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  Mental Disorders and Reasons for Using Complementary Therapy  
 

Published in the Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, Volume 48, No. 7, August 2003.

 

Objective: To compare patients with and without mental disorders who seek services from a complementary therapy practitioner with regard to quality of life, reasons for seeking complementary therapies, complaints, and physical conditions.

Method: A study of new patients who attended a complementary therapy clinic offering acupuncture treatment between July 1, 1993 and March 31, 1995. Data were collected from a self-administered questionnaire and from a physician-conducted psychiatric assessment.

Results: Of the 826 new patients at the clinic, 578 (70%) presented with a mental disorder. Patients with a mental disorder perceived their quality of life as poorer and reported greater levels of stress than did those without a mental disorder. However, the groups did not differ in their self-reported reasons for seeking complementary therapies, in their complaints, or in their physical conditions. Among patients with a mental disorder, the major reasons for choosing complementary therapies were personal preference, interest, or belief in complementary therapies (44.3%) and perceiving complementary therapies as a last resort (30.7%). Most patients with a mental disorder saw a complementary practitioner for musculoskeletal and connective-tissue disorders (44.1%), fatigue (26.6%), and headache (15.2%). The most frequent physical illnesses among patients with a mental disorder were diseases of the musculoskeletal system and connective tissue (42.6%).

Conclusion: Like their counterparts without a mental disorder, individuals with a mental disorder use complementary therapies because of personal beliefs. The wide use of complementary therapies among individuals with a mental disorder may be ascribed to a poor quality of life and high levels of distress.

Clinical Implications:
• Psychiatric patients who seek help from a complementary therapy clinic do so most often because they have physical complaints, although feelings of depression, stress, and sleep deprivation also play a role.
• The main reason for attending a complementary therapy clinic is patient belief in the value of these therapies

Key Words: mental disorders, comorbidity, complementary therapies, acupuncture, quality of life.