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The authors disclose that they have no significant financial interests in any product or class of products discussed directly or indirectly in this activity, including research support.
Religion and spirituality unquestionably have a place in the treatment of many mental health patients. More than 700 studies have investigated the relationship of religion and mental health, with nearly 500 demonstrating a positive association between the two. Various investigations have shown religious involvement to be positively correlated with well-being, happiness, life satisfaction, hope, optimism, purpose and meaning in life, higher self-esteem, greater social support and less loneliness, lower rates of suicide and fewer positive attitudes toward suicide, less anxiety, less psychosis and fewer psychotic tendencies, lower rates of alcohol and drug use/abuse, less delinquency and criminal activity, and greater marital stability and satisfaction (Koenig, 2009; Koenig, McCullough, & Larson, 2001).
But are there instances when religion can actually interfere with care or worsen patient outcomes? Any modality of medical or psychological treatment, no matter how beneficial, can have adverse effects, and this is true for religion as well. Although we believe that the occurrence of adverse effects of religion on mental health are infrequent relative to the much larger number of positive benefits, there are circumstances that demonstrate how religion may negatively affect the treatment course of some mental health patients.
Some patients may develop feelings of excessive guilt and condemnation because of religion (Koenig, 2007). Parts of many religious writings describe God's judgments for sin. Patients who focus on these writings may overlook the numerous scriptures that portray God's forgiveness. Patients who do not feel they meet God's standards may experience distress associated with striving to be virtuous (Exline, 2002).
Religion may cause or increase anxiety for certain individuals. For example, patients may worry about the welfare of family who do not share the same beliefs (Exline, 2002). Anxiety about judgment for sin, prophecies of future events, the rising of the Antichrist, and other issues may trouble some patients. Strong beliefs in the pervasiveness of sin have been positively linked with anxiety (Ellison, Burdette, & Hill, 2009).
Intense religious experience can lead to transient psychotic episodes. Psychotic breakdown linked to religious experience (sometimes referred to as the Jerusalem...