Religion, Culture and Mental Health
Cambridge University Press, 12/21/2006
EAN 9780521850230, ISBN10: 0521850231
Hardcover, 180 pages, 22.9 x 15.2 x 1.4 cm
Language: English
Are religious practices involving seeing visions and speaking in tongues beneficial or detrimental to mental health? Do some cultures express distress in bodily form because they lack the linguistic categories to express distress psychologically? Do some religions encourage clinical levels of obsessional behaviour? And are religious people happier than others? By merging the growing information on religion and mental health with that on culture and mental health, Kate Loewenthal enables fresh perspectives on these questions. This book deals with different psychiatric conditions such as schizophrenia, manic disorders, depression, anxiety, somatisation and dissociation as well as positive states of mind, and analyses the religious and cultural influences on each.
1. Introduction
2. Schizophrenia
3. Manic disorder
4. Depression
5. Anxiety
6. Somatization
7. Dissociation
8. Positive states
9. Conclusion.
Reviews of the hardback: 'This book offers an excellent introduction to the field of religion, culture and mental health. It is comprehensive in its overview of contemporary studies. It reads in a clear and lucid way and will be useful for anyone in the field of mental health, religion and culture.' Simon Dein, Consultant Psychiatrist and Senior Lecturer, University College Hospital London