Religious/spiritual well-being in mentally ill persons III: first results of a body-centered awareness meditation for in-patient rehabilitation

Method: For this reason, in this pilot study we examined the effectiveness of a morning body-centered meditation in comparison to a conventional morning walk in regards to subjective well-being and stress coping styles in 44 (26 females) randomly assigned psychiatric in-patients (according to ICD 10). The patients’ amount of subjective well-being as well as their coping ability was assessed at the beginning and at the end of a 6 weeks therapy. Results: Thereby we found a significant increase in Religious/Spiritual Well-Being, Awareness and more adequate Coping strategies. This was paralleled by a decrease of psychiatric symptoms. Overall the general assumption of a positive association between spirituality and mental health was affirmed. However, we did not find any differences between the two treatment methods (meditation vs. morning walk). Conclusions: Both interventions showed the same positive efficacy. Based on these initial results, possibilities and boundaries for the integration of religious/spiritual issues into the treatment of psychiatric patients are discussed. Objective: In recent years, positive effects of religiosity and spirituality on mental health can be found as well documented in the literature. However, very few studies have examined the effects of a spiritually based therapeutic intervention among psychiatric patients.