In 1996, the Spiritual Care Center in the name of St. John of Kronstadt began its activities. A number of books, brochures and articles covering the problems of spirituality in psychiatry, psychotherapy, and psychology have been published. In short, work in this important area has begun, but much remains to be done.

The modern stage of psychiatry is being created today and depends on us, dear colleagues, on our faith and spirituality. Our Lord Jesus Christ will ask us for every day, for every patient. Do we work for the glory of God or not? This question remains open for now.

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In Christian anthropology, personality is considered in the unity of spiritual, mental and bodily manifestations. And this unity is achieved only under the condition of the predominant influence of the sphere of the spirit.

According to St. Nicodemus of the Holy Mountain, "Let your spirit, seeking the God of Heaven, rule over the soul and body, the purpose of which is to arrange temporal life." In this unity is health, the norm of human existence.

According to St. Theophan the Recluse, the spiritual sphere in a person consists of: reverence and life in the fear of God, conscience, and the search for God.

"The spirit is, first of all, the ability of a person to distinguish the highest values: good and evil, truth and falsehood, beauty and ugliness. If the choice in this area is made, then the spirit seeks to subordinate the soul and body to its decision. Through his spirit, man communicates with God. Without communion with God, the human spirit is unable to find a real criterion for determining the highest values, since only God, Who Himself is absolute goodness, truth and beauty, can correctly indicate the solution to man" (Orthodox Catechism).

In accordance with these spheres of personality, any illness has, first of all, a spiritual, and only then a psychophysiological nature.

The spiritual approach, and for me this is the Orthodox approach to a sick person, does not replace the medical-biological view, but enriches, complements and completes the idea of the personality.

Causes of mental illness