One of my favourite interviewers, Philip Adams, discusses the role of religion in depressive disorders with world renowned psychologist, Dorothy Rowe.
She spends a lot of time talking with her patients, not only about their problems, but about their philosophy of life – which is unusual in a psychologist. But for her it’s essential because she says that our ideas about life and death, the afterlife, about good and evil, are the window to our sense of self. And much of our unhappiness stems from having an insecure sense of self.
Download the podcast (about 12 MB and about 15 or 20 minutes of discussion) and check the blurb here.
Some clients, she says, can’t be cured because the rewards from their belief systems and consequent depression are too great for them to change. Clients of different belief systems become depressed in different ways. But the root of it all is the sense of sin and guilt and unworthiness that churches inculcate.
Dorothy’s website: http://dorothyrowe.com.au/
Philip Adams interview and podcast: http://www.abc.net.au/rn/latenightlive/stories/2008/2413425.htm