Religion and mental health seeking behaviors in war-tone zones of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Objective: Although religious leaders play an important role in providing informal mental health care to individuals struggling to seek religious and spiritual care, existing studies have not explored the magnitude of psychiatric symptoms and motivators to seek mental health services from religious leaders in religious listening centers and mental hospitals. This paper presents preliminary data from a survey aimed at assessing psychiatric symptoms and factors associated with access to spiritual services among 151 individuals at a religious listening center, as well as to determine the pathways of care among 150 patients attending a mental health clinic in conflict zones of the Eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Method: Three hundred and one participants were screened for psychiatric symptoms and factors motivating access to religious leaders using a semi-structured questionnaire. Descriptive analyses were performed to determine information on psychiatric symptoms and factors affecting access to spiritual and mental health services.

Results: Nearly 6 in 10 individuals seeking spiritual help in the religious center had psychiatric symptoms. Furthermore, 7 in 10 patients seek help for mental health needs from religious leaders and healers before seeking conventional mental health services; among such individuals, there was a high prevalence of bipolar disorder and schizophrenia spectrum disorder, recurrent admissions, and poor adherence to psychotropic medication.

Conclusion: These results highlight the need for greater integration of mental health services with care provided by religious organizations within conflict zones such as the Congo. They also emphasize the need for greater promotion of person-centered care that considers and integrates patients' religious beliefs in their treatment.