Religion: A Variable in Schizophrenia Treatment?

Results from a new study out of Switzerland suggest that religious belief may impact the progression and treatment of psychotic illness. Researchers conducted semistructured interviews with 115 outpatients with psychotic illness. For some patients, religion instilled purpose in their lives (71%); for others (14%), it induced “spiritual despair.” 54% of patients reported that religion lessened psychotic symptoms, while 10% said it increased symptoms. Religion did not, however, play a significant role in fostering coherence (16%) to psychiatric treatment or to opposing it (15%). Researchers thus concluded that psychiatrists, in order to provide the best care, should be “highly sensitive” of the complexities religion brings to the treatment of psychotic illness. This study is found in the American Journal of Psychiatry. http://ajp.psychiatryonline.org/cgi/content/abstract/163/11/1952

-LS