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Mood Disorders and Christianity

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Christianity and Psychiatry

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Abstract

Spirituality is a crucial perspective by which to understand the mood disorders as disorders of meaning-making and hope. Christianity is distinctive for its emphasis on sin and grace and the relational aspect of alienation and reconciliation with God. In this chapter, we explore the complex relationship between Christianity and mood disorders. We will review whether Christian belief seems to protect, exacerbate, or improve mood disorders. We will also examine the role of guilt and religious experience and how they may complicate the presentations of major depressive disorder and bipolar disorder. We discuss the Catholic traditions of acedia and “dark night of the soul” and how these might help distinguish between spiritual states and psychopathology. Lastly, we discuss the importance of Christianity in coping with mood disorders themselves.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychiatry, Brigham and Women’s Hospital/Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA

    Jennifer Huang Harris

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  1. Jennifer Huang Harris
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Correspondence to Jennifer Huang Harris .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychiatry, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA

    John R. Peteet

  2. Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI, USA

    H. Steven Moffic

  3. Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King’s College London, Strand, London, UK

    Ahmed Hankir

  4. Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Duke Medical Center, Durham, NC, USA

    Harold G. Koenig

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Harris, J.H. (2021). Mood Disorders and Christianity. In: Peteet, J.R., Moffic, H.S., Hankir, A., Koenig, H.G. (eds) Christianity and Psychiatry. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-80854-9_4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-80854-9_4

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  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-80854-9

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