Spirituality, Suicide and Mental Health
Canoe Health Reports....An Canadian conference is drawing attention to the key role spirituality plays in mental health and even for suicidal patients.
Medical schools have started to raise awareness about spirituality, so students entering the health-care field will inquire about their patients' belief systems to better understand their attitudes toward life and death.
To shed more light, the University of Ottawa's department of psychiatry, the Ontario Multifaith Council on Spiritual and Religious Care and Saint Paul University are hosting the third annual international conference on Spirituality and Mental Health today and tomorrow.
Developing a greater understanding of the link between mental health and spirituality is necessary for health-care workers who truly want to help their patients, said Dr. Andre Gagnon, chairman of the conference organizing committee. The same can be said of workers dealing with suicidal patients.
Suicidality has been VIEWED AS AMORAL.
Historically, suicidal thoughts were viewed by religions as amoral and people who suffered from them could be forbidden access to a place of worship and even burial rights, said Gagnon.
Over time, religions have grown more accepting of the reality that these people need help.
Researching links between suicide rates and spirituality poses difficulties due to the many other variables associated with suicide.
Gagnon said that even the awareness of spirituality in suicide can aid health providers in providing appropriate care.
"A lot of people at first want to stop the suffering they are in, they don't wish to die as much as to stop feeling so badly," he said.
We are all spiritual beings and to neglect this part of a person in who is experiencing significant distress and psychiatric pain can delay a person's recovery. Treating people as whole beings - mental, physical, spiritual and emotional is key.
Medical schools have started to raise awareness about spirituality, so students entering the health-care field will inquire about their patients' belief systems to better understand their attitudes toward life and death.
To shed more light, the University of Ottawa's department of psychiatry, the Ontario Multifaith Council on Spiritual and Religious Care and Saint Paul University are hosting the third annual international conference on Spirituality and Mental Health today and tomorrow.
Developing a greater understanding of the link between mental health and spirituality is necessary for health-care workers who truly want to help their patients, said Dr. Andre Gagnon, chairman of the conference organizing committee. The same can be said of workers dealing with suicidal patients.
Suicidality has been VIEWED AS AMORAL.
Historically, suicidal thoughts were viewed by religions as amoral and people who suffered from them could be forbidden access to a place of worship and even burial rights, said Gagnon.
Over time, religions have grown more accepting of the reality that these people need help.
Researching links between suicide rates and spirituality poses difficulties due to the many other variables associated with suicide.
Gagnon said that even the awareness of spirituality in suicide can aid health providers in providing appropriate care.
"A lot of people at first want to stop the suffering they are in, they don't wish to die as much as to stop feeling so badly," he said.
We are all spiritual beings and to neglect this part of a person in who is experiencing significant distress and psychiatric pain can delay a person's recovery. Treating people as whole beings - mental, physical, spiritual and emotional is key.
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