Spirituality and Religiosity in the Treatment of Mentally Disordered Persons in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Abstract

Spirituality and religiosity in the treatment of persons with mental disorders have a rich tradition in Bosnia and Herzegovina, but in the last half century these dimensions were unjustifiably ignored. Working with a large number of difficult traumatized people during the war, we perceived that religious people coped more successfully with a variety of difficulties that have afflicted them, than those who were not religious. Psychiatrists, who had the sensitivity to indicate the religious needs of certain clients in indicated cases, used the spirituality and religiosity in the process of healing. Following the trail of such remarks a number of empiric researches were done, which confirmed the justification for this approach. In that way the spirituality and religiosity found their place in the educational programmes for professionals in the field of mental health and psychotherapeutic treatment of psychiatric patients. Thereby, we as mental health providers, established cooperation with certain religious institutions and religious officials in that field, and we arranged in the framework of hospital institution adequate rooms for spiritual and religious needs of patients, which received their equal place with other necessary facilities.