Toward a more culturally sensitive DSM-IV. Psychoreligious and psychospiritual problems.
David Lukoff, F Lu, Robert Turner
The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease November 1, 1992 DOI: 10.1097/00005053-199211000-00001 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | Mysticism |
| Keywords | Humans Perceptual distortion Religion and psychology Mental disorders Culture Terminology as topic Relaxation therapy |
| Key points | Argues that mental health professionals tend to ignore or pathologize religious and spiritual life, reflecting cultural insensitivity, and proposes a new DSM-IV Z Code category, "psychoreligious or psychospiritual problem," to improve diagnosis, reduce iatrogenic harm from misdiagnosis, stimulate clinical research, and encourage training on religious and spiritual dimensions. |
Abstract
In theory, research, and practice, mental health professionals have tended to ignore or pathologize the religious and spiritual dimensions of life. This represents a type of cultural insensitivity toward individuals who have religious and spiritual experiences in both Western and non-Western cultures. After documenting the "religiosity gap" between clinicians and patients, the authors review the role of theory, inadequate training, and biological primacy in fostering psychiatry's insensitivity. A new Z Code (formerly V Code) diagnostic category is proposed for DSM-IV: psychoreligious or psychospiritual problem. Examples of psychoreligious problems include loss or questioning of a firmly held faith, and conversion to a new faith. Examples of psychospiritual problems include near-death experiences and mystical experiences. Both types of problems are defined, and differential diagnostic issues are discussed. This new diagnostic category would: a) improve diagnostic assessments when religious and spiritual issues are involved; b) reduce iatrogenic harm from misdiagnosis of psychoreligious and psychospiritual problems; c) improve treatment of such problems by stimulating clinical research; and d) encourage clinical training centers to address the religious and spiritual dimensions of human existence.
Comparable studies
Other theoretical and historical papers on mysticism, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| The mystical mind: probing the biology of religious experience | 2000 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Religious and Mystical Experiences as Artifacts of Temporal Lobe Function: A General Hypothesis | 1983 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| The Problem of Pure Consciousness: Mysticism and Philosophy | 1993 | Edited collection of essays | |
| Irreducible Mind: Toward a Psychology for the 21st Century | 2020 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Mysticism and schizophrenia: A phenomenological exploration of the structure of consciousness in the schizophrenia spectrum disorders. | 2016 | Theoretical or philosophical paper |
Citations in the library
Cited by 34
- The Varieties of Self-Transcendent Experience Review of General Psychology May 1, 2017
- The Near-Death Experience as a Focus of Clinical Attention The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease May 1, 1997
- An overview of transpersonal psychology. The Humanistic Psychologist 2003
- The Impact of Positive and Negative Spiritual Experiences on Distress and the Moderating Role of Mindfulness Archive for the Psychology of Religion September 1, 2009
- Judeo-Christian religious experience and psychopathology: the legacy of William James. Transcultural Psychiatry September 1, 2010
and 29 more in the library