Spiritual, Religious, and Faith-Based Practices in Chronicity An Exploration of Mental Wellness in Global Context

1. Chronicity, mental wellness, and spirituality: An introduction

2. Religiosity and spirituality in mental health contexts: Perceptions of psychologists and chaplains

3. Responding with Anishinaabek values: Understanding the importance of living as a spiritual being for mental wellness

4. Tradition and modernity in Somali experiences of spirit possession: An ethnographic exploration

5. Politics and aesthetics of care: Chronic affliction and spiritual healing in Brazilian Kardecism

6. Nourishing exchanges: Care, love, and chronicity in Lourdes

7. Miyo-wîcêhetowin in the city: Indigenous youth spirituality, good ancestors, and mental wellness through healing journeys on the land

8. Psychosis, spiritual crisis, and narrative transformation: An ethnography of spiritual peer-support networks in the United Kingdom

9. Prayer camps, healing, and the management of chronic mental illness in Ghana: A qualitative phenomenological inquiry

10. "God takes care of it": Spiritual practices and mental wellness of people living with type 2 diabetes in Belize

11. Cultures of wellness and recovery: Exploring religion and chronicity in relation to severe mental illness

12. Global mental wellness and spiritual geographies of care: Concluding remarks

Biography

Andrew R. Hatala, PhD, is an Associate Professor in the Department of Community Health Sciences, Max Rady College of Medicine, Rady Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Manitoba. As a practicing member of the global Bahá’i religious community, and a medical and psychological anthropologist with interest in cultural psychiatry, spirituality, and health psychology, his published works and research focus on qualitative methodologies, culture and spirituality, mental health, Indigenous healing and epistemology, Indigenous nosology of mental illness and disorder, and resilience and wellness among Indigenous youth populations.

Kerstin Roger, PhD, is a Professor in the Department of Community Health Sciences, Max Rady College of Medicine, Rady Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Manitoba. Her current research focusses on chronic illness, aging, caregiving, and the family. Dr Roger has been a Principal Investigator on multi-site, nationally funded research (e.g., PHAC, SSHRC, Movember, federal government), as well as conducting provincial and regionally funded research. She has worked on international collaborations, local not-for-profit community initiatives, and continues to co-author and engage graduate students in her research.

"This exciting collection adds an essential contemporary and fresh look at the global role of spirituality, religion and faith-based practices in the context of chronicity. A far reaching and remarkably diverse discussion from nine countries around the world, the authors provide readers with unique qualitative and ethnographic, evidence-based research that highlights individual experiences of mental wellness in real life contexts. The editors’ co-authored first and last chapters contribute a significant frame for the key issues of the book, including the role of intersectoral partnerships, and lead us to ask important questions about next steps. Worth reading – this is an essential resource for theoreticians, researchers and practitioners alike."

Harold G. Koenig, Professor of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences and Associate Professor of Medicine, Duke University USA

Chronic illness poses profound challenges to our sense of wellness. Well-being depends not simply on the hedonic qualities of comfort and enjoyment but equally on meaning—and meaning resides in relationships with others and with larger systems of values. In the contemporary world, spirituality and religion in their myriad forms are essential sources of meaning and value that bring hope and purpose to individuals struggling with affliction. The rich and varied ethnographic studies in this volume provide powerful examples of the transformative power of spiritual and religious practices, faith, belonging, and encounters with the sacred as ways to find a life of meaning amid the suffering, loss and disappointments of persistent illness. The contributors show how spirituality and religion can lighten the burden of affliction, promote healing and recovery, and deepen one’s humanity, sense of purpose, and connection with others. The studies also reveal ongoing tensions with biomedicine, which retains an ambivalent view of spirituality and religion. As the editors argue, taken together, the essays point toward a global geography of spiritual practices that can provide important conceptual and practical resources for mental health care in diverse societies. Health practitioners and anyone concerned to understand this crucial dimension of human experience and support those living with chronic illness will find much sustenance and inspiration in these thoughtful essays.

Laurence J. Kirmayer, James McGill Professor & Director, Division of Social & Transcultural Psychiatry, McGill University