RELIGIOUS BELIEF AND THE PRACTICE OF PSYCHIATRY

Authors

  • Tom Brown Western Infirmary

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1558/hscc.v5i2.16

Keywords:

mental health, spirituality, religion, psychiatry, spiritual illness

Abstract

A psychiatrist reflects upon his long experience of the complex interaction between religion and psychiatry. Although committed to the advances brought by the bio medical approach to illness, he identifies a widespread neglect of the Spiritual in mental health care, which belies its claim to be truly holistic. The article discusses the concept of spiritual illness and the limits of psychiatry, and then poses the question whether religious belief is good for a person’s mental health. In his conclusion the author, himself a Christian, underlines the need for psychiatry to have the fullest possible understanding of the patient’s world view, and that this will necessarily involve a consideration of the importance of the Spiritual.

Author Biography

  • Tom Brown, Western Infirmary

    Tom Brown is consultant liaison psychiatrist at the Western Infirmary, Glasgow

References

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Published

2013-05-31

How to Cite

Brown, T. (2013). RELIGIOUS BELIEF AND THE PRACTICE OF PSYCHIATRY. Health and Social Care Chaplaincy, 5(2), 16-20. https://doi.org/10.1558/hscc.v5i2.16

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