Role of Spirituality in Mental Health Practice

Abstract

Most modern medical disciplines adopt biomedical and positivistic corners while viewing and interpreting various events and phenomena related to living and physical worlds. But in case of mental health the dimension is much complicated and full of abstract elements and relativism; all these areas can be expressed or enumerated what can be possible in other steams of physical and biological sciences. Factors like socio-cultural and human factors, spirituality and religiosity have some definite association with various aspects of mental health and illness. Spirituality in recent times has been entertained as a major factor in determining the course of mental health and illness; it drew the attention of mental health clinicians and researchers to find out its temporal relationship with mental illness and psychological wellbeing. Many authentic literatures came up with the view that positive spirituality does have some potentialities to enhance as well as protect the positive mental health and psychological well-being of the people. Spirituality can also lower the distress level and increase the positive coping ability of people. The aim of this article is to explore the role of spirituality in psychiatry in terms of evolution of psychopathology, understanding of the illness and finally, its role in treatment of the psychiatric settings. This article also aims to sensitize mental health clinicians to remain positive towards the religious and spiritual beliefs of patients and to use those things in the therapeutic process.
 Keywords: Spirituality, mental health, psychiatry, psychopathology