[Reformed pietists: higher risk for suicide? A retrospective cohort study on the incidence of suicides in a christian institute for mental health care]. / Bevindelijk gereformeerd: risicofactor voor suïcide? Een retrospectief cohortonderzoek naar de incidentie van suïcides in een christelijke ggz-instelling.

BACKGROUND: In scientific literature, active commitment to a religious community is considered to be a protective factor against suicidal behavior. However, it is assumed that this protective effect does not apply to 'reformed pietists' or strict Calvinists, an orthodox-protestant group in the Netherlands.
AIM: To explore whether the incidence of suicide is higher among reformed pietists than among other Christian patients of Eleos, a Dutch christian institute for mental health care.
METHOD: A retrospective cohort study was conducted over the period 2000-2017. All evaluating reports, which were written after a suicide, were analyzed.
RESULTS: In the period 2000-2017 28 evident suicides were committed. The number of suicides among reformed pietistic patients was about 10 times lower than among other Christian patients.
CONCLUSION: The assumption that reformed pietists run a relatively high risk for suicide does not have adequate grounds. In case of risk assessment, reformed pietistic affiliation might be considered to be more a protecting than a risk-increasing factor for suicide.

[Symptoms of depression in strict Calvinist patients and in patients without religious affiliations: a comparison]. / Symptomen bij een depressie; bevindelijk gereformeerde versus niet-kerkelijke patiënten.

BACKGROUND: Culture can have a considerable influence on the way in which a depression is experienced, expressed or presented. Strict Calvinists or reformed pietists form an orthodox protestant cultural minority in the Netherlands. This orthodox wing of the Dutch Reformed Churches places a strong emphasis on personal religious experience of God's work of conversion. It is possible that symptoms of depression in this group differ somewhat from such symptoms in nonaffiliated depressed patients. AIM: To determine whether depressive symptoms in strict Calvinistic patients differ from those in non-affiliated patients. METHOD: Seventy depressed adult Dutch nationals receiving treatment as outpatients under the mental health service were asked to fill in a depression self-scoring list (Beck Depression Inventory II (bdi-ii)). A comparison was made between the total scores and scores of symptom clusters of strict Calvinists and the corresponding scores of non-affiliated patients. results The strict Calvinists had a lower total score than the non-affiliated patients on the bdi-ii and their scores were particularly lower for the symptom clusters suicidality and restrictions in functioning. CONCLUSION: Strict Calvinists differed from the non-affiliated patients in the way in which they presented on a depression self scoring list during depression. Perhaps strict Calvinists have less chance of being diagnosed and treated at an early stage because they conceal their depression and struggle on for a longer time. The study shows that insight into the religious background of Dutch national patients can be important for accurate psychiatric diagnostics.