Who asks after my soul? Existential & Spiritual Needs of Patients in Mental Health Care with an Integrative approach

The paper aims to examine the impact of existential needs in improving mental health care for patients. Existential needs are analyzed within the frameworks of the paper using these three questions as the focus:

1. How patients relate their existential needs to their mental health and their health in general? 
2. How patients with mental health issues describe their existential needs, how they interlink it with spirituality and religion to find meaning in life and suffering?
3. How existential needs affect users/patients in mental health and health in general and their coping strategies?

The study has a qualitative research design. In this study I have used 4 research peer reviewed articles which deals with existential needs in mental health care. It also incorporates an integrative analysis and interpretation. Results from the research show that when patients have a stronger spiritual undertone, they have increased transcendence due to the spiritual link with aspects of life such as existentialism, humanism, religion, God, understanding of the immaterial and interrelations with both humanity and nature. Satisfaction of the patients’ existential needs shows an increased recovery in mental health since it helps patients to understand the meaning of suffering, and find a higher purpose in life. Results show that there is a positive correlation between existential needs and body wellness. Discussion of the findings in both the literature review and conclusion is drawn based on theoretical perspectives.

Keywords: existential needs, meaning in life, suffering, mental health, coping