Vacunación y consideraciones sobre sobre la fe cristiana

La serie Guías para el diálogo sobre la vacunación contra la COVID-19 comprende nueve folletos en formato pregunta-respuesta destinados tanto al personal de salud y a los equipos de vacunación que combaten la enfermedad en primera línea como a los periodistas y comunicadores a cargo de ese segundo frente esencial que es el de la información. El objetivo es proporcionarles un argumentario sencillo, didáctico y eficaz que facilite la labor de sensibilización sobre la importancia de las vacunas y simplifique el trabajo de acompañamiento a la ciudadanía en el proceso de toma de decisiones responsables sobre la salud. Para ello, estos materiales recorren diferentes temáticas, dudas y controversias sobre la COVID-19, aportando respuestas basadas en la evidencia científica más reciente, en un lenguaje claro y accesible, para su utilización en los centros de salud y en las campañas de vacunación en las comunidades. La OPS quiere contribuir así al esfuerzo que la Región de las Américas ha emprendido contra la desinformación y las teorías negacionistas, minoritarias pero contraproducentes, que se han instalado en nuestras sociedades y que, sobre todo a través de las diferentes formas de rechazo a las vacunas, dificultan la erradicación de esta pandemia. Esta guía examina las dudas que algunos creyentes suelen manifestar sobre las vacunas y, desde los preceptos de la fe, proporciona argumentos para despejarlas.

Por la psicopatología hacia Dios: psiquiatría y saber de salvación durante el primer franquismo / Christian psychopathology: psychiatry and knowledge for the sake of salvation in the early years of Francoism

Al finalizar la Segunda Guerra Mundial, el régimen franquista intentó distanciarse de los fascismos derrotados acentuando su carácter católico. El cambio de imagen culminó en 1947 con el establecimiento, mediante la Ley de Sucesión, de España como Estado Católico. Este proceso ocasionó que la ideología nacional-católica se convirtiera en las primeras décadas de la dictadura en la fuerza hegemónica para la transformación de la sociedad española en un sentido antimodernizador. La actividad científica no quedó exenta de esa modulación, fomentándose la creación de una ciencia católica, portadora de valores universales y armonizada con la fe. Los conceptos psiquiátricos elaborados por Juan José López Ibor durante el primer franquismo -la anagogía, el instinto de perfección, la psicagogia y, sobre todo, la timopatía ansiosa y la angustia vital- constituyeron un ejemplo de esa ciencia católica. Se analizan aquí el trasfondo cristiano de dichas nociones, su repercusión científica y la utilidad social que tuvieron para la dictadura. El trabajo subraya como resultados, por un lado, la concepción de esas nociones psiquiátricas clave del primer franquismo como saberes de salvación, esto es, como transmisoras de supuestos valores eternos acordes con la visión del catolicismo dominante por entonces; y, por otro, el funcionamiento de tales nociones como un dispositivo más de la red reguladora diseñada y desplegada por el franquismo para fomentar la sumisión y la resignación de la población (AU)

After World War II came to an end, General Franco's regime attempted to step aside from the defeated fascist states by emphasizing its Catholic character. The change of image culminated in 1947 with the establishment of Spain as a Catholic State by means of the Law of Succession. This process generated the national catholic ideology, which became, during the first decades of the dictatorship, the hegemonic instrument for the transformation of Spanish society in an anti-modernizing way. Scientific activity was not excluded from these changes, and a Catholic science conveying universal values and in harmony with the faith was strongly encouraged. One example of this Catholic science was the psychiatric approach developed by Juan José López Ibor during the first Francoist period, including the concepts of anagogy, the perfection instinct, psychagogy and, above all, anxious thymopathy and life anguish. This paper analyses the Christian background of these notions, their scientific repercussions and their social utility for the dictatorship. This paper emphasizes the consideration of these key notions of Spanish psychiatry during the First Francoism as knowledge of salvation, i.e., as conveyors of assumed eternal values in accordance with the prevailing view of Catholicism. On the other hand, it points to the functioning of these concepts as a part of the regulatory network designed and deployed by Francoism to promote submission and resignation in the Spanish population

I Want to Believe: A Short Psychobiography of Mary Baker Eddy.

The 18th and 19th centuries were beset with new religious movements in the United States: Shakers, Latter Day Saints, Millerites, and Seventh Day Adventists to name a few. One group, Christian Science, held radically different views than their counterparts and their origins lay in the most unlikely of places, a perpetually ill and poor woman from New Hampshire. Much has been said about Mary Baker Eddy: some say that she was a prophet, others that she was a fraud. Herein no such judgments are made. This study seeks to look into the life of Mary Baker Eddy from a psychological lens in the hopes that insight can be gained into the founding of the First Church of Jesus Christ Scientist and perhaps to allay the binary of Mrs. Eddy as either prophet or fanatic.

Boundary objects in complementary and alternative medicine: acupuncture vs. Christian Science.

Nearly four in ten American use complementary or alternative medicine (CAM) each year. Even with a large number of patients, CAM practitioners face scrutiny from physicians and biomedical researchers who, in an era of evidence-based medicine, argue there is little evidence to support CAM treatments. Examining how CAM has or has not been integrated into American health care is crucial in understanding the contemporary boundaries of healthcare systems. An analytical tool from science and technology studies, boundary objects, can help scholars of medicine understand which practices become integrated into these systems. Using a comparative analysis based on archival and interview data, this paper examines the use of boundary objects in two alternative medical practices - acupuncture and Christian Science. While boundary objects alone cannot explain what health practices succeed or fail, juxtaposing the use of boundary objects by different CAM groups identifies the work boundary objects do to facilitate integration and the conditions under which they "work." I find that acupuncturists' use of sterile needles as a boundary objects assists in their effective integration into U.S. healthcare because needles are both a symbol of biomedical prowess and a potentially unsafe device requiring regulation. Christian Scientists' use of the placebo effect as a boundary object has not succeeded because they fail to acknowledge the different contextual definitions of the placebo effect in biomedical communities. This comparative analysis highlights how context affects which boundary objects "work" for CAM practices and theorizes why alternative health practices succeed or fail to become integrated into healthcare systems.

Cultivating a "chairside manner": dental hypnosis, patient management psychology, and the origins of behavioral dentistry in America, 1890-1910.

Discussions regarding the use of hypnotism in dentistry featured prominently in dental journals and society proceedings during the decades around the turn of the twentieth century. Many dentists used hypnotic suggestion either as the sole anesthetic for extractions or in conjunction with local and general anesthetics for excavation and cavity filling. With the heralding of humanitarian dentistry and improved local anesthesia around 1905, a number of dentists advocated using suggestion psychology to calm nervous patients and increase their comfort and satisfaction levels while undergoing dental procedures. The practice of hypnotic suggestion with local and general anesthesia in providing patients with increasingly painless procedures constituted the earliest variety of behavioral dentistry, a discipline not fully developed until the closing decades of the twentieth century. Hypnosis and suggestion became driving forces for psychological applications in the formative years of behavioral dentistry.

Medicine and spiritual healing within a region of Canada: preliminary findings concerning Christian Scientists' healthcare practices.

Christian Science is the largest and most recognized of various spiritual healing groups that encourage members to forgo or overcome the need for medicine. Even so, it appears that some Scientists occasionally use medicine. In this study, I argue that Scientists in one region of Canada respond to influences on their healthcare practices differently and follow a variety of healthcare practices. These practices range from refusing medically necessary treatment (which could potentially harm individuals' health) to making full use of the medical system. I base my findings primarily on interviews with eleven current members and one former Christian Scientist.

Psiquiatría y religión: La Asociación Mundial de Psiquiatría más allá de los límites / Psychiatry and Religion: World Psychiatric Association Beyond Boundaries

Objetivo. Este artículo reflejará la relevancia de las discusiones sobre "Religión y ciencia" para la Asociación Mundial de Psiquiatría (AMP). La reflexión sobre este tema aún no ha comenzado, a pesar de la publicación por parte de la AMP del manual ‘Religion and Psychiatry: Beyond Boundaries’, emprendido por la sección de religión, espiritualidad y psiquiatría de la AMP. Discurso. Siguiendo el modelo propuesto por el filósofo de religión y ética holandés Willem Drees, se enunciarán y discutirán dos afirmaciones: 5. La AMP, representando la psiquiatría mundial, necesita cambiar su posición en relación a la religión y la espiritualidad. Se debe hacer yendo más allá de las constricciones científicas de mente estrecha como las reduccionistas o materialistas.6. La psiquiatría y la religión no deben considerarse adversarias, oponiéndose una a la otra, sino aliadas contra la superstición y el sin sentido. Conclusión. La frontera entre religión (y espiritualidad) y la práctica de la Psiquiatría cada vez es más porosa. Los psiquiatras no pueden esconderse mucho más tiempo detrás del rechazo a las creencias religiosas como patológicas o detrás del cientificismo biomédico en un mundo globalizado de múltiples fes y culturas. En consecuencia, hay una razón importante para enlazar ‘religión y ciencia’ más allá de los viejos conflictos. Esta razón podría ser la persistencia de supersticiones y sinsentidos (religiosas y científicas)(AU)

Objective. This paper will reflect on the significance of the discussions on ‘Religion and Science’ for the World Reflection on this topic has not even started yet despite the publication of a WPA handbook on ‘Religion and Psychiatry: Beyond Boundaries’, started up by the WPA Section of Religion, Spirituality and Psychiatry. Discourse. Following the model proposed by the Dutch philosopher of Religion and Ethics Willem Drees, two statements will be formulated and discussed: 1. The WPA, indeed representing world psychiatry, needs to change its position toward religion and spirituality. It should do so by crossing narrow minded scientific boundaries like reductionist and materialistic boundaries. 2. Psychiatry and religion should not be regarded as opposing adversaries against each other, but as allies against superstition and nonsense. Conclusion. The boundary between religion (and spirituality) and the practice of psychiatry is becoming increasingly porous. No longer can psychiatrists in a multifaith, multi-cultural, globalized world hide behind the dismissal of religious belief as pathological, or behind biomedical scientism. Consequently, there is a far more important reason for engaging in ‘Religion and Science’ than the outdated conflicts. That reason would be the persistence of (religious and scientific) superstition and nonsense(AU)

The First Church of Christ, Pragmatist: Christian Science and responsible optimism.

A common criticism of Christian Science is that it is neither Christian nor scientific. American psychologist and philosopher William James would not, I believe, share this view, even though he does make critical comments about Christian Science's orginator and her dogmatic followers. Following a suggestion of James, I distinguish two types of critical inquiry into Christian Science--outsider criticism and insider criticism--and show that the latter yields the better results. A pragmatic version of Christian Science can be offered that is distinct both from the myopic critics who malign it and from the dogmatic followers who recklessly adhere to it.

What more in the name of god? Theologies and theodicies of faith healing.

The recent deaths of two children from parental decisions to rely on faith healing rather than medical treatment raises fundamental questions about the extent and limits of religious liberty in a liberal democratic society. This essay seeks to identify and critically examine three central issues internal to the ethics of religious communities that engage in faith healing regarding children: (1) the various forms of religious and nonreligious justification for faith healing; (2) the moral, institutional, or metaphysical wrong of medical practice from the perspectives of faith-healing communities; (3) the explanation or "theodicy" articulated by the religious community when faith healing does not occur and a child dies. The essay finds that the holding in Prince v. Massachusetts that parents with religious convictions cannot enforce martyrdom on their children presents a guiding principle for medicine and public policy.

Ethics of responsibility in a multicultural context.

Caring for patients from different cultural or religious backgrounds may create difficult ethical dilemmas for physicians. The article reviews four case histories, involving patients from the Navajo culture or the Christian Science Church, that highlight some of these ethical problems. It then discusses an "ethics of responsibility," which is based on and encompasses a variety of meanings of responsibility, including responsibility as recognition, as taking charge, as the ability to assess the consequences of one's actions, and as making a commitment. An ethics of responsibility provides a novel perspective for resolving ethical problems in medicine.

Child welfare versus parental autonomy: medical ethics, the law, and faith-based healing.

Over the past three decades more than 200 children have died in the U.S. of treatable illnesses as a result of their parents relying on spiritual healing rather than conventional medical treatment. Thirty-nine states have laws that protect parents from criminal prosecution when their children die as a result of not receiving medical care. As physicians and citizens, we must choose between protecting the welfare of children and maintaining respect for the rights of parents to practice the religion of their choice and to make important decisions for their children. In order to make and defend such choices, it is essential that we as health care professionals understand the history and background of such practices and the legal aspects of previous cases, as well as formulate an ethical construct by which to begin a dialogue with the religious communities and others who share similar beliefs about spiritual healing. In this paper, we provide a framework for these requirements.

Health care as a community good. Many dimensions, many communities, many views of justice.

We often speak of health care as a social good. What kind of good it is--and what justice requires of us in making it available to the members of society--depends on how society understands it. Yet the value of health care may be understood in many different ways within society.