The aim of the present study was to elicit how patients with delusions with religious contents conceptualized or experienced their spirituality and religiousness. Sixty-two patients with present or past religious delusions went through semistructured interviews, which were analyzed using the three coding steps described in the grounded theory. Three major themes were found in religious delusions: "spiritual identity," "meaning of illness," and "spiritual figures.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: To assess the importance of spirituality and religious coping among outpatients with a DSM-IV diagnosis of schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder living in three countries.
Method: A total of 276 outpatients (92 from Geneva, Switzerland, 121 from Trois-Rivières, Canada, and 63 from Durham, North Carolina), aged 18-65, were administered a semi-structured interview on the role of spirituality and religiousness in their lives and to cope with their illness.
Results: Religion is important for outpatients in each of the three country sites, and religious involvement is higher than in the general population.
Aims: Assertive community treatment (ACT) is known to have a positive impact on the number and length of inpatient stays. However, recent studies have shown little or no effect of such programs in European settings. This paper aims to describe the impact of a newly implemented ACT program on patients and their families' burden.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: Recovery-oriented care for patients with schizophrenia involves consideration of cultural issues, such as religion and spirituality. However, there is evidence that psychiatrists rarely address such topics. This study examined acceptance of a spiritual assessment by patients and clinicians, suggestions for treatment that arose from the assessment, and patient outcomes--in terms of treatment compliance and satisfaction with care (as measured by treatment alliance).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSpirituality is a topic of increasing interest to clinicians and researchers interested in addiction because its perceived role in the promotion of meaningfulness in the recovery from addiction. Our review of the literature evaluates different domains relative to the relation between addiction, religion, and psychiatric treatment. Spirituality as a protective or precipitating factor for substance use and as a key component of recovery will be debated.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSpirituality and religiousness have been shown to be highly prevalent in patients with schizophrenia. This study assesses the predictive value of helpful vs. harmful use of religion to cope with schizophrenia or schizo-affective disorder at 3 years.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDelusions with religious content have been associated with a poorer prognosis in schizophrenia. Nevertheless, positive religious coping is frequent among this population and is associated with a better outcome. The aim of this study was to compared patients with delusions with religious content (n = 38), patients with other sorts of delusions (n = 85) and patients without persistent positive symptoms (n = 113) clinically and spiritually.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSoc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol
November 2010
Purpose: Spirituality and religiousness have been shown to be highly prevalent in patients with schizophrenia. Religion can help instil a positive sense of self, decrease the impact of symptoms and provide social contacts. Religion may also be a source of suffering.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSpirituality and religion have been found to be important in the lives of many people suffering from severe mental disorders, but it has been claimed that clinicians "neglect" their patients' religious issues. In Geneva, Switzerland and Trois-Rivières, Quebec, 221 outpatients and their 57 clinicians were selected for an assessment of religion and spirituality. A majority of the patients reported that religion was an important aspect of their lives.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSubstance misuse represents a major issue in the treatment of schizophrenia patients. Spirituality and religiousness have been shown to reduce substance misuse and to foster recovery among substance misusers in the general population. One hundred and fifteen stabilized outpatients with schizophrenia (mean age 39; 70% male) were selected in 2004 for an interview about religious coping.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: The rates of cigarette smoking among patients with schizophrenia are two to four times the rates observed in the community. Spirituality and religiousness have been shown to be associated with lower smoking rates in the general population.
Aims: This study assessed the role of religion in cigarette smoking among patients with schizophrenia or schizo-affective disorder.
Several studies and reports suggest an increased risk of venous thromboembolism (VTE) in patients treated with conventional antipsychotic drugs, as well as with clozapine. We report the case of a 25-year-old man with early-onset schizo-affective disorder, with no identified risk factor for thromboembolism, who developed pulmonary embolism on three occasions, once shortly after initiating treatment with olanzapine and twice with risperidone. This case indicates that VTE can be associated with the use of olanzapine and risperidone, two atypical agents having similar properties and the same 5HT2 receptors antagonism, possibly implicated in this adverse event.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThis report of two cases in which schizophrenia and beta-thalassemia occurred simultaneously in several family members may suggest that a genetic link exists between these two disorders. A known genetic disease (beta-thalassemia) could help confirm the presence, on the short arm of chromosome 11, of a genetic susceptibility factor for schizophrenia.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFKnowledge about the income of patients with chronic psychotic disorder and how they use the money may help to provide appropriate clinical and social assistance. Fifty-seven outpatients with schizophrenia treated in Geneva, Switzerland, were studied. Mean income was 3866 Swiss francs (4209 for those with the Swiss disability fund).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSoc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol
December 2007
Introduction: Although most patients with schizophrenia rely on state financial support, little is known about their expenses and how they use the money at their discretion. However, the ability to budget is a predictive factor in rehabilitation. An assessment of financial management skills could make it possible to develop more appropriate psycho-social assistance.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFTwenty percent of all schizophrenic patients experience sexual delusions at some point during the evolution of their illness. Among them, some patients develop the conviction of belonging to the other sex. Although true coexistence of schizophrenia and gender identity disorder is rare, it can be difficult to disentangle the two conditions.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFHigh rates of pathological gambling are found in psychiatric populations, including those with mood or substance use disorders. The extent to which individuals with schizophrenia exhibit the symptoms of pathological gambling has not been adequately investigated. This paper examines the case of a 40-year-old schizophrenic female with a four-year history of gambling.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPrim Care Companion J Clin Psychiatry
November 2011
To assess religious coping in schizophrenia, we developed and tested a clinical grid, as no validated questionnaire exists for this population. One hundred fifteen outpatients were interviewed. Results obtained by 2 clinicians were compared.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: Spirituality and religiousness have been shown to be highly prevalent among patients with schizophrenia. However, clinicians are rarely aware of the importance of religion and understand little of the value or difficulties it presents to treatment. This study aimed to assess the role of religion as a mediating variable in the process of coping with psychotic illness.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFInt J Neuropsychopharmacol
December 2006
Objectives: Religious issues may be neglected by clinicians who are treating psychotic patients, even when religion constitutes an important means of coping. This study examined the spirituality and religious practices of outpatients with schizophrenia compared with their clinicians. Clinicians' knowledge of patients' religious involvement and spirituality was investigated.
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