Religious experience within mental illness. Opening the door on research.
The British Journal of Psychiatry March 1, 1995 DOI: 10.1192/bjp.166.3.284 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Commentary Qualitative Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Key points | Argues that psychiatry has been reticent to inquire into patients' religious experience, citing a review in which only 3% of articles in four major psychiatric journals (1978-1982) contained a quantified religious variable and only three of 3,777 articles centrally and quantitatively addressed traditional religious phenomena. Notes that this deficiency has attracted protest. |
Abstract
While conventional religious practice shows signs of decline, this does not necessarily imply a decline in religious belief.It comes as a surprise that psy chiatrists should be so reticent in their inquiry into this aspect of their patients' emotional and cognitive experience.Only 3% of a qualitative review of the total output of four major psychiatric journals between 1978-1982 contained a quantified religious variable, and only three out of 3777 articles scanned were centrally and quantitatively concerned with traditional religious phenomena (Larson et a!, 1986).This deficiency has attracted protest (Sims, 1994).According to a review conducted by