Attitudes About Mental Illness Among Seminary Students: a Qualitative Analysis

Stull, Laura G.; Harness, James; Miller, Megan; Taylor, April

doi:10.1007/s10943-020-01045-0

Original Paper
Published: 02 June 2020

Attitudes About Mental Illness Among Seminary Students: a Qualitative Analysis

Laura G. Stull ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-8540-6266¹,
James Harness¹,
Megan Miller² &
April Taylor²

Journal of Religion and Health volume 59, pages 2595–2610 (2020)Cite this article

306 Accesses
4 Citations
Metrics details

Abstract

Tragically, a majority of people with mental illness never seek treatment; however, people may be more likely to seek help from religious clergy than from mental health professionals. In the current study, 25 Protestant seminary students were interviewed. The majority of students considered there to be biological, spiritual, and environmental causes of mental illness and favored psychological, medication, or spiritual treatments. Some participants reported stigma of mental illness, including avoidance and “dangerous” stereotypes. Religious clergy are frontline mental health providers, and their attitudes about mental illness are critical in reducing stigma and increasing treatment seeking among people with mental illness.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution.

Access options

Buy single article

Instant access to the full article PDF.

USD 39.95

Price includes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

References

American Psychiatric Association (APA) (2000). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (4^th ed., text rev.). Washington, DC: Author.
Anshel, M. H., & Smith, M. (2014). The role of religious leaders in promoting healthy habits in religious institutions. Journal of Religion and Health, 53, 1046–1059. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-013-9702-5.
Article PubMed Google Scholar
Anthony, W. A. (1993). Recovery from mental illness: the guiding vision of the mental health service system in the 1990s. Psychosocial Rehabilitation Journal, 16, 11–23. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0095655.
Article Google Scholar
Batson, C. D., Chang, J., Orr, R., & Rowland, J. (2002). Empathy, attitudes, and action: Can feeling for a member of a stigmatized group motivate one to help the group? Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 28, 1656–1666. https://doi.org/10.1177/014616702237647.
Article Google Scholar
Bonner, L. M., Lanto, A. B., Bolkan, C., Watson, S., et al. (2013). Help-seeking from clergy and spiritual counselors among veterans with depression and PTSD in primary care. Journal of Religious Health, 52, 707–718. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-012-9671-0.
Article Google Scholar
Bryant, K., Haynes, T., Greer-Williams, N., & Hartwig, M. S. (2014). “Too Blessed to be Stressed”: a rural faith community’s views of African-American males and depression. Journal of Religion and Health, 53, 796–808. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-012-9672-z.
Article PubMed PubMed Central Google Scholar
Carroll, J. W. (2006). God’s potters: Pastoral leadership and the shaping of congregations. Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company.
Google Scholar
Charmaz, K. (2014). Constructing grounded theory (2nd ed.). Los Angeles, CA: Sage.
Google Scholar
Clement, S., Schauman, O., Graham, T., Maggioni, F., et al. (2014). What is the impact of mental health-related stigma on help-seeking? A systematic review of quantitative and qualitative studies. Psychological Medicine, 45, 11–27. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0033291714000129.
Article PubMed Google Scholar
Corrigan, P. W., Druss, B. G., & Perlick, D. A. (2014). The impact of mental illness stigma on seeking and participating in mental health care. Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 15, 37–70. https://doi.org/10.1177/1529100614531398.
Article PubMed Google Scholar
Corrigan, P. W., River, L. P., Lundin, R. K., Wasowski, K. U., Campion, J., Mathisen, J., et al. (1999). Predictors of participation in campaigns against mental illness stigma. The Journal of Nervous & Mental Disease, 187, 378–380. https://doi.org/10.1097/00005053-199906000-00008.
CAS Article Google Scholar
Crisp, A. H., Gelder, M. G., Rix, S., Meltzer, H. I., & Rowlands, O. J. (2000). Stigmatisation of people with mental illnesses. British Journal of Psychiatry, 177, 4–7. https://doi.org/10.1192/bjp.177.1.4.
CAS Article PubMed Google Scholar
Deegan, P. E. (2000). Spirit breaking: When the helping professions hurt. The Humanistic Psychologist, 28, 194–209. https://doi.org/10.1080/08873267.2000.9976991.
Article Google Scholar
Drake, R. E., Merrens, M. R., & Lynde, D. W. (Eds.). (2005). Evidence-based mental health practice: a textbook. New York, NY: W.W. Norton & Company Inc.
Google Scholar
Ellison, C. G., Vaaler, M. L., Flannelly, K. J., & Weaver, A. J. (2006). The clergy as a source of mental health assistance: What Americans believe. Review of Religious Research, 48, 190–211.
Google Scholar
Freire, J., Moleiro, C., Rosmarin, D. H., & Freire, M. (2018). A call for collaboration: Perception of religious and spiritual leaders on mental health (A Portuguese sample). Journal of Spirituality in Mental Health. https://doi.org/10.1080/19349637.2017.1423001.
Article Google Scholar
Kessler, R. C., Chiu, W. T., Demler, O., & Walters, E. E. (2005). Prevalence, severity, and comorbidity of 12-month DSM-IV disorders in the National Comorbidity Survey Replication. Archives of General Psychology, 62, 617–627. https://doi.org/10.1001/archpsyc.62.6.617.
Article Google Scholar
Kitchener, B. A., & Jorm, A. F. (2002). Mental health first aid training for the public: Evaluation of effects on knowledge, attitudes, and helping behavior. BMC Psychiatry, 2, 10–15. https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-244X-2-10.
Article PubMed PubMed Central Google Scholar
Kovess-Masfety, V., Evans-Lacko, S., Williams, D., Andrade, L. H., Benjet, C., Ten Have, M., et al. (2016). The role of religious advisors in mental health care in the World Mental Health surveys. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology, 52, 353–367. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00127-016-1290-8.
Article PubMed Google Scholar
Leavey, G., Loewenthal, K., & King, M. (2007). Challenges to sanctuary: the clergy as a resource for mental health care in the community. Social Science and Medicine, 65, 548–559. https://doi.org/10.1016/J.SOCSCIMED.2007.03.050.
Article PubMed Google Scholar
Link, B. G., Phelan, J. C., Bresnahan, M., Stueve, A., & Pescosolido, B. A. (1999). Public conceptions of mental illness: Labels, causes, dangerousness, and social distance. American Journal of Public Health, 89, 1328–1333. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.89.9.1328.
CAS Article PubMed PubMed Central Google Scholar
Lyons, M., & Ziviani, J. (1995). Stereotypes, stigma, and mental illness: Learning from fieldwork experiences. The American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 49, 1002–1008.
CAS Article Google Scholar
Moran, M., Flannelly, K. J., Weaver, A. J., Overvold, J. A., Hess, W., & Wilson, J. C. (2005). A study of pastoral care, referral, and consultation practices among clergy in four settings in the New York City area. Pastoral Psychology, 53, 255–266. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11089-004-0556-3.
Article Google Scholar
Noullet, C. J., Lating, J. M., Kirkhart, M. W., Dewey, R., & Everly, G. S. (2018). Effect of pastoral crisis intervention training on resilience and compassion fatigue in clergy: a pilot study. Spirituality in Clinical Practice, 5, 1–7. https://doi.org/10.1037/scp0000158.
Article Google Scholar
Payne, J. S. (2009). Variations in pastors’ perceptions of the etiology of depression by race and religious affiliation. Community Mental Health Journal, 45, 355–365. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10597-009-9210-y.
Article PubMed PubMed Central Google Scholar
Payne, J. (2014). The influence of secular and theological education on pastors’ depression intervention decisions. Journal of Religion and Health, 53, 1398–1413. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-013-9756-4.
Article PubMed Google Scholar
President’s New Freedom Commission on Mental Health. (2003). Achieving the promise: Transforming mental health care in America. Final report. (No SMA-03-3832). Rockville, MD: Department of Health and Human Services.
Stanford, M. S. (2007). Demon or disorder: a survey of attitudes toward mental illness in the Christian church. Mental Health, Religion & Culture, 10, 445–449. https://doi.org/10.1080/13674670600903049.
Article Google Scholar
Sullivan, S., Payne, J., Cheney, A., Hunt, J., et al. (2014). The pew versus the couch: Relationship between mental health and faith communities and lessons learned from a VA/clergy partnership project. Journal of Religion and Health, 53, 1267–1282. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-013-9731-0.
Article PubMed Google Scholar
Sulmasy, D. P. (2002). A biopsychosocial-spiritual model for the care of patients at the end of life. The Gerontologist, 42, 24–33. https://doi.org/10.1093/geront/42.suppl_3.24.
Article PubMed Google Scholar
Thomas, M. L. (2012). The interprofessional collaborative practice: Clergypersons and mental health professionals. Pastoral Psychology, 61, 99–112. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11089-011-0408-x.
Article Google Scholar
Wang, P. S., Berglund, P. A., & Kessler, R. C. (2003). Patterns and correlates of contacting clergy for mental disorders in the United States. Health Services Research, 38, 647–673.
Article Google Scholar
Wang, P. S., Lane, M., Olfson, M., Pincus, H. A., et al. (2005). Twelve-month use of mental health services in the United States. Archives of General Psychiatry, 62, 629–640.
Article Google Scholar
Weiner, B., Perry, R. P., & Magnusson, J. (1988). An attributional analysis of reactions to stigma. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 55, 738–748.
CAS Article Google Scholar
Wittink, M. N., Joo, J. H., Lewis, L. M., & Barg, F. K. (2009). Losing faith and using faith: Older African Americans discuss spirituality, religious activities, and depression. Journal of General Internal Medicine, 24, 402–407. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11606-008-0897-1.
Article PubMed PubMed Central Google Scholar
Wong, E. C., Derose, K. P., Litt, P., & Miles, J. N. V. (2018). Sources of care for alcohol and other drug problems: the role of the African American church. Journal of Religion and Health, 57, 1200–1210. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-017-0412-2.
Article PubMed PubMed Central Google Scholar

Download references

Funding

This study was funded by an Anderson University Faculty Development Grant (Category I Scholarly Research).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Psychology Department, Anderson University, 1100 E 5th Street, Anderson, IN, 46012, USA
Laura G. Stull & James Harness
Psychology Department, Ball State University, Muncie, IN, USA
Megan Miller & April Taylor

Authors

Laura G. Stull
View author publications
You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar
James Harness
View author publications
You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar
Megan Miller
View author publications
You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar
April Taylor
View author publications
You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Laura G. Stull.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

No disclosures for any author.

Additional information

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Stull, L.G., Harness, J., Miller, M. et al. Attitudes About Mental Illness Among Seminary Students: a Qualitative Analysis. J Relig Health 59, 2595–2610 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-020-01045-0

Download citation

Published: 02 June 2020
Issue Date: October 2020
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-020-01045-0

Keywords

Clergy
Religious
Theology
Christian
Stigma