DSM-IV Religious and Spiritual Problems

Case Example: DSM-IV qi-gong Psychotic Reaction

Mr A is a 44-year-old married male painter. He taught himself He Xiang Zhuang (a popular Qigong method since 1984 for the treatment of disease of the cervical vertebra). He had no previous psychiatric history or any family history of psychosis. Several days after Qigong practice, he suddenly became agitated and dysthymic. He claimed that he knew something special about the world including "the sea is associated with water". He talked to the sea and had American ideas in his head. He was subsequently diagnosed as having a schizophreniform disorder and was admitted to a local psychiatric hospital. One month later, he had a relapse while practising the 'long men five flow', which is a Qigong method. On the third morning after the practice, he suddenly cried aloud and danced around. He thought that his deceased mother had come back to life but that he would become a ghost. He said that he could see the images of Buddha and other gods and he smelt a special smell. He intermittently maintained a special Qigong posture. He was thus readmitted into the psychiatric hospital. The Rivermead Postconcussion Symptoms Questionaire showed extroversion while the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory showed schizophrenic character. He was given chlorpromazine 100 mg intramuscularly twice daily. A week later, he was completely recovered and had resumed work.

(from From CULTURE-BOUND PSYCHIATRIC DISORDERS ASSOCIATED WITH QIGONG PRACTICE IN CHINA By Dr. HH Shan Hong Kong J Psychiatry 2000;10(3):12-14)