Mental health, religion and spirituality: Attitudes, experience and expertise among mental health professionals and religious leaders in Somerset

Abstract

This article reviews the relationship between mental health and religion/ spirituality over the last twenty years as a background to exploring the current attitudes, experience and expertise of mental heath professionals and religious leaders in Somerset. The results of two research questionnaires are compared, there is a literature review, and conclusions are drawn to help provide a fuller picture of the current religious and spiritual services available to users of the mental health services. These provide useful pointers to improve these services and to understand the professional and institutional barriers to such improvements.

How do Psychiatric Staffs Approach Religiosity/Spirituality in Clinical Practice? Differing Perceptions among Psychiatric Staff Members and Clinical Chaplains

“…However, there are fewer studies dedicated to psychiatric staff, particularly in German-speaking countries, in comparison to the U.S. or other English-speaking countries. In addition, there are hardly any studies focusing on both of these mental health "specialists" [32,36], and, to our knowledge, no study that investigates the level of correspondence between the self-perception of psychiatric staff and the "outside" perception of clinical chaplains.…”

“…Generally, mental health specialists perceive themselves as being aware of their clients' religious/spiritual concerns. Yet, dealing with religious/spiritual matters in their clinical practice is not typically part of psychiatric staffs' "standard" repertoire, and they do not consider such issues to be their main responsibility [32][33][34][35]. For example, El-Nimr et al surveyed psychiatric staffs in the UK [35] and found that (only) one quarter of psychiatrists and less than 20% of psychiatric nurses believed that psychiatrists should assess and provide spiritual care.…”

“…According to empirical evidence, contemporary mental health specialists actually quite often encounter religious/spiritual aspects in clinical settings. Apart from pathological symptoms in the disguise of religious phenomena, they often observe positive effects from religiosity/spirituality in mental health care [29][30][31][32]. Generally, mental health specialists perceive themselves as being aware of their clients' religious/spiritual concerns.…”

Spirituality, Social Support, Pride, and Contentment as Differential Predictors of Resilience and Life Satisfaction in Emerging Adulthood

“…Many studies have demonstrated the important positive roles that spirituality can play for psychological well-being (Anum & Dasti, 2016;Foskett, Marriott, & Wilson, 2004;Porter, Brennan-Ing, Burr, Dugan, & Karpiak, 2017), life satisfaction (Koenig, 2007), and resilience (Fombuena et al, 2016;Smith & Carlson, 1997). Spirituality or religion may benefit the individual through many mechanisms (Oman & Thoresen, 2005).…”

An evidence-based program for enhancing interdisciplinary collaboration to promote spiritual care in an adolescent psychiatric residential facility

“…[13,14] The preponderance of evidence suggests that spiritual care of psychiatric patients matters and that both patients and providers benefit when spiritual needs are correctly assessed and implemented through proper interventions. [9,15,16] Foskett and Wilson-Rudd (2004) [14] have suggested that mental health caregivers and providers should be cognizant of patients' religious and spiritual beliefs, and they should seek to comprehend what functions they serve. Despite this knowledge, spirituality has been shown to be a frequently neglected focus of psychiatric consideration and intervention.…”