Am J Psychiatry 1987; 144:56-61
Copyright © 1987 by American Psychiatric Association
Expectations and outcomes for patients given mental health care or spiritist healing in Puerto Rico
JD Koss
In Puerto Rico, spiritism offers a traditional alternative to community
mental health services. The author compares reported expectations and
outcomes of mental health center patients and patients of spiritist
healers. The spiritists' patients reported significantly higher
expectations, especially for mood and feeling complaints. Both patient
groups had a similar duration and severity of symptoms. The outcome ratings
of spiritists' patients were significantly better than those of
therapists', but this difference could be accounted for by the higher
expectations of the spiritists' patients. With these exceptions, the
findings do not account for the selection of one type of treatment over the
other.
