Mental Health and Religion

includes index and biblioraphy

1 Focus 1 Some views on the relations between mental health and religion Definitions of mental health and of religion 7 A general framework for understanding some causes of mental health and illness Summary 21 2 The psychoanalysts: dealing with the heavenly father 22 Freud 22 Jung 36 Frankl 39 Object-relations theory 40 Attachment theory 42 Summary 43 3 Communities where no-one goes mad? 44 Hutterites 45 Hebrideans 46 Hasidim 47 Explaining and misunderstanding other people`s behaviour Littlewood and Lipsedge: mad, bad or holy? 53 Summary 56 4 Conversion: a turn for the better? 57 Conversion processes 58 The cult controversy 63 Conversion: for better or worse? 69 Conversion or change? 73 Summary 79 5 Women and men: happy to watch the kids? 80 The costs and benefits of the religious life for women 82 Gender, childcare, religion and mental illness 90 Summary 111 6 Religion and poor mental health: some processes 112 Self-righteousness as ill-health 113 Self-importance and prejudice 114 Cruelty 121 Guilt and scrupulousness 133 Summary 138 7 Religion and good mental health: some processes 139 Social support 139 Spiritual support 143 Beliefs and values 145 Religious experiences 147 Maturity 151 Summary 155 8 Clients and therapists: bridging the gap? 156 Religiosity and psychotherapy: religious clients and godless therapists Perceptions of psychotherapists by clients 161 Therapists` attitudes to religion 170 Studies of client-therapist relationships 174 Summary 184 9 Thinking beautiful thoughts: cognitive processes 185 Cognitive theories of mental illness 185 Faith and trust: the development of religious thinking 190 Prayer, meditation, mystical experience and their effects 199 Some specific cognitions in religion and their effects 209 Summary 218