Religion, culture, and mental health

179 Pages·2007·0.9 MB·English

by  Kate Miriam Loewenthal

Religion, Culture and Mental Health
Are religious practices involving seeing visions and speaking in
tongues beneficial or detrimental to mental health? Do some cul-
tures express distress in bodily form because they lack the linguis-
ticcategoriestoexpressdistresspsychologically?Dosomereligions
encourageclinicallevelsofobsessionalbehaviour?Andarereligious
peoplehappierthanothers?Bymergingthegrowinginformationon
religion and mental health with that on culture and mental health,
KateLoewenthalenablesfreshperspectivesonthesequestions.This
bookdealswithdifferentpsychiatricconditionssuchasschizophre-
nia,manicdisorders,depression,anxiety,somatisationanddissocia-
tionaswellaspositivestatesofmind,andanalysesthereligiousand
culturalinfluencesoneach.
  isProfessorofPsychologyatRoyalHolloway,
UniversityofLondon.Shehaspublishednumerousarticlesandspo-
kenatinternationalconferencesonherresearchareasoftheimpact
ofreligiousandculturalfactorsonmentalhealth,andoffamilysizein
relationtowell-being.Herresearchhasalsoearnedherfundingfrom
theEconomicandSocialResearchCouncil,theWellcomeTrust,the
Leverhulme Trust and the Nuffield Foundation. She serves on the
editorialboardofseveraljournalsconcernedwiththepsychological
aspects of religion, and is an editor of Mental Health, Religion and
Culture.

Religion, Culture and
Mental Health
Kate Loewenthal
RoyalHolloway
UniversityofLondon
cambridge university press
Cambridge, New York, Melbourne, Madrid, Cape Town, Singapore, São Paulo
Cambridge University Press
TheEdinburghBuilding,Cambridgecb22ru,UK
Published in the United States of America by Cambridge University Press, New York
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©KateLoewenthal2006
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relevantcollectivelicensingagreements,noreproductionofanypartmaytakeplace
withoutthewrittenpermissionofCambridgeUniversityPress.
Firstpublishedinprintformat 2006
isbn-13 978-0-511-49012-5 OCeISBN
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isbn-10 0-521-85023-1 hardback
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forexternalorthird-partyinternetwebsitesreferredtointhispublication,anddoesnot
guaranteethatanycontentonsuchwebsitesis,orwillremain,accurateorappropriate.
Contents
Listoffigures page vii
Listoftables viii
Acknowledgements ix
Noteabout‘G-d’ x
1 Introduction 1
Somequestions 1
Definitionsofculture,religionandmentalhealth 4
Howdoescultureaffecttherelationsbetweenreligionand
mentalhealth? 9
2 Schizophrenia 11
Definitionsandsymptoms,andanoverviewofcausesand
relationswithreligion 11
Visions,voices,delusionsandschizophrenia 15
Spiritpossession,demons 24
Afro-Caribbeanschizophrenia? 34
Diagnosticissues 39
3 Manicdisorder 49
Definitionsandcausesofmanicdisorder 49
Religiousfactorsandmanicdisorders 50
4 Depression 55
Definitions,symptoms,causesandrelationswithreligion 55
Religiouscopingbeliefs 60
Somegenderissues:women,religionanddepression 67
5 Anxiety 74
Definitions,symptomsandcauses 74
Theoverallanxiety-loweringandanxiety-heightening
effectsofreligion 76
Obsessive-compulsivedisorderandreligion 81
Arereligiouspeopleseenasmoreanxious? 85
v
vi Contents
6 Somatisation 87
Definitions,symptomsandcauses 87
Between-groupvariationsinsomaticandpsychological
symptoms 88
Explanationsofthesevariations 96
7 Dissociation 105
Definitionsandcausesofdissociationanddissociative
personalitydisorder 105
Religiousfactorsinrelationtodissociativestatesand
tendencies 107
Religiousfactorsinrelationtodissociativepersonality
disorder 110
Religiouspossessionandtrancestates:aretheydissociative? 118
8 Positivestates 125
Religionandpositivemood:definitionsandassociations 125
Purposeinlife,andhope 127
Forgiveness 132
Authentichappiness 136
9 Conclusion 140
References 142
Index 164
Figures
4.1 Distressstimulatesreligiouscopingbeliefs,which
canthenaffectlevelsofdistress page64
4.2 Somerelationsbetweenstress,religiouscoping
beliefsandmood 66
4.3 Thealcohol-depressionhypothesis 71
5.1 Commonthemesofobsessionsindifferentcultures 82
5.2 Clinicaljudgementsmadeaboutpeoplehighandlow
inreligiousactivity 86
8.1 Purposeinlifeinrelationtoreligiousbeliefandtime
sinceconversion 129
vii
Tables
2.1 Changesinreligiousactivityamongfirst-onset
schizophreniapatients page21
6.1 Atreatmentplan 100
7.1 Similaritiesanddifferencesbetweendemon(dybbuk)
possessionanddissociativepersonalitydisorders 120
viii
Acknowledgements
Thankstomyfamily:mydearparents,myhusbandTaliLoewenthal
and our children – Esther Cadaner, Leah Namdar, Yitzchok
Loewenthal,Chana-SorohDanow,MosheLoewenthal,RivkaLent,
Brocha Werner, Freida Brackman, Sholi Loewenthal, Mendy
Loewenthal,ZalmyLoewenthal–whowerealwaysinterested–and
to their husbands, wives and children. Gratitude is due to leaders
of the Jewish community, especially the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rav
J. Dunner, Rabbi S. Lew, Dayan A. D. Dunner and Rebbetzen
Hadassah Dunner, Lady Amelie Jakobovits and the Chief Rabbi,
Sir Jonathan Sacks. My dear friends and advisers Naomi Futerfas,
Kerry Bak, Joyce Paley, Feigy Rabin, Shoshana Segelman, Evadne
SternandYaelKestecherareamongmanywhosharedexperiences,
wisdom,practicalsupportandmanylaughs.
Almost last, but certainly not least, thanks to many academic
colleaguesandcollaborators:ProfessorMichaelEysenck,Professor
Andy MacLeod, Dr Marco Cinnirella, Vivienne Goldblatt, Esther
Spitzer, Professor Stephen Frosh, Dr Caroline Lindsey, Micky
Herzog, Diane Heywood, Jeffery Blumenfeld OBE, Guy Lubitsh,
Dr Simon Dein, Dr Chris Lewis, Professor Ken Pargament, Tirril
Harris, Dr Joseph and Shree Berke, Professor Robert Kohn,
ProfessorElyWitztum,ProfessorDavidGreenberg–andmanyoth-
ers, each of whom has had an influence which would need a much
longerbookthanthisonetodescribe.
Special thanks to Sarah Caro and her colleagues at Cambridge
UniversityPress,forinspiringandnursingthisbookalong.
ix
Note about ‘G-d’
Whenyoustartreading,andwonderabout‘G-d’,hereistheexpla-
nation. I could write a book of stories solely about my adventures
as an author writing on the psychology of religion, who is also an
orthodox Jew, and who wishes to follow the prescription of Jewish
law not to write out any name of G-d in full. One reason for this
prescription is to avoid the possibly of a sacred name finishing up
in a place which is not fitting or respectful, euphemistically termed
a rubbish heap in some sources of Jewish law. Probably a cesspit or
similaristhehorriblefatedevoutlytobeavoided.Someeditorsand
publishershavechosentoeditinthefullnameofG-dtoavoidconfu-
siononthepartofthereader.Forthisbook,thereviewerandeditors
havedecidedthatreadersareunlikelytobeconfusedorirritatedby
‘G-d’,or‘L-rd’.Thisnoteistoexplainwhy.
x