Spiritism and Mental Health: Practices from Spiritist Centers and Spiritist Psychiatric Hospitals in Brazil

“Soul Medicine”

one out of eight adults in the USA

A large national poll found that almost 50 percent of patients would like to share in prayer with their physicians during medical office visits (Yankelovich Partners Inc. 1996).

In spite of compelling evidence to the contrary, we continue to treat symptoms as if they are caused by a “broken brain” in which deficiencies or “imbalances” of serotonin and other neurotransmitters are regarded by modern psychiatry as sufficient explanations of mental illness.

Functional brain imaging studies suggest that deep meditative states achieved through yoga and other spiritual practices are associated with metabolic changes in brain regions involved in sustained attention

The Self-Aware Universe (1995), Physics of the Soul (2001), and The Quantum Doctor (2004)

Almost 80 percent of individuals who seek medical care for any reason feel that their religious or spiritual beliefs are directly related to their health concerns,

Ivan Hervé, MD (2006), reported about 181 cases he tracked for 20 years of treatment at a Spiritist Center in Porto Alegre, giving a description of their disorders and the results achieved.

Fifty Spiritist Psychiatric Hospitals in Brazil