M7.4 Final Essay (Final Draft) (Sarsfield)
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Faith Based Mental Health
Luke Sarsfield
Excelsior University
ENG 101A Advanced Composition
Gabriel Smith
December 10th, 2023
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Faith Based Mental Health
Mental Health is a growing topic in the world today, specifically the importance and need
for effective mental health treatment that is accessible for everyone. Effective psychotherapy is relative. However, some people are religious, some are not, but one thing is true for everyone, and it is that there is a need for faith. Faith is the belief in things unseen or not able to be proven (Merriam-Webster). Psychotherapy is a treatment method that can help individuals improve both
mental and emotional conditions (Bhatia, 2023). Without faith in psychotherapy, whether religious or not, there is no hope or healing. In many cases, however, religious, or spiritual faith can positively impact people and their mental health by acting as an anchor in the storm for believers and should be incorporated more into psychotherapy practices. Having religious or spiritual faith has a positive impact on mental health because of the optimistic outlook, the feeling of having a purposeful life, and a greater personal well-being.
The effect of having faith-based practices incorporated into mental health and its increased support to a patient's well-being is significant. (M)
Observing 100 studies of the relationship between religion and well-being of individuals, the studies showed approximately 80% found a greater life satisfaction, happiness, mood improvement, and higher morale (Koenig,
2005). (E)
To further solidify the improving effects of faith and the well-being of a person, Koenig states that of 10 cohort studies approximately 8 of them demonstrated that greater religiousness indicated greater well-being (2005). (E)
The improvement of life satisfaction, higher morale, and happiness is found in the action of turning to faith when times get tough. (A)
There is an importance in the focus of the positive religious coping versus negative coping, which will determine the impact of one's faith. (A)
Positive coping is investing time and energy into prayer/meditation, scripture reading, and worship to gain confidence in the desired outcome
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(Koenig, 2005). Negative coping is the outlook that the higher being of belief is either punishing or abandoning the person, creating a feeling of despair (Koenig, 2005). While there is always a choice to be made and effectively leaning into one's faith is not always easy, there is a large positive impact to the person's mental health when faith is involved. (L)
In the Islamic society, faith holds a different stance with mental health. Islamic cultures are currently divided into liberal (modern) and conservative (traditional), with the difference being the incorporation of science into their belief system or not (Bindamnan , 2023). Modern day Islamic people have the tendency to follow Islam when science support and therefore follow science when there is confliction between Islam and science. Traditional Islamic people have a negative coping relation of mental health and their faith with many believing that if their mental health is poor, then you are not leaning into your religiousness enough and are being punished by
God. For traditional Islamists, faith always comes before science regardless of the proof of the science (Bindamnan , 2023). While the relationship between psychotherapy and Islam varies based on the present culture, this shows that mental health can be heavily dependent upon one’s faith but can also create some complications.
To discuss mental health and how the integration of spiritual beliefs can help people and their healing, there also must be discussion of how it can complicate treatment. When an individual pursues the treatment of mental health, one must get diagnosed with an illness or condition, but this can be difficult at times especially if there is large practice in the patients' spiritual beliefs (Loue, 2010). Some examples of when the practice of faith complicated a diagnosis or treatment is the experience of visions, speaking in tongues, or even the depression because of not meeting the expectations of God (Loue, 2010). Speaking in tongues is a great example of this, as it had a medical term of Glossolalia. While Glossolalia may be demonstrated
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through religious practice, it is also demonstrated in a medical diagnosis of psychotic thought disorder, therefore this shows how difficult diagnosis on mental disorders could be if the patient is also active in spiritual practices (Kéri et al., 2020). Due to the potential for there to be significant mental illness within persons that demonstrate some of these qualities or experiences, improper analyzing and treatment of these things can lead to progression of psychotic behavior or suicidal ideation. With almost 25 % of people who pursue counseling through the clergy, faith
and religion should not be the only solution, however it does not mean that the integration of faith and religion does not assist in treatment (Pearce, 2016).
Religious or spiritual faith practices can also increase a patient's optimistic outlook in tough situations. In Berom, Nigeria, a study of several different treatment methods was conducted to identify how the attitude towards mental health problems was addressed. The study concluded that there is a belief that mental health problems are a result of spiritual forces, and the
community preferred the use of both traditional and Christian religious healing were the two most effective methods (Mackenzie et al., 2022). Traditional healing in Berom is conducted through healers and the use of herbs while Christian religious healing included a prescription of fasting, prayer, or religious counseling (Mackenzie et al., 2022). Prayer is a large factor in developing one's optimism in difficult situations such as surgeries and has shown to have a positive relationship in mental health for people in high distress (Koenig, 2005). In yet another culture, faith is often used and is even a preferred method in the treatment of mental health and is
ideally used in conjunction with the culture's traditional healing methods. The greatest benefit that faith can provide is the feeling of having a purpose in this life full of pain and confusion. In the twentieth century, there were 16 studies conducted to examine the relationship between religious beliefs and the meaning or purpose of life (Koenig, 2005). Of
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these 16 studies, 15 indicated there was greater purpose or meaning for those people with religious beliefs (Koenig, 2005 p. 56). Some believe that this is due to resolving a crisis known as “integrity v. despair,” which takes place in the final stages of life as the elderly reflect on their
impact on others throughout their life (Koenig, 2005). This is a common ideation used similarly in the pursuit of experiences throughout life by using the phrases “you only live once” or people not wanting to live life with regret, however this pursues impact on community, region, or the world vice experiencing life to the fullest. Some may argue that either way once you are in the final stages of life there is not much reason to dwell on this information, however Koenig states that if the person identifies that there is a negative conclusion, then they are more likely to develop low self-esteem and spiral downward into despair, especially when there are mental illnesses already involved (2005). Many times, elderly are dealing with some despair or depression already whether it's from the loss of their spouse or the realization that the world as they once knew it is no longer, however the sense of purpose allows them to continue to thrive and impart their wisdom and subsequently giving them a purpose to continue to live in peace and
happiness.
There are many reasons to further integrate religion into mental health, but it should be integrated as an available option versus being part of the standard process. Faith-based mental health methodology has many benefits such as optimistic outlooks, development of purposeful lives, and greater indication of a patient's well-being such as life satisfaction, better emotions, and better coping with stress. While there are concerns about the complication of diagnosis and treatment in addition to the potential for negative coping relation with mental illness in people of faith, the benefits far outweigh the consequences of using faith-based treatment. Faith is a concept the entire world knows and is not a concept that is only cemented in religion, so if we
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help people find faith to help themselves, there should also be a duty to help people use their religious or spiritual faith to also help themselves. Therefore, faith-based mental health should be
further integrated into psychotherapy because religious and spiritual faith can have a positive impact on mental health because of the increase in optimistic outlook, the feeling of having a purposeful life, and a greater personal well-being.
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References
Bhatia, R. (2023, April). What is psychotherapy?
. Psychiatry.org - What is Psychotherapy? https://www.psychiatry.org/patients-families/psychotherapy
Bindamnan , A. (2023, January 9). 3 things you should know about muslim mental health
. Psychology Today. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/zero-generation-students/202301/3-things-you-
should-know-about-muslim-mental-health
Bosco-Ruggiero, S. A. (2018, September 10). The relationship between Americans’ spiritual/religious beliefs and behaviors and mental health: New evidence from the 2016 General Social Survey
. Taylor and Francis Online. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/19349637.2018.1515052
Koenig, H. G. (2005). Faith and mental health: Religious resources for healing
. Templeton Foundation Press. Kéri, S., Kállai, I., & Csigó, K. (2020, April 15). Attribution of mental states in glossolalia: A direct comparison with schizophrenia
. Frontiers in psychology. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7174730/
Loue, S. (2010, June 7). Faith-based mental health treatment of minors: A call for legislative reform
. Taylor and Francis Online. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/01947641003800203
Mackenzie, A., Rohleder, P., Tunariu, A. D., Tribe, R., Ike, T. J., & Jidong, D. E. (2022, June 19). Berom cultural beliefs and attitudes towards mental health problems in Nigeria: a
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mixed-methods studyental ...
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Merriam-Webster. (n.d.). Faith definition & meaning
. Merriam-Webster. https://www.merriam-
webster.com/dictionary/faith
Pearce, M. (2016). Cognitive behavioral therapy for Christians with depression: A practical tool-based primer
. Templeton Press.