Letters Impact ofReligious Beliefon Psychological Distress SIR: We applaud George B. Murray's essay, "Limbic Music" (Psychosomatics Winter 1992 issue ),1 which so effectively represents the renewal of interest in some of the more elusive and intriguing phenomena in clinical psychiatry. Peter Rabins et al. (Psychosomatics Summer 1990 issue)1 empirically demonstrated an aspect of one of these phenomena that seems especially elusive and understudied-the impact of religious belief. in this instance on caregivers of the chronically ill. In light of our (surely unremarkable) experience with seriously ill patients who often spontaneously raise religious issues,' it struck us as curious that consideration of spiritual factors remains so sparse. We undertook a pilot study to assess the impact of religious belief on the psychological distress of advanced head and neck cancer in seven elderly men. A few reports have described benefits of religious belief for patients with severe bums,4 cardiovascular disease,5./> and broken hips.-\ In our case series of seven elderly men on an oncology unit, three patients expressed some reliance on religious belief. and four did not view religion in any form as an aid to their coping efforts. Using coping style and mood assessment instruments1•K in conjunction with an open-ended interview, we found that those who stated a reliance upon religious belief experienced low levels of psychological distress compared with three of the four patients who did not use religion in TABLE I.

Psychological distress as a function of reliance on religious beliefs

Low Psychological Distress High Psychological Distress

Low Reliance on Religious Beliefs

High Reliance on Religious Beliefs

%(n)

%(n)

25 (I)

)(Xl(3)

75

(3)

0(0)

Noll': Low reliance on religious beliefs II = 4; high reliance on religious beliefs II =3.

470

coping with their condition. Table I summarizes the level of psychological distress as a function of reliance upon religious belief. Regardless of other coping strategies employed by these seven elderly men, it appeared that religious belief played an important role in mediating the psychological distress of terminal illness. These pilot findings may underscore the value of continued scientific investigation of the salutary effects of religious belief, which many have intuitively appreciated for some time. In light of previous research suggesting association of psychosocial intervention with increased survival times in patients with metastatic cancer,9 it is tempting to speculate about correlates involving religious belief and practices. Peter Pressman. M.A .. M.S. David B. Larson. M.D., M.S.P.H. John S. Lyons. Ph.D. Dusty Humes. Ph.D. Northwestern University Medical School Chicago.IL Duke University Medical School Durham. NC Austin Mental Health Associates Austin. TX

References I. Murray GB: Limbic music. Psyc/IIJ!1ltJlics 33:20-25. 1992 2. Rabins PV. Fining MD. Eastham J. et al: The emotional impact of caring for the chronically ill. Psychosomatics 31:331-336.1990 3. Pressman P. Lyons JS. Larson DB. et al: Religious belief, depression, and ambulation status in elderly women with broken hips. Am} Ps."chiatry 147:758-760. 1990 4. Sherril KA. Larson DB: Adult bum patients: the role of religion in recovery. SO/lth Med} 81 :821-825. 1988 5. Larson DB. Koenig HG. Kaplan BH, et al: The impact of religion on men's blood pressure. }olll'lla/ ofReli}iioll and Health 28:265-278. 1989 6. Levin J. Vanderpool HY: Is religion therapeutically significant for hypertension'! Soc Sci Med 29:69-78. 1989 7. FolkmanS. LazarusR: Stress,Copillg,alldAppraisal.San Francisco. CA. Jossey-Bass. 1984 8. McNair JD. Lorr M. Dropelman LF: Mall/lal for the Profile of Mood States. San Diego. CA. Educational and Industrial Testing Service, 1971 9. Spiegel D. Bloom JR. Kraemer HC. et al: Effect of psychosocial treatment on survival of patients with metastatic breast cancer. Lallcet 2:888-891. 1989

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Impact of religious belief on psychological distress.

Letters Impact ofReligious Beliefon Psychological Distress SIR: We applaud George B. Murray's essay, "Limbic Music" (Psychosomatics Winter 1992 issue...
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