Clinical profiles of Hare Krishna devotees.

The author tested the entire population (N = 42) of the Hare Krishna Temple in Melbourne on the MMPI, the General Health Questionnaire, and the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire psychometric indices and then randomly selected 6 subjects to take the Present State Examination. All scores and findings were within the normal range, although members showed a slight decline in mental health (as measured on the MMPI) after 1 1/2 years in the movement and a slight increase in mental health after 3 years in the movement. These findings do not support the popular view that many members of the Hare Krishna movement are mentally disordered.