Book of Abstracts

Mind and Body / Psyche and Soma: Personality Disorders and Somatization as Means to Explore the Nature of Spirituality
Authors:
Katarzyna Skrzypinska, Institute of Psychology, University of Gdansk, GdaƄsk, Poland
Abstract ID: 122
Keywords: Spirituality, body-mind, psyche-soma, schizophrenia, somatization

The aim of this study was to expand knowledge about the phenomenon of spirituality as a dimension of personality (MacDonald, 2000; SkrzypiƄska, TNS, 2014, 2022) in the aspect of psycho-somatic functioning of a person. Two perspectives were adopted: 1) "mind" (psyche) and 2) "body" (soma). The functioning of spirituality was tested in two conditions important for efficient vs. disabled functioning of personality. As an example of dysfunctional behavior, the following were taken into account: 1) split personality and dereism characteristic of the image of schizophrenia, 2) somatization through emotions. Two groups of hypotheses were created for: 1) Mind/psyche (regarding the comparison of spirituality of healthy people and people with schizophrenia), 2) Soma/body (regarding the comparison of functioning of healthy and somatizing people).

We used: Expression of Spirituality Inventory – Revised (ESI-R) (MacDonald, 2000, adapted by SkrzypiƄska, Jurek, BrewczyƄski and MacDonald, 2025); Four Dimensional Symptom Questionnaire (4DSQ) (Terluin, 2006); Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS, Diener et al., 1984); Emotions Measurement Scale (ByƂa & Wojciszke, 2004); My Spiritual Experiences (SkrzypiƄska, 2017). The study included: 1) people with schizophrenia, simple and paranoid, during hospital treatment (N=145), 2) somatizing people from the general population (N=252). The spirituality of healthy people was more individualized and integrated with everyday life, while in sick people it took on a more formal and communal character, which may limit the diversity of spiritual experiences. Extensive spirituality coexists with a reduced level of somatization, which may have significant consequences for psychotherapy and supporting spiritual development as a health service.

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