VIDEO: Religiosity tied to odds of looking to religious leaders for mental health concerns

Key takeaways:

• People with multiple comorbidities who were more religious had greater odds of seeking out religious leaders for mental health help.
• Medical professionals should work with religious leaders to provide care.

SAN FRANCISCO — Among people with multimorbidity, those with greater religiosity or spirituality were more likely to seek out a religious or spiritual leader for their mental health concerns before looking to a mental health professional.

Specifically, people with high religiosity were 60% more likely to talk with a religious leader about their mental health compared with those who reported low religiosity (OR = 1.6). They were also less likely to seek out a mental health professional (OR = 0.2), according to a poster presented at the American Psychiatric Association annual meeting.

In this Healio exclusive video, Ruby Lekwauwa, MD, an assistant professor of clinical psychiatry at Yale School of Medicine, discusses the findings of the study in more detail and highlights the importance of working with spiritual and religious leaders.

References:

• Lekwauwa R, et al. Religiosity, multimorbidity and mental health utilization two decades later: The role of spiritual/religious leaders. Presented at: American Psychiatric Association Annual Meeting; May 20-24, 2023; San Francisco.