Abstract

Syed Asif Hussain

The present study was carried out to explore the effects of spirituality in improvement of Depression and OCD. Depression is one of the common psychological disorders among young adults in Pakistan; it not only reduces work performance but also affects the quality of life. Cause effect study was carried out to appreciate the correlation between Spiritual Energy Meditation and improvement in depression and OCD. As argued by Nicholls, religious and spiritual experiences of service users are pathologised, ignored or dismissed by many working in mental health services (Nicholls, 2002), the particular study has been chosen to assist clinical psychologists to improve their treatment skills by integrating spiritual interventions in clinical psychology. The subject of this study included (N= 56) patients of depression and OCD between the ages of 22 to 33. These patients were randomized into equally assigned groups with each group consisting of 28 participants. The test group received a total of 28 meditation therapy sessions of Spiritual Energy Meditation during the 06 weeks period. HDRS (HAM-D) was used to evaluate the effects of meditation. The depression patients who received Spiritual Energy Meditation therapy compared with the non-intervention group saw remarkable improvements in reduction of depression and OCD (P<0.003). The study suggests that integration of spiritual interventions in clinical psychology can prove to be a major breakthrough in treatment of depression and OCD.