PEOPLE WITH SERIOUS MENTAL ILLNESS USE ALTERNATIVE HEALTH CARE TO AID RECOVERY

Monday, March 10, 2003

Boston -- People with serious mental illnesses support their recovery by using at least one alternative health care practice, such as yoga, meditation, or prayer, according to a recent study by researchers at Boston University. Most participants reported using two or more such practices. These findings are part of a larger national study investigating the impact of such practices on the recovery process.

Use of religious and spiritual practices - including prayer, worship attendance, and religious or spiritual reading- was most commonly reported (50 percent) among the 157 surveyed respondents, followed by meditation (43 percent), massage (31 percent), yoga (20 percent) and others, such as herbs, chiropractic, nutritional supplements and guided imagery. Study participants report using various alternative health care practices to increase emotional calmness and stability, find inner strength and meaning in life, improve self-awareness and self-esteem, increase their sense of well-being, and improve their cognitive, social and overall functioning as well as physical health.

“Until now, there has been very little research documenting the cognitive, emotional, behavioral, and spiritual benefits that people with serious mental illness experience when engaging in alternative health care practices,” says Zlatka Russinova, project director for this study and a researcher at Boston University’s Center for Psychiatric Rehabilitation. “Our expanding knowledge about the healing potential of these practices opens new avenues to support recovery from mental illness.”

The study, published recently in the American Journal of Public Health, found that individuals with a diagnosis of a schizophrenia spectrum disorder tend to use meditation and guided imagery less frequently than persons with a diagnosis of depression or bipolar illness.

“Diagnosis appears to be a factor related to the types of alternative healing practices used as well as the types of benefits experienced,” says Nancy Wewiorski, project co-director of the study.

Of the group studied, 60 percent reported multiple psychiatric hospitalizations, 86 percent were currently taking psychotropic medications, and 41 percent had a coexisting medical condition.

Boston University’s Center for Psychiatric Rehabilitation is a World Health Organization (W.H.O.) Collaborating Center in Psychiatric Rehabilitation and a rehabilitation, research, and training Center in mental health funded by the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR) and the Center for Mental Health Services, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). For more information about Boston University’s Center for Psychiatric Rehabilitation, visit, http://www.bu.edu/cpr. The Center is affiliated with Boston University’s Sargent College of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences. For more information about Sargent College, visit http://www.bu.edu/sargent.