title: Psychiatric implications of religious conversion.
abstract: Some of the literature concerning religious phenomena and conversion experience is reviewed. Three cases have been described in which there are several common factors leading to religious conversion - a specific unconscious conflict, a conscious conflict with which the individual is actively struggling, adolescence, and a fundamentalist religious belief. The cases presented are examples of each of three possible solutions to the patient's conflictual dilemma. A central feature of the psychodynamics in these cases is the resolution of an (Edipal conflict through delayed identification with the parent of the opposite sex.
authors.affiliation: University of Manitoba, Winnipeg.
authors.forename: G E
authors.initials: GE
authors.lastname: Allison
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000523:psychology* / Q000628:therapy*; D008875:Middle Aged; D012069:Religion and Psychology; D012649:Self Concept