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Religion and Spiritual Advice as Surrogate Care Provision for Mental Health Problems in the ESEMED Survey

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 April 2020

V. Kovess ,
R. de Graaf ,
J.M. Haro ,
R. Bruffaerts ,
F. Gilbert ,
X. Briffault ,
J. Coldony  and
J. Alonso
V. Kovess
Affiliation:
Fondation MGEN pour la Santé Publique, EA 4069 Université Paris Descartes, Paris, France
R. de Graaf
Affiliation:
Netherlands Institute of Mental Health and Addiction, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
J.M. Haro
Affiliation:
Fundació Sant Joan de Déu, CIBER Salud Mental, Barcelona, Spain
R. Bruffaerts
Affiliation:
Dept. of Neurosciences and Psychiatry, University Hospital Gasthuisberg, Leuven, Belgium
F. Gilbert
Affiliation:
EA 4069 Université Paris Descartes, Paris, France
X. Briffault
Affiliation:
EA 4069 Université Paris Descartes, Paris, France
J. Coldony
Affiliation:
Institut Municipal d'Assistència Sanitària/Institut Municipal d'Investigació Mèdica, IMAS-IMIM, Barcelona, Spain
J. Alonso
Affiliation:
Health Services Research Unit, Institut Municipal d'Investigació Mèdica (IMIM-Hospital del Mar), Barcelona, Spain

Abstract

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Objective:

To complete missing information on the influence of spiritual and religious advisors as informal providers for mental health problems in Europe.

Methods:

Recourse to religious practice or belief when coping with mental health problems was evaluated using data from the ESEMED survey. This was a stratified, multistage, clustered-area probability sample survey of mental health carried out in six European countries which included 8796 subjects. Between countries differences in sociodemographic characteristics, religious affiliation, and prevalence of mental disorders and management of mental disorders were evaluated.

Results:

Religion appears to play a limited role in coping with mental health problems in Europe. Only 7.9% of individuals seeking help for such problems turned to a religious advisor. This proportion differed between countries from 13% in Italy, 12.5% in Germany, 10.5% in the Netherlands, 5.8% in France, 4.7% in Belgium to 4% in Spain. In addition, seeking help exclusively from religion was reported by only 1.3% of subjects. Practicing religion at least once a week and considering religion as important in daily life were predictors of using religion versus conventional health care only. Use of religion was not influenced by gender and age. Non-Christian respondents and individuals with alcohol disorders were more likely to use religion. In Spain, the use of religion is much lower than average.

Conclusions:

Unlike the situation in the United States, organised religion does not provide alternative informal mental health care in Europe. At best, it could be considered as an adjunct to conventional care.

Type
S31-03
Information
European Psychiatry , Volume 24 , Issue S1: 17th EPA Congress - Lisbon, Portugal, January 2009, Abstract book , January 2009 , 24-E166
Copyright
Copyright © European Psychiatric Association 2009
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