'Experts' Link Spirituality To Mental Illness

[BrownEye]

Spiritual people are more likely to be mentally ill (but at least they think life has more meaning)

Being spiritual may give life deeper meaning, but it can also make you more susceptible to mental illness, new research suggests.

A study found that people professing to be spiritual, but not conventionally religious, were more likely to suffer from a host of mental challenges.

They suffered problems including abnormal eating conditions, drug abuse, anxiety disorder, phobias and neurosis.

They were also more likely than others to be taking medication for mental health problems.

Professor Michael King, from University College London, and his fellow researchers wrote in the British Journal of Psychiatry: 'Our main finding is that people who had a spiritual understanding of life had worse mental health than those with an understanding that was neither religious nor spiritual.'

The study was based on a survey of 7,403 randomly selected men and women in England who were questioned about their spiritual and religious beliefs, and mental state.

Of the participants, 35 per cent described themselves as 'religious', meaning they attended a church, mosque, synagogue or temple.

The vast majority of this group were Christian.

A further 19 per cent claimed to have spiritual beliefs or experiences without following a specific religion, while 46 per cent were neither religious nor spiritual.

More than nine out of 10 were white British, with an average age of 46.

Of the different groups, spiritual people were 50 per cent more likely to have a generalised anxiety disorder and 72 per cent more likely to suffer from a phobia.

Spirituality was also associated with a 40 per cent greater likelihood of receiving treatment with psychotropic drugs

They also had a 77 per cent higher chance of being dependent on drugs and were 37 per cent more at risk of neurotic disorder.

Spirituality was also associated with a 40 per cent greater likelihood of receiving treatment with psychotropic drugs.

Individuals of religious faith and those with none experienced equal levels of mental problems, the study found.

But there were fewer problems with drugs or alcohol among the faithful.

Unlike some American studies, the new research found no clear relationship between religious belief and happiness.

One recent large internet study in the US reported that non-religious people with spiritual beliefs were emotionally less stable than other groups.

However, they made up only 2 per cent of the study sample.

The researchers wrote: 'We conclude that there is increasing evidence that people who profess spiritual beliefs in the absence of a religious framework are more vulnerable to mental disorder.

'The nature of this association needs greater examination in qualitative and in prospective quantitative research.'

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-...aning.html

[Sagittarius]

Doesn't really surprise me. 7000 people from England hardly represents a global pattern though. Would likely change from area to area.

[native]

The vast majority of this group were Christian.

Not exactly scientific, now is it? I wonder how many buddhists are mentally ill.

[Parsons]

Science fact: 75% of conventional scientists have a stick up their butt.

I will be entirely fair: I'm sure if you somehow polled the entire population, you would find similarly higher 'mental illness' from spiritualists as opposed to religious/atheists. However... Wouldn't they classify channeling as 'hearing voices' or some sort of personality disorder? I'm sure there is an enormous percentage of people misdiagnosed by conventional psychology that are having a spiritual issue/catalyst, not a legitimate 'disorder'.

Everyone here knows the actual political reason for this 'study': to denounce the group they can't control to poison the sleepers against us.

[reeay]

To critically analyze this type of research it's important to look into the details of the study - such as how 'spirituality' and 'mental illness' were defined and measured, self-reported answers, sampling, what statistical analysis was used, how data was interpreted, the process in which data was collected, etc. We can't just give arbitrary percentages and dismiss a community.

Such studies are usually full or methodological errors/weaknesses and therefore have low generalizability (can we say the results of study is a good representation of what happens in the larger populations) and validity (e.g., did study measure what they purported to measure, thus did they capture this phenomenon accurately).

Probably a weak study and anybody could intuitively and rationally see why there may be a connection between 'mental illness' and 'spirituality'... but that doesn't mean that if you're spiritual, you're mentally ill.. or that if you're mentally ill, then you are spiritual. That's BS. This study is saying there is a connection but it was not designed to explain why this is the case. There was a correlation statistically. That's it. Don't read more into it than that.

[Liet]

To give a more honest and descriptive view of this whole thing, as most studies tend to not meassure the benefits of having the things attained through the tradeoff, just what is lost.
...heres a study meassuring the brains surface thickness.

"Meditators, compared with controls, showed significantly greater cortical thickness in the anterior regions of the brain, including the medial prefrontal cortex(forehead), superior frontal cortex(mid-chest), temporal pole and the middle and inferior temporal cortices (upper parts of the negative and positive polaritzed throat aspect)).
Significantly thinner cortical thickness was found in the posterior regions of the brain, located in the parietal and occipital areas, including the postcentral cortex, inferior parietal cortex, middle occipital cortex and posterior cingulate cortex (most areas from feet to right below navel).
Moreover, in the region adjacent to the medial prefrontal cortex, both higher fractional anisotropy values and greater cortical thickness were observed."

Sadly this study did not specify both/left/right lateralization.

another little quote;
"gray matter concentration in the right hippocampus (related to the regular upper throat-face) and right anterior insula (base of the positively polarized throat) was significantly greater in meditators.
The correlation of mean values at the right anterior insula and the hours of meditation training showed a trend toward significance.
Mean values in the right hippocampus did not correlate with the hours of meditation training."

[reeay]

To give a more honest and descriptive view of this whole thing, as most studies tend to not meassure the benefits of having the things attained through the tradeoff, just what is lost.
...heres a study meassuring the brains surface thickness.

Is there a connection between this particular study and the study on meditation's effect on brain structures?

[Liet]

To give a more honest and descriptive view of this whole thing, as most studies tend to not meassure the benefits of having the things attained through the tradeoff, just what is lost.
...heres a study meassuring the brains surface thickness.

Is there a connection between this particular study and the study on meditation's effect on brain structures?

nop (apart from the fact that functional differences in the various brain areas are responsible for your mental health)

[Karl]

I all-ready know I'm psychologically not-mainstream. No news there.

[reeay]

nop (apart from the fact that functional differences in the various brain areas are responsible for your mental health)

Brain functions and structures account for some portion of the explanation of mental illness. We are not yet at a point in our understanding to be able to explain mental illness using brain structure and function, for that would be taking a reductionist approach to a phenomenon that is biological, social, and psychological. The problems with these studies is that they are cross-sectional studies and not longitudinal, therefore we only get a snap-shot picture of what happens to the brain when we engage in meditation. That's not to say tho, that meditation has no positive effects whatsoever.

[Liet]

nop (apart from the fact that functional differences in the various brain areas are responsible for your mental health)

Brain functions and structures account for some portion of the explanation of mental illness. We are not yet at a point in our understanding to be able to explain mental illness using brain structure and function, for that would be taking a reductionist approach to a phenomenon that is biological, social, and psychological.

Sigh.. incredibly misinterpeted (rightfully so), shouldnt have used the word responsible.
The brain (which is not nessessarily the cause; but merely side-effect) have coresponding areas to all the different energetic regions meaning if something is wrong/right, it has meassurable equivalent effects within both...
if you alter the brain, you alter the information you can retrieve from the mind.

Social and psycological factors alter the brain just as much as the brain changes it.

[Sagittarius]

To give a more honest and descriptive view of this whole thing, as most studies tend to not meassure the benefits of having the things attained through the tradeoff, just what is lost.
...heres a study meassuring the brains surface thickness.

"Meditators, compared with controls, showed significantly greater cortical thickness in the anterior regions of the brain, including the medial prefrontal cortex(forehead), superior frontal cortex(mid-chest), temporal pole and the middle and inferior temporal cortices (upper parts of the negative and positive polaritzed throat aspect)).
Significantly thinner cortical thickness was found in the posterior regions of the brain, located in the parietal and occipital areas, including the postcentral cortex, inferior parietal cortex, middle occipital cortex and posterior cingulate cortex (most areas from feet to right below navel).
Moreover, in the region adjacent to the medial prefrontal cortex, both higher fractional anisotropy values and greater cortical thickness were observed."

Sadly this study did not specify both/left/right lateralization.

another little quote;
"gray matter concentration in the right hippocampus (related to the regular upper throat-face) and right anterior insula (base of the positively polarized throat) was significantly greater in meditators.
The correlation of mean values at the right anterior insula and the hours of meditation training showed a trend toward significance.
Mean values in the right hippocampus did not correlate with the hours of meditation training."

So what does a part of the brain being thicker mean? The bigger the brain usually the smarter the animal so I'am guessing it increases processing power?

[Liet]

So what does a part of the brain being thicker mean? The bigger the brain usually the smarter the animal so I'am guessing it increases processing power?

There are lots of different things altering its functions in very different ways.. neuron density(and type?), gray/white matter, cortical thickness, connectivity, size, folding and probably something else.. i'm currently still figuring this s*** out.
Pin-pointing all the different energies to their associated regions of the brain was only step one (tho it is proobably still in need of a few slight adjustments)...

[BrownEye]

Hey kids, I posted this for the humor. Found another humorous link as well.

Understanding Global Demonic Possession through Face Recognition

[Sagittarius]

Hey kids, I posted this for the humor. Found another humorous link as well.

Understanding Global Demonic Possession through Face Recognition

Looks at self in the mirror checking for kung-po eyes then see this



Face of a demon I tell ya.

[turtledude23]

These results make sense to me, spirituality may be a coping mechanism for people who already have a mental disorder, but I doubt being spiritual can give you a mental disorder - unless it involves taking alot of hallucinogens and you have bad trips.

[AnthroHeart]

I don't know how the really advanced spiritual gurus and people can hold it together. They must be facing a lot of their own darkness. It's amazing that they're not taken over by it.

[turtledude23]

I don't know how the really advanced spiritual gurus and people can hold it together. They must be facing a lot of their own darkness. It's amazing that they're not taken over by it.

That's a good observation, I think the majority of famous gurus were probably either facing a major mental disorder or on a massive ego trip, though I think there were a few legitimately enlightened people like buddha who probably went through a guru phase but then saw the folly of it.