Religious Delusions in a Xhosa Schizophrenia Population.

Here, we assessed for the first time the frequency of religious delusions and the effect of treatment on religiosity and the phenomena of religious delusions in a Xhosa schizophrenia population. Religious delusions were present in 42 (70 %) participants, and treatment significantly reduced religiosity ( p = 0.02) as well as mean scores for certain phenomena associated with the delusions including changes in both thinking ( p = 0.0001) and behaviour ( p = 0.0001), as well as affective response to the delusion ( p = 0.0001) The high frequency of religious delusions may indicate a higher tolerance for religious delusions in this community. It is therefore important to educate spiritual leaders on mental illness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]