Psychopharmacotherapy and spirituality

Although the connection between spiritual and physical has been acknowledged since the oldest of human civilizations and emphasized in almost all of religions, It has taken a lot of time for that connection to gradually recover its lost meaning. As it is evident that many diseases and illnesses can not be explained purely by physical causes nor treated with purely physical methods there is a growing interest in spirituality and its usability in the treatment of various diseases and states, as well as in everyday life. Despite the fact that a sense of positive, nourishing and healing power of faith is deeply rooted in every religion, objective and empirical research of that connection has been avoided for centuries, and those studies which were conducted are only rudimentary, on the outskirts of empirical science. Scientific literature regarding spirituality and mental health points to a conclusion that spirituality and faith are positively correlated with positive therapeutic outcome and the possible explanation for that can be found in the fact that spirituality and religiosity can satisfy some of the basic needs of psychiatric patients. Efficacy of psychiatric treatment improved with the introduction of psychotropic medicaments and psychotherapeutic techniques, but the outcome is still not satisfying because relapse, recidivation and discontinuation of therapy occur very often. On the other hand, spirituality and religiosity play a very significant role in the healing process because they provide people with strength and will to fight their problems and disease itself. Psychopharmaceuticals are evidently irreplaceable in the therapy of mental disorders, but they are only one of the segments of the overall therapy. In order to adequately answer to the spiritual and religious needs of their patients, psychiatrists, psychologists and related health care professionals are faced with the need for expanding scientific concepts which served as the basis for development of many psychiatric methods and techniques.
PMID: 17914323