Over the past decade, spirituality and religiosity have gained increasing recognition in the field of mental health. Mental health professionals have begun integrating aspects of religion and spirituality from various worldwide religions. However, these integrations have remained at surface level, assimilating concepts and practices that have been stripped of their ontological framework. The intersection between culture, spirituality and mental wellbeing remains largely underexplored. This can contribute to misunderstandings regarding the conceptualization of mental illness across different cultures and may result in the tokenistic application of ‘culturally sensitive’ interventions, which can perpetuate the disillusionment that some individuals may experience towards mental health services. This paper examines the intersection between culture, religious/spiritual beliefs and mental health. It embodies an anti-colonialist stance, demonstrating the authors’ commitments toward the decolonization of the field of mental health. ~ Abridged 
Read original paper - Frontiers | Cultural perspective on religion, spirituality and mental health
Opinion
You can kill a career but not an idea.
Although I was shot down by a backward and dishonorable professor at the U when I suggested highly similar ideas back in the early 1990s, the veracity of what I was saying has become painfully clear. I was just one of the first to see it. And I'm glad that others are following suit because, in my view, the current state of psychiatry is urgently in need of repair.
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