by Lucius Trae

Created on: August 20, 2010

Psychiatry deals with treating medical problems related to an individual's mental health. Spirituality involves personal beliefs and religious viewpoints, but it should not be connected with the field of psychiatry. As a science, psychiatry works with testable hypothesis and observable, factual matters.

To some degree, psychiatry should deal with spiritual matters. For instance, a patient might feel they are going against the will of God, and a psychiatrist may attempt to learn about their views. The psychiatrist should even challenge these views when appropriate. For example, homosexuality can occur in those brought up with a strong religious background. These people may have difficulty accepting themselves because of the values they were born with. Scientific evidence tells psychiatrists that their sexual orientation isn't going to change, but they can question a person's values if it's in the interests of the patient.

When people propose linking spirituality and psychiatry, however, they tend to mean combining religion and psychiatry. While working with a psychiatrist, they may read scripture and engage in prayer. This is not beneficial to the patient because the psychiatrist is intended to provide specific help for the patient using methods such as medication and therapy. There is no evidence prayer has medical benefits (in fact, there is some evidence to the contrary). Furthermore, religious discussion can occur elsewhere. A psychiatrist is an extremely specialized professional, and the field of psychiatry typically requires more training than theology. That doesn't mean it's better or worse, but it does mean psychiatrists are most effectively utilized when dealing with psychiatry. Could a farmer help society by dealing with scripture. Maybe, maybe not, but they're job is farming and by focusing on that, they produce the best quality food.

It's offensive to many people that psychiatry would exclude religious or spiritual values, but it should do so and "needs" to do so. More specifically, the relationship between spirituality and mental health is difficult to determine. Some psychiatrists believe certain religious values can be dangerous or harmful to the patient. Many disorders can manifest themselves in symptoms related to religious belief. Because spirituality is frequently interconnected with mental health problems, it's not wise to include it as part of psychiatric treatments. That doesn't mean everyone who believes something spiritual is sick, but

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