宗教療癒對思覺失調症可能提供之助益 ── 以「身念處」原理開展的三個出家案例報告=How Religious Therapy May Reduce the Symptoms of Schizophrenia: three Buddhist nuns as an example to illustrate the principle of“being mindful of the body in our bodies”
There is an active interplay between the occurrence of mental disorders, along with their pathological manifestations, and the cultural context where people hold their religious beliefs. The author employs the concept of “dependent origination ” emphasized by Buddhism to describe what the patients with mental illnesses have undergone, and then to interpret their symptoms. This ensures a careful examination of what the scientific and religious communities have so far proffered as assumptions, which consist of some kind of prejudices and overgeneralization. As the Buddha’s teachings indicate, life consists of physical properties and spiritual characteristics. Furthermore, “five aggregates”—the “form,” “feelings,” “perception,” “volitional actions,” and “consciousness” —can be identified in a being. If the five aggregates go amiss or lose their balances, disorders may follow. When the earth, water, fire, or wind suffers a loss of balance, humans are prone to all sorts of diseases. Similarly, when feelings, perception, volitional actions, and consciousness are out of balance, one may easily feel worried or distracted, with outward manifestations like paranoia, fixed thoughts, being weak-willed or mentally disturbed. If any of these symptoms deteriorate over time, other mental disorders or psychiatric diseases may follow as a result. According to the principle of “dependent origination ,” physical properties and spiritual characteristics are intertwined in some ways and bring about sympathetic effects. Physiological diseases may affect one’s spirit, and psychiatric disorders will probably lead to physiological diseases. Is western medicine the only choice when it comes to treating such patients? This paper uses three Buddhist nuns with schizophrenia as an example and points out that resorting to the principle of “being mindful of the body in our bodies” certainly help patients cope with the reality and be more comfortable with themselves and their lives for now, thus mitigating their schizophrenic symptoms considerably. When they make a practice of being mindful of their bodies so as to keep calm, these patients do not need to take medications to stay healthy, and will not have various side effects produced from medications. However, the patient should be kept company with a group of people who are willing to offer patience and support unconditionally, and this is not easy for many families when they have a family member with mental disorders.
