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Anti depressants work best with God’s help
Professor Patricia Murphy of Rush has made headlines all over the world with an intriguing Journal of Clinical Psychiatry paper which suggests believing in a caring God improves a patient’s response to medical treatment. Before readers with neuroscience portfolios start scouring Dublin’s mental health facilities in search of a new academic appointee, we should add that the researcher in question is based at Rush University Medical Centre in Chicago, where she is a chaplain and associate professor of psychiatry. Irish links aside, Prof Murphy’s conclusion that individuals with a strong belief in a personal and concerned God are 75 percent more likely to get better with medical treatment for clinical depression that other patients is truly remarkable.
Results were based on responses from 136 adults diagnosed with major depression or bipolar depression at inpatient and outpatient psychiatric care facilities in Chicago. They were surveyed shortly after admission for treatment and eight weeks later. The researchers tested whether the explanation for the improved response was actually a consequence of hope, which is of course typically a feature of religious belief. But degree of hopefulness, measured by feelings and expectations for the future and degree of motivation, did not predict whether a patient fared better on anti-depressants.
Prof Murphy explained: “In our study, the positive response to medication had little to do with the feeling of hope that typically accompanies spiritual belief. It was tied specifically to the belief that a Supreme Being cared. For people diagnosed with clinical depression, medication certainly plays an important role in reducing symptoms. But, when treating persons diagnosed with depression, clinicians need to be aware of the role of religion in the patients’ lives. It is an important resource in planning their care.”
