Graduate School of Social Work, 5931Touro College.
Department of Psychiatry, 1811Harvard Medical School.
Transcult Psychiatry. 2022 Dec;59(6):756-766. doi: 10.1177/13634615211068607. Epub 2022 Jan 12.
Historical clinical reports and media narratives suggest that Orthodox Jews are reticent to seek treatment for mental illness, present only with serious concerns, and hesitate to comply with treatment in general and psychopharmacology in particular. On the other hand, recent developments, and some limited research, suggest that Orthodox Jews may be likely to seek and comply with treatment. The current study compared the diagnostic, symptomatic, and treatment characteristics of 191 Orthodox Jews and 154 control patients all presenting to a large private mental health clinic with offices throughout greater New York. Results indicated that the groups were largely demographically similar, and that their diagnoses did not significantly differ. Orthodox Jews initially presented with lower levels of symptoms, terminated with similar symptom levels, attended a similar number of sessions, and were equally likely to use psychopharmacological interventions of similar types, compared to controls. This was equally true of ultra-Orthodox and modern Orthodox Jews. Clinicians providing mental health services to Orthodox Jews should be aware of these findings, which contrast with existing clinical and popular stereotypes. Further, excessive efforts to protect Orthodox Jewish patients against stigma may be unnecessary and counterproductive.
历史临床报告和媒体叙事表明，东正教犹太人不愿寻求治疗精神疾病，只有在出现严重问题时才会就诊，而且总体上对治疗犹豫不决，尤其是对精神药理学治疗。另一方面，最近的发展和一些有限的研究表明，东正教犹太人可能更愿意寻求和接受治疗。本研究比较了 191 名东正教犹太人和 154 名对照组患者的诊断、症状和治疗特征，这些患者均在一家大型私人心理健康诊所就诊，该诊所的办公室遍布纽约大都市区。结果表明，两组在人口统计学上基本相似，其诊断结果没有显著差异。与对照组相比，东正教犹太人最初的症状水平较低，治疗结束时的症状水平相似，就诊次数相似，同样有可能使用类似类型的精神药理学干预措施。极端正统派和现代正统派的犹太教徒也是如此。为东正教犹太人提供心理健康服务的临床医生应该了解这些发现，这些发现与现有的临床和流行的刻板印象形成对比。此外，过度努力保护东正教犹太患者免受污名化可能是不必要的和适得其反的。
