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Distinguishing Mystical Religious Experience and Psychotic Experience: A Qualitative Study Interviewing Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Professionals

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Abstract

Mystical religious experience and psychotic disorders share non-rational experiences. Often it is difficult to distinguish one from the other. This qualitative research study interviewed 20 members of the Presbytery of Boston of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) to explore what clergy consider to be mystical religious experiences and the methods they employ to distinguish such experience from psychotic experience. Results revealed that they were able to make clear distinction between these two types of experience. Considerations they used to interpret non-rational experiences included the after-effects of the experience, personal experience, Scripture, and Presbyterian beliefs. They also used the characteristics of psychotic behavior congruent with diagnostic criteria given in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual – IV, used by mental health professionals.

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Notes

  1. To avoid the a priori assumption that pastors had training in recognizing symptoms of psychosis, participants were asked to tell more broadly about experiences that they interpreted as indicative of mental health problems. Most of them, however, applied the term psychotic when speaking of particular kinds of experiences. Other experiences participants felt to be indicative of non-psychotic mental health problems were also reported, but they were not categorized as psychotic.

  2. Many more examples were reported than can be included in this article. Additional examples can be requested by contacting the author.

  3. The Trinitarian concept of God is used here, so experiences are considered to be experiences of God whether the report named God, Jesus, or the (Holy) Spirit as the one experienced.

  4. Unless otherwise stated, here and elsewhere percentages are based on the frequency with which particular experiences were reported among the 20 participants.

  5. This does not imply that tactile sensation is never associated with psychotic experience, only that for this study no one reported such an experience.

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Acknowledgments

The author of this paper would like to express her appreciation to the staff of the Boston University School of Theology Library for their assistance in procuring reference material for this paper.

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  1. School of Theology, Boston University, 33 Venus Dr., Shrewsbury, MA, 01545, USA

    Susan L. DeHoff

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Correspondence to Susan L. DeHoff.

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DeHoff, S.L. Distinguishing Mystical Religious Experience and Psychotic Experience: A Qualitative Study Interviewing Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Professionals. Pastoral Psychol 64, 21–39 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11089-013-0584-y

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