The relationship between mental illness an

Discussion 1 Marcia

The relationship between mental illness and religion continues to be an ongoing debate. An individual’s values and belief systems tend to directly influence the perception of mental illness and the course of progression or suppression (Amedome & Bedi, 2018). The creator of the psychoanalytic model, Sigmund Freud, was said to be skeptical and antagonistic toward religion’s direct correlation to mental illness; Freud believed that less religious people were mentally healthy (Amedome & Bedi, 2018). Many cultures believe that the cause of mental illness is the “Mark of the beast” or a spiritual curse requiring the elders, parishioners, and priests to rid the body of demons/spirits for healing. The utilization of religious practices as a coping mechanism is superior in various cultures. Religious practices of faith, prayer, fasting, and communion tend to provide a sense of hope and positive outcomes (Amedome & Bedi, 2018).

As a practicing clinician in the primary care setting, many patients with mental illness become hyper-spiritual during therapy, often resulting in abrupt discontinuation of medical care. Many patients would present to the clinic with bibles, layers of crosses around their neck, or continuously reciting scripture passages. Religion varies among cultures and ethnicities and is thought to directly correlate to mental illness, suffering, and God’s will (Amedome & Bedi, 2018). In the referenced case, the patient was not initially religious, which is very interesting, but after believed possession, he immediately sought to eradicate the spirit at a local church. Although not religious, he believed that multiple religious exorcisms were superior to western medicine. (psychotherapy). 

 Durand et al. (2020) define psychopathology as the study of psychological disorders. Psychological disorders are challenging abnormal behavior associated with distress, impairment in functioning, and a response that is not normal or culturally accepted (Durand et al.,2020). The referenced patient’s behavior has demonstrated abnormal and mild functional impairment, warranting psychiatric evaluation. The scenario meets the criteria for psychotic disorder: non-bizarre delusions of control, one’s body or actions are being acted on or manipulated by some outside force (American Psychiatric Association [APA], 2017). Supporting data for diagnosis is the patient’s belief that a spirit entered his body through his rectum, controlling movement and speech after using a Ouija board for two months. Although the patient believes this scenario to be actual, the reality proves his beliefs to be impossible and pathologically false. Mental health clinician frequently uses the DSM-5 to diagnose mental health disorders in the clinical setting. The focus of the DSM-5 is on identifying symptom clusters that differentiate between normal and psychopathology, mainly focusing on the duration and severity of symptoms (Amedome & Bedi, 2018). The most challenging task concerning the referenced patient is differentiating between similar mental disorders and creating an individualized treatment plan.

The diagnostic DSM-5 criteria- Delusion: 

A. Presence of one or more delusions with a duration of 1 month (or longer)

A. Playing with a Ouija board for two months, he started believing that a spirit had entered his body.

B. Criterion A for schizophrenia has never been met

A. No assessment data mentioned past mental health disorders

C. Functioning is not markedly impaired, and behavior is not bizarre or odd 

A. Mild impairment of functioning, but no assessment data supports erratic/bizarre behavior

D. Manic or major depressive episodes have occurred, comparatively brief delusional periods. 

A. Based on assessment data presenting symptoms duration less than three months

E. Disturbances not related to psychological effects, substance use, or existing mental condition

A. No assessment data indicated existing co-morbidities

(American Psychiatric Association [APA], 2017)

References

Amedome, S. N., & Bedi, I. K. (2018). The Effects of Religion and Locus of Control on Perception of Mental illness. Journal of Religion and Health, 58(2), 653–665. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-018-0658-3 

American Psychiatric Association. (2017). Delusional Disorder. In Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders: DSM-5.

Discussion 2 James

Many studies report a positive association between religion and mental health patients, yet many have mixed feelings about the topic (Malinakova et al., 2020).  Religion plays a big part in many people's lives globally. It creates a moral ground for them to stand on. It helps keeps communities close and working together. It has changed lives for the better or worse and has even saved marriages and people's lives. Mental health patients often understand they need help and feel that a higher power can do what medications cannot. Religion is as old as mankind and will die with mankind. People have an inner need to believe in and worship a higher power (Behere et al., 2018).      The 44-year-old male had a need to seek help from the ouija board for whatever reason. We will need more information about his mental health history to determine if this is a new or a chronic issue with him. He appears to be exhibiting delusional behavior with hallucinations. He states that spirits possess him and that they enter through his rectum. He sought help at a few local churches, where he remained unchanged.

     Psychopathology is the exploration, using science, of mental states that are abnormal in nature and has provided the field with psychiatric disorders and helped guide progress in psychiatry (Schultze-Lutter et al., 2018). His presentation would be classified as psychopathology based on the following reasons. First, we can assume he has schizophrenia or delusional disorder without knowing his previous mental health diagnoses. Schizophrenia is characterized as having two or more of the following for a minimum of one month for a majority of the one month, delusions, hallucinations, disorganized speech, grossly disorganized or catatonic behavior (American Psychiatric Association [APA], 2022). With the information we have, he is not reporting seeing anything; instead, he is being delusional. It is unknown if he is using any illegal substance to cause this episode. Therefore it is safe to say he has a delusional disorder. Delusional disorder is categorized as having the presence of a delusion or multiple delusions for longer than a one-month time frame (American Psychiatric Association [APA], 2022). According to our information, he started using the ouija board approximately two months before this episode. He also suffers from delusions of possession by a spirit that entered his body through his rectum.

     He is not reporting seeing things or reported seeing the spirit enter his body. According to the information provided, there are no reports of seeing or hearing things. The argument could be made that by him saying the spirits are controlling him, he is hallucinating, but we are unsure how they are controlling him. It is unclear if the spirits are controlling him with auditory or visual hallucinations.  If he reported command auditory hallucinations or reported seeing spirits then schizophrenia would be the appropriate diagnosis.  Without more information, we cannot verify this to be the case. The reported symptoms meet the one-month and delusional criteria suggested by the DSM 5 would confirm the diagnosis of delusional disorder.

References

American Psychiatric Association. (2022). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders, text revision dsm-5-tr (5th ed.). Amer Psychiatric Pub Inc.

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