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Conflicting Advice between Spiritual Leaders, Friends and Family, and Mental Health Providers: Impacts on Mental Health Treatment-Seeking Behaviors

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Abstract

This study aimed to examine the effects of advice from religious/spiritual leaders and friends/family of a religious/spiritual person with mental health struggles on treatment-seeking. A survey was administered to adult patients of a university-affiliated psychiatric clinic in the Midwest. Participants whose friends/family members’ advice conflicted with their psychiatrist’s advice were six times more likely to delay seeking mental health treatment (OR: 6.09, 95% CI: 1.37, 27.01). Conflict between religious/spiritual leader’s advice and psychiatrist’s advice had a significant effect on delay in seeking mental health treatment (OR: 11.73, 95% CI: 2.21, 62.14), with an average delay of just over two years.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to acknowledge Kathy Kyler for her editing services and Nasir Mushtaq for his statistical analysis consultation.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Oklahoma-Tulsa School of Community Medicine, Tulsa, OK, USA

    Olivia Shadid

  2. Office for Research Development and Scholarly Activity, University of Oklahoma-Tulsa School of Community Medicine, 4502 East 41st Street, Tulsa, OK, 74135, USA

    Heather Chancellor McIntosh & Krista Kezbers

  3. Department of Psychiatry, University of Oklahoma-Tulsa School of Community Medicine, Tulsa, OK, USA

    Chris Snyder & Bryan Touchet

Authors
  1. Olivia Shadid
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  2. Heather Chancellor McIntosh
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  3. Krista Kezbers
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  4. Chris Snyder
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  5. Bryan Touchet
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Correspondence to Heather Chancellor McIntosh.

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Shadid, O., McIntosh, H.C., Kezbers, K. et al. Conflicting Advice between Spiritual Leaders, Friends and Family, and Mental Health Providers: Impacts on Mental Health Treatment-Seeking Behaviors. J Relig Health 60, 2608–2619 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-020-01132-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-020-01132-2

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