Psychiatry University of Minnesota, Minnesota, USA.
J Relig Health. 1973 Apr;12(2):181-8. doi: 10.1007/BF01532470.
In the absence of mental health workers, the people of Laos effectively support one another through crises and role changes. They accomplish this by employing social institutions and traditions that have been present in their culture from antiquity. Central to these traditional social resources are religious ritual (especially thebaci), community "elders", and homecentered religious activities involving the extended family, neighbors, and friends.We in the Western world can learn from Lao Buddhism. As mental health workers have displaced religious leaders, our standards for behavior have moved from "what is right" toward "what is done". Life-change events have increased in our lives, butrites de passage have atrophied. At times of crisis, neighbors, relatives, friends, and clergy often fail to lend support when it is most needed.Religion can and should contribute to the mental health of a people. It cannot accomplish this by larger churches, more elaborate theology, or an isolated clergy. Instead, simple home-centered ritual, conducted by leaders whom participants know and with whom they can identify, should be adapted to the crises and role shifts in our lives today.
在缺乏心理健康工作者的情况下，老挝人民通过危机和角色转变有效地相互支持。他们通过利用自古就存在于其文化中的社会制度和传统来实现这一目标。这些传统社会资源的核心是宗教仪式（尤其是“巴奇”）、社区“长者”以及以家庭为中心的宗教活动，涉及大家庭、邻居和朋友。我们西方人可以从老挝佛教中学习。随着心理健康工作者取代了宗教领袖，我们的行为标准已经从“正确的”转向了“做了什么”。我们生活中的生活变化事件增加了，但过渡仪式却萎缩了。在危机时刻，邻居、亲戚、朋友和神职人员往往在最需要的时候无法提供支持。宗教可以而且应该为一个民族的心理健康做出贡献。它不能通过更大的教堂、更精致的神学或孤立的神职人员来实现。相反，应该根据我们今天生活中的危机和角色转变，改编由参与者认识并能认同的领导者主持的简单的以家庭为中心的仪式。
