifies how these findings inform clinical practice interventions - Describes how to use religious practices and beliefs as part of therapy

Research has indicated that spiritual and religious factors are strongly tied to a host of mental health characteristics, in both positive and negative ways. That body of research has significantly grown since publication of the first edition of this book 20 years ago. The seconnd edition of the Handbook of Spirituality, Religion and Mental Health identifies not only whether religion and spirituality influence mental health and vice versa, but also how, why, and for whom. Hence 100% of the book is now revised with new chapters and new contributors. Contents address eight categories of mental disorders, as well as other kay aspects of social, emotional, and behavioral health. - Provides an authoritative, comprehensive, and updated review of the research on positive and negative effects of spirituality/religion on mental health - Contains dedicated chapters focused on the relevance of spirituality/religion to mood, anxiety, obsessive-compulsive, psychotic, eating/feeding, alcohol/substance use, behavioral addictions, and pain-related disorders, as well as marriage/family life, suicidality, and end-of-life-care - Reviews the research on spiritually integrated psychotherapies, and provides basic clinical guidelines for how to effectively address spiritual/religious life in treatment - Reviews the neurobiology of spiritual/religious experiences as they pertain to mental health - Covers all major world religions, as well as spiritual identites outside of a religious context

Here is the first book which highlights the unique resource of religion in the field of prevention. Until now, religious systems have been a largely undertapped resource of talent, energy, care, and physical and financial assets. Religion and Prevention in Mental Health is a significant new volume that lays a general foundation for preventive work in the religious area. It presents a number of reasons for examining religion as a source for aiding prevention and well-being. The authors dispute the popular notion of religion as damaging to mental health, as well as the idea that religious affiliation is entirely predictive of better mental health. Instead they focus on the framework for living that religions provide which assists believers in anticipating, avoiding, or modifying problems before they develop. For the human service professional willing to build a collaborative relationship with religious systems, this vital book depicts the richness and diversity of religion and shows the interface of religion, well-being, and prevention. Important issues such as the impact of religion on American society and the ethos of mental health and prevention, the historical and contemporary role of the African-American church as an empowering agent and mediating structure for black citizens, the critical roles of theology in determining the attitude of religious systems toward prevention and well-being, the importance of community and personal narratives, and the limitations of religious settings due to their survival concerns and methods to increase their potential to heal are all discussed thoroughly. Through a better understanding of religious settings, programs, and processes, human service professionals can more effectively utilize religion and reach a neglected portion of the population in need of help. In addition, religious leaders, mental health professionals including counselors, social workers, program developers, evaluators, and administrators, and psychologists, sociologists, and anthropologists will benefit from the comprehensive material provided in this timely book.

Joseph Pieper and Marinus van Uden have proposed a book consisting of previously published papers on the topics of religion, coping, and mental health care. It covers quite a bit of territory: the complex relationships between religion and mental health, surveys that present the views of therapists and patients about the interface between religion and mental health, a case study of a religious patient struggling with psychological problems, empirical studies of religious coping among various groups, and a method for teaching the clinical psychology of religion. Although the papers are diverse, they are unified by several themes. First, the papers convey a balanced approach to religion and psychology. They speak to the potentially positive and negative contributions religion can make to health and well-being. Second, several of the papers focus on the role of religious coping among patients in the Netherlands. This focus is noteworthy since the large majority of this theory and research has been limited to the USA. Third, they underscore the value of a cross-cultural approach to the field. Their surveys point to the importance of religious/worldview perspectives to many patients (and therapists) in the Netherlands, even though the culture is more secularised than the USA. However, their papers also suggest that the manifestation of these religious/worldview perspectives may take different shape in the Netherlands. Fourth, the papers have clinical relevance. The case history of the obsessive-compulsive patient by Van Uden (ch. 4) contains an excellent example of the way in which religious resources can be accessed to counter dysfunctional behaviours. This volume shows initial effort in a newly emerging area of study. It is encouraging to see a significant body of research and practice on the psychology of religion and coping coming out of the Netherlands. It could stimulate further advances in a more cross-culturally sensitive, clinical psychology of religion. – Kenneth Pargament, Professor of Psychology, Bowling Green State University in Ohio, USA

Are religious practices involving seeing visions and speaking in tongues beneficial or detrimental to mental health? Do some cultures express distress in bodily form because they lack the linguistic categories to express distress psychologically? Do some religions encourage clinical levels of obsessional behaviour? And are religious people happier than others? By merging the growing information on religion and mental health with that on culture and mental health, Kate Loewenthal enables fresh perspectives on these questions. This book deals with different psychiatric conditions such as schizophrenia, manic disorders, depression, anxiety, somatisation and dissociation as well as positive states of mind, and analyses the religious and cultural influences on each.

Introduction In the past years there has been a change from negative attitudes in psychology, concerning religion, to the identification of more positive relations between religion and different aspects of mental health. Recent research proves that some forms of religiosity are associated with low levels of depression (McCullough and Larson, 1999), a personal well-being (Koenig, 2001), positive social attitudes (Baton et. al, 1993), a low risk of divorce and an increase in the degree of marital functionality (Mahoney, Pargament, Tarakeshwar and Swank, 2001). Tsang and McCullough (2003) present religiosity as a relevant construct for positive psychology because some forms of religiosity correlate significantly with physical and mental health, tolerance, pro-social behaviour and positive interpersonal relationships.