Mental health, religion and culture

Psychologists have shown scant interest in the effects of religion on mental health, and much of the earlier work on this topic was done in Western, predominantly Christian societies. This article looks at what we can conclude so far about the effects of culture on the relations between religion and mental health, and highlights some areas of research interest. These include important questions about the effects of religious beliefs and practices, such as scrupulous cleanliness or communication with spirits, on the diagnosis and prevalence of psychological disorders.