Abstract
This article reviews a number of studies investigating the relationship between religion and the variables of mental health and social behavior. Characteristics of religious health and pathology are examined, and a framework for clinical assessment and treatment of religious pathology is described. Tentative conclusions concerning the subject matter are drawn and limitations of the number and type of studies are outlined.
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Strunk offers a series of 15 questions by which one may measure maturity of his or der religion. (FromMature Religion: A Psychological Study by Otto Strunk. Copyright ∁ 1965 by Abingdon Press. Used by permission.) I believe they are extremely valuable and hence am including them herein toto: In my religion: Is the relationship among beliefs, feelings, and actions a dynamic one? Or do I tend to departmentalize these factors into watertight and static compartments? Are the facts of depth and height fully appreciated by me? Or do I tend toward a shallow, superficial, one-dimensional religiosity? Is there a high degree of awareness of religious factors, including those which may rest on a level far below ordinary consciousness? Or am I content to “let well enough alone” and not dig for greater awareness? Am I able to tell others about my religious beliefs in terms which are clear enough to allow for effective communication? Or are my religious beliefs ambiguous and confused, making communication impossible? Have I examined, and am I eager to examine, my religious beliefs with the best critical processes of which I am capable? Or do I prefer to keep critical thought away from my most cherished beliefs? Are my religious beliefs comprehensive enough to embrace and find meaning in all of life's sufferings as well as its joys? Or are my religious beliefs geared to finding meaning in only a narrow and constricted area of life? Are my religious beliefs held to in a spirit of tentativeness, knowing that doubt is always theoretically possible? Or do I tend to an “all-or-nothing-at-all” or “my religion-right-or-wrong” stance? Am I convinced that there is an ideal power greater than mysell? Or do I believe that I am the only and ultimate power to be reckoned with? Are there times when I can sense that I have a friendly continuity with this ideal power? Or do I tend to feel completely isolated from this ideal power? Have I had, or am I in the process of having, peak experiences which are difficult to explain fully but which seem to be exceedingly real to me? Or is my religion devoid of deep experiences, existing completely in the area of the intellectual? Am I genuinely impressed and at times even awe-struck by life? Or am I cynically geared to life in a matter-of-fact way? Do I sense that I am a part of a larger world of relationship? Or am I content to exist in a day-to-day, narrow sort of provincialism? Do I sense my personal condition in this world as a finite one? Or do I act as if I am fully capable of controlling all that life throws at me? Do I feel a semblance of freedom and joy about myself and my condition in life? Or do I believe and act as if external forces in society have me and toss me about ruthlessly? Are all of my activities-including moral acts, my work, my various interpersonal relationships, including my love relationships-consistent with my religion? Or is there a great gap between my religion and my actions in life as a whole?
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Lea, G. Religion, mental health, and clinical issues. J Relig Health 21, 336–351 (1982). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02274140
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02274140