[Twitter Thread]
I do feel psychiatric hospitals need to cater more for those with Spiritual and Religious beliefs. Principally I feel they should provide some access to religious texts. The Bible has been very helpful to my recoveries as well as soothing. I think the best way to do this is for..
every hospital to have a small library of books. Even if each ward had a bookcase for volunteers to manage that would be something. I would even donate books and volunteer. In my recent admissions I have been fortunate to procure a Bible on my phone via Amazon and leave it there.
Another patient once made the point Bibles have to be taken away as it makes people more ill. I think it maybe possible in some cases but I think the psychiatrist could decide to limit their hours of access. Eg. 2 hours of reading and prayer a day.
The big challenge is many mental health professionals are guided and have faith in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM). They don’t believe in religion so their own unconscious bias can play a role. After some episodes I am asked if I believe in the..
supernatural. I don’t always remember what has happened in a psychosis episode. It is traumatic and usually I am put in strange circumstances by staff. I just answer by saying I believe in God. In the end God is supernatural.
I am only talking of my experience of psych hospitals in Essex. I am not sure if it is done differently elsewhere.