James L. Griffith - Recipient of the 2011 Creative Scholarship Award from the Society for the Study of Psychiatry and Culture for Religion that Heals, Religion that Harms! From James L. Griffith, well known for his work on harnessing the healing potential of religion and spirituality, this book helps clinicians to intervene effectively in situations where religion is causing harm. Vivid examples illustrate how religious beliefs and practices may propel suicide, violence, self-neglect, or undue suffering in the face of medical or emotional challenges. Griffith also unravels the links between psychiatric illness and distorted religious experience. He demonstrates empathic, respectful ways to interview patients who disdain contact with mental health professionals, yet whose religious lives put themselves or others at risk. The book incorporates cutting-edge research on the psychology of religion and social neuroscience. James L. Griffith is the recipient of the 2011 Creative Scholarship Award from the Society for the Study of Psychiatry and Culture for Religion that Heals, Religion that Harms. The award is given every year to an individual who has made a recent, significant, and creative contribution to the field of cultural psychiatry.
Introduction. When Religion Goes Bad: A Mental Health Problem?I. A Map for Navigating the Terrain of Religion1. What Sociobiology Explains about Destructive Uses of Religion 2. What Neurobiology Explains about Destructive Uses of Religion3. Setting the Stage: Opening Dialogue about Religious Life 4. Locating Personal Spirituality through Existential InquiryII. When Religious Life Propels Suffering5. Seeking a Parent in God: Clinical Problems from Insecure Attachments6. Seeking Security within the Flock: Clinical Problems from Social Hierarchy, Peer Affiliation, and Reciprocal Altruism 7. Asserting Primacy of Personal Spirituality over Sociobiological Religion8. The Religious Who Protect Only Their Own: Clinical Problems from Peer Affiliation, Kin Recognition, and Social ExchangeIII. When Mental Illness Infiltrates Religious Life9. Religion That Is a Voice for Mental Illness 10. Dark Nights and Exaltation: Religion Distorted by a Mood Disorder11. Worlds Confused: Religion Disorganized by Psychosis 12. Fear and Dread: Religion Shrunken by an Anxiety DisorderIV. A Clinician's Stance13. Finding a Place to Stand: Conversing with Religiously Determined Patients
