News and Stories

The Janki Foundation Lecture
Medicine in Search of Spirit - 2003
Putting Soul into Psychiatry - 2002

 

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Medicine in Search of Spirit
The Janki Foundation Lecture – July 2003

Dr. Reilly's invigorating lecture had as its main thread the problem of fragmentation in medical practice and in our attitude to healthcare. We need to heal the many splits that currently exist – between mainstream and complementary medicine, between left and right brain attitudes, between art and science and between qualitative and quantitative healthcare. He also presented us with scientific evidence to show the benefit of whole person-centred medical care and suggested that a dialogue should be opened up between complementary and mainstream practitioners aimed at finding their common ground which is about “releasing people from suffering into peace”.

He continued, “Both doctors and clients are dissatisfied with the status quo. We must learn from our patients whom feel rushed, unheard, and pushed from doctor to doctor. We must listen to our GP's, 90% of whom believe in the psychological basis of organic disease [survey of Scottish GPs, 2001] and who, far from supporting our present system of care, feel unable to provide holistic healthcare because of the constraints placed on them, constraints which lead to personal frustration and an increase in prescribing and referrals.”

Dr. Reilly described recent medical history as being about “artists who fell in love with their tools – a romance with externals”. The brilliant technological advances in surgery or the resurgence in the use of herbs and oils have sometimes led both mainstream and complementary practitioners to forget the primacy of the need of patients for empathy and kindness.

As carers we need to be aware that we are primarily agents for change. Our patients are searching for self-transformation and we are there to provide the holding that facilitates self-healing.

Dr. Reilly and many others before him, have conducted trials with patients suffering from illnesses as diverse as arthritis, asthma, Parkinson's disease and depression, comparing drugs with placebos. The response in either case was a marked improvement in the illness [placebo response in some cases as high as 70%]. However in both cases a negative or unhelpful response by the physician undermined the improvement showing the need for a “healing engagement between patient and carer”.

Empathy has proved to be the single most important factor correlating with empowerment of the patient and healing. A practitioner using his full humanity is not only a healer for his patients but is contributing to the cost effectiveness of medical care in his country.

The lecture was a heart warming and inspirational reminder of the values that I feel should be given our strongest priority.

Report by Carol Evans, humanistic psychotherapist and counsellor

Dr. David Reilly FRCP MRCGP FFHOM is Honorary Senior Lecturer in Medicine at Glasgow Royal Infirmary and lead consultant physician at Glasgow Homeopathic Hospital .

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Putting the Soul into Psychiatry
The Janki Foundation Lecture – July 2002

Dr Andrew Powell’s inaugural Janki Foundation Lecture was a remarkable ‘tour de force’. Entitled ‘Putting the Soul into Psychiatry’, it examined the concept of soul historically, from philosophical and scientific perspectives, from Pythagoras to present-day attempts to re-integrate spirituality into the understanding and healing of mental illness. The following is a synopsis of his thoughts.

The root meaning of the word psychiatrist is ‘healer’, or ‘physician of the soul’, but over time and with the increasing influence of scientific materialism, the spiritual focus was lost and the biological model prevailed.

Dr Powell defined spirituality as “ … the scintilla of that Supreme consciousness, the source of life itself that traditionally we call God….” He used the term soul to describe “that quotient … that enlivens every human being. It is not a question of having a soul, but of being a soul.”

He urged that medicine, which has always looked for scientific proof, needs also to consider the truth of individual experience that may manifest during the practice of meditation. Whilst looking into the self, the practitioner may discover a wellspring of love, which goes beyond the self to embrace all of humanity.

At this point in our development, we need a ‘quantum shift’ in our consciousness, away from our instinctive fight or flight responses, from our need for conflict as a stimulus for growth, towards a realisation of wholeness, unity, interdependence.

Evidence-based links between spirituality and mental health may interest even those psychiatrists who until now have shown little interest in their patients’ spiritual lives.

1. People with a spiritual or religious orientation are 40% less likely to suffer depression than others.
   
   
2. Those receiving a spiritual or religious orientated psychotherapy score best on post-treatment recovery.
   
   
3. Those over 50 with no religious beliefs are four times more likely to commit suicide.

In the USA, more than 75 medical schools have introduced spirituality and health into undergraduate medical training. The UK trails far behind the USA in this.

The psychiatric profession may be assured that exploring religious and spiritual beliefs in a clinical setting is not an esoteric undertaking and can be done with an open mind, in an impartial way that helps patients. Dr Powell suggested a number of uncomplicated questions that patients can be asked, such as: ‘Do you use spirituality to cope with stress?’ or ‘Are you supported by any spiritual or religious community?’

Currently, the Royal College of Psychiatrists is reviewing its curriculum for basic and higher post-graduate specialist training. The special interest group: Spirituality in Psychiatry, which is part of the Royal College and in which both Dr Powell and Dr Eagger play key roles, is submitting detailed proposals to introduce spiritual issues into specialist training.

Finally, there are deeper issues for psychiatry about developing the fine judgement needed to distinguish between spiritual crises and mental illness.

Carol Evans, retired humanistic psychotherapist
For a full report on this paper, see
http://www.rcpsych.ac.uk/college/sig/spirit/news8/index.html

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