Varieties of Religious (Non)Affiliation: A Primer for Mental Health Practitioners on the "Spiritual but Not Religious" and the "Nones".

Given changing demographics of religiosity and spirituality, this article aims to help clinicians understand contemporary trends in patient religious and spiritual orientation. It first identifies and describes the evolving varieties of religio-spiritual orientation and affiliation, as identified in survey studies. Particular attention is given to the examination of those who identify as spiritual but not religious (SBNR) and None (i.e., no religious affiliation), which is important to mental health practice because many patients now identify as SBNR or None. Next, empirical data are considered, including what the literature reveals regarding mental health outcomes and SBNRs and Nones. We conclude with a summary of the main points and five recommendations that mental health practitioners and researchers need to consider regarding this increasingly large portion of the population.

Religion and Psychiatry in the Age of Neuroscience.

In recent decades, an evolving conversation among religion, psychiatry, and neuroscience has been taking place, transforming how we conceptualize religion and how that conceptualization affects its relation to psychiatry. In this article, we review several dimensions of the dialogue, beginning with its history and the phenomenology of religious experience. We then turn to neuroscientific studies to see how they explain religious experience, and we follow that with two related areas: the benefits of religious beliefs and practices, and the evolutionary foundation of those benefits. A final section addresses neuroscientific and evolutionary accounts of the transcendent, that is, what these fields make of the claim that religious experience connects to a transcendent reality. We conclude with a brief summary, along with the unresolved questions we have encountered.

The effect of mental illness on language regression to the mother tongue in bilingual teenagers.

Affective disorders in children and adolescents could impair the acquisition of a second language in bilingual individuals. The acute exacerbation of a preexisting mental illness may also lead to a loss of the ability to speak the second language for a period of time and the regression to the first (native) language as the only mode of communication. The effect could be lasting since the second language seems to have a critical period of optimal acquisition and proficiency. The underlying neural mechanisms indicated that the second language was more vulnerable to the effects of mental illness than the native language.

Hypersexuality in inpatient children and adolescents: recognition, differential diagnosis, and evaluation.

We describe a 17-year-old girl with hypersexuality resulting from virilization, the latter a consequence of polycystic ovary syndrome, and we review the literature pertinent to hypersexuality in children and adults. Inappropriate sexual behavior (a common cause of disruption among children who are hospitalized for psychiatric disorders) may be caused either by hypersexuality or by simply ill-regulated behavior: a definition of hypersexuality is proposed that can be applied at the bedside (namely, sexual behaviors or fantasies that have abruptly increased in frequency by comparison with a previous baseline, are of sufficient excessiveness to disrupt expected or usual social, academic, or occupational functioning, or constitute a source of distress), so that this distinction can be made promptly, and we present a differential diagnosis for hypersexuality to direct its evaluation. Virilization does not seem to be a common cause of hypersexuality in children and adolescents, but it should not be overlooked when it does exist. The differential diagnosis of hypersexuality in adults, which we present for comparison, is much larger than it is in children.

Asperger's disorder: a review of its diagnosis and treatment.

Asperger's disorder is a pervasive developmental disorder that shares similar features of social impairment disorder, restricted interests, and repetitive behaviors with autistic disorder. Although both Asperger's disorder and autistic disorder persist into adulthood, autistic disorder is usually apparent before the age of 3, while Asperger's disorder usually manifests itself at preschool age. Asperger's disorder in the majority of cases is not associated with delay in language development and there is an increased likelihood to seek social interactions and to engage in activities and friendship with others. In contrast to autistic disorder, most Asperger's disorder patients have normal intellectual functioning and some have motor clumsiness. Although the etiology of Asperger's disorder is still undetermined, this article will review the assessment and treatment interventions that could improve the prognosis of this illness. The historical background, epidemiology, diagnostic features, differential diagnosis, and course and overall management/treatment of Asperger's disorder will be discussed. Despite the absence of a cure for Asperger's disorder, the awareness of its distinctive clinical features that differentiate it from autistic disorder could improve its prognosis and differentiate response to treatment and comorbid conditions.