from II.I - Clinical Conditions
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 28 October 2019
Whether the experience, symptoms, treatment or neuropathology of Parkinson’s disease (PD) could potentially play a role in shaping religious beliefs and practices can be viewed from several different angles. For example, a diagnosis of a serious illness could make one reassess and question previously held attitudes and beliefs; faith in a benign God may be challenged. Spirituality, broadly defined as a quest for meaning and truth, could also play a role in the process of integrating the experience of living with Parkinson’s disease, as with any disease or major life experience. Less conscious mechanisms might also be in play, more intrinsic to the disease process, such as loss of motivational drive due to dopaminergic dysfunction. The resulting apathy, which is often seen in PD, might reduce efforts to pursue personal interests, including a religious faith. Cognitive deficits, for example altered social cognition such as changes in ‘theory of mind’, could also potentially contribute. At a more pragmatic level, problems with decreasing mobility, and energy levels as well as a host of other symptoms and drug side-effects could potentially make all aspects of daily life problematic, therefore impeding the pursuit of religious practices or a spiritual path. In this chapter we review and discuss the existing literature and research, in the hope that it might augment understanding of this little-studied aspect of PD as well as contribute to cognitive perspectives on religious belief and experience.
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