PSYCHOSOCIAL ADJUSTMENT AMONG RETURNEES TO JUDAISM

Two groups of returnees to Orthodox Judaism who were among Lubavitcher Hasidim attending an outpatient mental health center were studied to investigate a relief effect upon returning. One group manifested lifelong serious psychopathology, and the members of the comparison group, who had undergone similar religious transition, had sought help for adjustment-type problems. The psychopathology manifested prior to religious change persisted for those who had exhibited a lifelong history of pathology, even after the radical transition. The lack of a relief effect and the lifestyles possibly unique to Lubavitcher Hasidim are discussed.