Full access

Letter

Published Online: 1 November 2007

Letter

Philip S. Hicks, M.D.Authors Info & Affiliations

Publication: Psychiatric Services

Volume 58, Number 11

https://doi.org/10.1176/ps.2007.58.11.1499a

PDF/EPUB

Psychiatrists and Religious Belief

To the Editor: The article by Curlin and colleagues in the September issue interested me for several reasons. First, it illuminates an area that has been largely neglected by the psychiatric profession, although I am sure that many of us have private conversations about the interface between psychiatry and religion.

One particular conversation comes to mind. A colleague whose office was across the hall came into my office appearing frustrated. He said that he was no longer going to take any patients referred to him by Roman Catholic sources. "The patients know I'm a Catholic and subtly coerce me into agreeing that we do not explore their religious beliefs. If I refuse, they drop out of treatment."

In my experience, the other side of that coin, however, is that many psychiatrists not only have little use for religion but an alarming lack of knowledge about it. I was raised a minister's son, and although I emerged from the experience with a lack of belief, I have no lack of knowledge of religion. This may be why church leaders and seminary officials have referred many patients to me. I would be able to understand where the patients were "coming from."

People often call upon religious feelings to deal with psychological conflicts. Guilt, if real, is often relieved by prayer or confession. Irrational guilt, however, is not, and this is the bulk of the guilt we deal with in psychiatry. Here, religious belief may function as a defense reaction and become antitherapeutic.

In summary, I would recommend that psychiatric residency curricula include didactic courses in comparative religion. In more than 50 years of practice, I have known too many colleagues with little or no understanding of religion and its varieties.

Footnote

Dr. Hicks, a psychiatrist who is retired from private practice, lives in San Rafael, California.

Information & Authors

Information

Published In

Psychiatric Services

Volume 58 • Number 11 • November, 2007

Pages: 1499

PubMed: 17978268

History

Published online: 1 November 2007

Published in print: November, 2007

Authors

Affiliations

Philip S. Hicks, M.D.

View all articles by this author

Metrics & Citations

Metrics

Citations

Export Citations

If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.

For more information or tips please see 'Downloading to a citation manager' in the Help menu.

Format	RIS (ProCite, Reference Manager) EndNote BibTex Medlars RefWorks
Direct importt
Citation style
Style

Copy to clipboard
Tips for downloading citations

There are no citations for this item

View Options

View options

PDF/ePub

View PDF/ePub

Get Access

Login options

Already a subscriber? Access your subscription through your login credentials or your institution for full access to this article.

Personal login Institutional Login Open Athens login

Purchase Options

Purchase this article to access the full text.

PPV Articles - Psychiatric Services

Not a subscriber?

Subscribe Now / Learn More

PsychiatryOnline subscription options offer access to the DSM-5-TR^® library, books, journals, CME, and patient resources. This all-in-one virtual library provides psychiatrists and mental health professionals with key resources for diagnosis, treatment, research, and professional development.

Need more help? PsychiatryOnline Customer Service may be reached by emailing [email protected] or by calling 800-368-5777 (in the U.S.) or 703-907-7322 (outside the U.S.).

Letter

Psychiatrists and Religious Belief

Footnote