Spiritual Therapy in Coping with Cancer as a Complementary Medical Preventive Practice

There are many of methods of treating cancer. However, the concept of curing the cancer is beyond our current knowledge. Some patients who have the cancer may seek an alternative manner of curing their disease. Alternative medicines, such as spiritual and complementary therapy, are able to cure the cancer and, at the least, are safe. Research on the importance of spirituality in cancer care has mainly been performed in geographically heterogeneous populations. The results are limited to these specific religious-cultural contexts and enlightened by contributions from ethnicity and religion. This article focused on the religiousness and spiritual support of cancer patients from diverse and heterogeneous groups around the globe. An electronic search of peer-reviewed articles was systematically performed to obtain the relevant literature with the CINAHL, PsycINFO, and PubMed databases. The keywords included religion, cancer, illness, psychotherapy, and spiritual and alternative treatment/therapies. The inclusion criteria for the reviews were that the documents were original quantitative research and published in English. Articles that were not directly relevant to the present objective were excluded. The present outcome of these review resources suggest that it may be helpful for clinicians to address spirituality, particularly with regard to prevention, healing, and survival of cancer patients. This article indicates that it may be useful for clinical oncologists to be informed of the prevalence of the use of spiritual medicine in their specialized field. In addition, patients should routinely be asked about the use of spiritual medicine as part of every cancer patient' evaluation.

Comparing the Effect of Cognitive Therapy and Spiritual Therapy on Depression between Iranian Students Residing in Iran and India.

Introduction: Cognitive therapy is a well accepted treatment option for patients suffering from depressive disorders. Spiritual well-being is a central component of psychological health. Objectives: The main objective of the study is to compare the effect of cognitive and spiritual therapy on depression between Iranian Students residing in Iran and India. Methods: 64 female students ranging in the age of 18 to 45 years were selected from counselling centres from India and Iran. 32 students having higher depressive scores were administered cognitive therapy and spiritual therapy using a purposive random sampling technique. Pre and post treatment assessments of depression scores was done using Beck’s Depressing Inventory. Results: Our findings indicated that spiritual therapy is more effective than cognitive therapy in Iranian female students residing in India and Iran. Conclusion: Culture plays a significant role in treatment options that the patient chooses and accepts.