The role of spirituality and religion in the strength base approach to mental health treatment among African-American women

The significance of spirituality and religion in dealing with various stressors has been debated among mental health practitioners, counselors, and researchers for quite some time. It was only in 1994 that the American Psychiatric Association included in its well known diagnostic statistical manual (DSM) a new category for religious or spiritual problems with diagnostic criteria of loss of faith, problems with religious conversion, or questioning of spiritual values. Researchers observed that questioning (or loss of) faith, for example, could cause distress and mimic the symptoms of psychiatric disorder, and noted similarities between the symptoms of spiritual distress and those of depression which necessitates addressing spirituality while treating depression or other mental and health conditions. This paper demonstrates how spirituality and religion are interrelated to cultural values and the belief systems of ethnic minorities, and their role in mental health treatment among African American women