A Novel Religious/Spiritual Group Psychotherapy Reduces Depressive Symptoms in a Randomized Clinical Trial

Abstract

This randomized controlled trial aimed to examine the effect of the Happy Science doctrine-based group psychotherapy on depressive symptoms in 118 Japanese mental disorder outpatients. The treatment group (n = 58) took part in five 90-min sessions at one-week intervals, while the control group (n = 60) received standard care including medication. Depressive symptoms were assessed before the intervention, 5 weeks after the intervention, and at 3-month follow-up. Compared to the control group, the treatment group showed a significant reduction in depressive symptoms both at post-intervention and at 3-month follow-up. In conclusion, this group psychotherapy might be of benefit in treating depressive symptoms.

Keywords: Buddhism; Causality; Happy Science; Reincarnation; Spiritual group psychotherapy.

Fig. 1

CONSORT flowchart illustrating the recruitment of patients for the present randomized controlled trial

Fig. 2

Average total CES-D change scores by group at pre-intervention (0 W), post-intervention (5 W), and 3-month follow-up (17 W). Values are mean ± SE; CES-D, center for epidemiologic studies depression scale; change scores were computed using the following formula (CES-D total score at each time point − CES-D total score at pre-intervention); all analyses controlled for illness duration and taking sleep medication; ***p < 0.001 compared with the corresponding value in the control group