Spirituality in Psychiatry

Purpose, which can also be denotes as meaning or spirituality, constitutes the invisible force behind the choices and efforts we make as human beings (Nilson, 2013) and is therefore crucial in achieving lifestyle and treatment goals in mental health care. However, the subject is rarely explicitly addressed in mental health care, remaining therefore the proverbial elephant in the consulting room. Care providers often feel inadequately equipped to engage in this conversation and therefore rarely do so, even though patients would often prefer an alternative outcome or approach. Professionals also tend to be less religious than their patients, a phenomenon which is known as the 'religiosity gap' (Nieuw Amerongen, 2018; Ouwehand et al., 2019). Another factor is that scientists, policymakers, and doctors often do not see meaning/spirituality as an indicator for health (Huber 2011).

However, in recent years, in the Netherlands and other countries, policymakers and scientists have increasingly paid attention to meaning and lifestyle (ZonMw, 2011, 2014, 2016; National Prevention Agreement 2018/2022; Integrated Care Agreement 2022; AKWA guideline 2023). The World Psychiatric Association’s position paper on spirituality (2016) has been instrumental to advancing this. The increased interest is also related to secularization, changes in healthcare systems, new healthcare visions (e.g. positive health (Huber 2011) and the results of research. For example, spirituality as a lifestyle factor appears to be related to physical health (Aftab et al. 2020), mental health (Bonelli & Koenig, 2013), longevity (Alimujiang et al. 2019) and quality of life (Vitorino et al. 2018). Spirituality may also be protective against the onset of psychopathological issues (Steger, 2022). Meta-analyses of interventions studies (RCTs) have shown significant improvements in stress, anxiety, depression, and addiction (Goncalves et al., 2015; Kadri et al. 2020), but the findings are inconclusive. These studies also primarily concern themselves with institutional religion and less with the ways in which religion or spirituality is experienced personally (lived religion) and or with other philosophies of life and existential themes in general. Many questions remain about the role of spirituality in mental healthcare, both for patients and for professionals. This Special Issue of Religions aims to answer some of these questions, placing an emphasis on the ways to address spirituality, spiritual interventions, the spirituality of patients and their healthcare providers, existential and transcendental themes, psychedelics and altered states of consciousness (ASC), and a variety of other relevant topics in this field.

Dear Colleagues,

Purpose, which may also be describes as meaning or spirituality, comprises the invisible force behind the choices and efforts we make as human beings and is therefore crucial in achieving lifestyle and treatment goals in mental health care. However, the subject has rarely been explicitly addressed in mental health care. It is therefore the proverbial elephant in the consulting room. Care providers often feel inadequately equipped to engage in this conversation and therefore rarely do so, even though patients would like it to be otherwise.

This Special Issue of Religions aims to answer questions about spirituality and the onset and course of psychopathology, as well as the role of spirituality in mental healthcare for both patients and for professionals.

I am pleased to invite researchers in relevant areas to submit manuscripts on (but which is not limited to) the following topics:

The ways of addressing spirituality, spiritual intervention, spirituality of patients and their healthcare providers, existential and transcendental themes, psychedelics and altered states of consciousness (ASC). Original research, reviews, case reports and essays are welcomed.

I look forward to receiving your contributions.

Dr. Rogier Hoenders
Dr. Bennard Doornbos
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• purpose
• meaning
• spirituality
• religion
• psychopathology
• psychiatry
• existential
• transcendence
• psyche-delics
• ASC
• coping