Prevalence of Religious and Spiritual Experiences and the Perceived Influence Thereof in Patients With Bipolar Disorder in a Dutch Specialist Outpatient Center.

The aim of the current cross-sectional study was to estimate the prevalence of religious and spiritual (R/S) experiences and their perceived lasting influence in outpatients with bipolar disorder (BD; n = 196). A questionnaire with a range of R/S was constructed, building on the results of an earlier qualitative study. Experiences of horizontal transcendence (not necessarily referring to the divine) such as the experience of "intense happiness, love, peace, beauty, freedom" (77%) or "meaningful synchronicity" (66%) were the most prevalent.