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During my time spent as a practitioner teacher I experienced that students lack of interest for the studies of religion. Nonetheless, students tend to have questions regarding their identity and existential health, questions that, arguably, could be discussed in the scholar of religion. I wished to see if one could increase the interest in religious studies by understanding the students’s health issues and their ideas of existential health. The psychology of religion aims to answer and reflect upon questions regarding health and the well-being of humans. The aim of current study was to explore how adolescents describe their identity in relationship to existential questions. The following research questions were posed:   How do young people express aspects that relate to existential health and identity on the BRIS homepage chat forum? How can these descriptions be interpreted based on Melder's theory of existential health and Erikson's theory of self-development? Can the above analysis contribute to increasing the conditions for pupils' perceived relevance and interest in the teaching of religion in high school?   The method used to answer these was qualitatively targeted content analysis. The qualitative data was generated from the adolescents different expressions, coded with Open Code 4.03. Data were gathered from a Swedish children’s rights organization, BRIS (Barnens rätt i samhället)chat forum and included posts from adolescents between 12 and 18 years old. The material is posted over 2 months, September-October, 2018. The phenomenon was investigated with the help of Erik H Erikson and Cecilia Melder’s theories. Erikson's theory is used based on his theories on the development of young people and its stages. By applying Melder’s theory I was able to search for aspects and parts of the material that could be understood and explained by some or more of the eight existential aspects that, according to the theory, affect the overall self-valued health a person experiences. The result of this study shows that with the help of Erikson’s theory, we can receive knowledge on how young people develop. With Melder's theory we can show the eight existential aspects of the material to reach a deeper understanding of the health of young people. In conclusion, the study also contributes to a further comprehension in how religious studies can be conducive when trying to understand existential health and ideas of identity among adolescents.

Existentiell hälsa: ett naturligt inslag i arbetsterapi – Arbetsterapeuters uppfattningar om hur de integrerar existentiell hälsa i sitt arbete. Som arbetsterapeut kan man möta personer med psykisk ohälsa som bär på existentiella funderingar. Psykisk ohälsa benämns som ett folkhälsoproblem och utgör en stor del av pågående sjukfall i Sverige. Att bemöta och involvera existentiell hälsa i arbetsterapi är därför viktigt för att stödja dessa individer till ökad hälsa och delaktighet. Studiens syfte var att beskriva arbetsterapeuters uppfattningar av hur de integrerar existentiell hälsa för personer med psykisk ohälsa. En kvalitativ metod valdes där data samlades in genom semistrukturerade intervjuer. Deltagarna rekryterades via snöbollsurval och var arbetsterapeuter inom olika verksamhetsområden runt om i Sverige. En kvalitativ innehållsanalys resulterade i en huvudkategori: Existentiell hälsa är ett naturligt inslag i arbetsterapi och tre kategorier: Miljön utgör ett verktyg för att beröra aspekterna i existentiell hälsa, Använda aktiviteter för att väcka tankar och inre känslor samt I samtal medvetandegörs och stärks den existentiella hälsan. Samtliga kategorier har tillhörande underkategorier. Slutsatsen var att existentiell hälsa uppfattades av arbetsterapeuterna som ett naturligt inslag i arbetsterapi och integrerades mer eller mindre avsiktligt gentemot målgruppen med psykisk ohälsa. Den existentiella dimensionen integrerades på olika sätt, genom miljön, aktivitet och samtal. / Existential health: A natural element in occupational therapy - Occupational therapists’ perceptions of how they integrate existential health into their work.Occupational therapists can meet people with mental illness who carry existential thoughts. Mental illness is described as a public health problem in Sweden. Involving existential health in occupational therapy is therefore necessary to increase health and participation. The purpose of the study was to describe Occupational Therapists’ perceptions of how they integrate existential health for people with mental illness.  A qualitative method was chosen where data were collected through semi-structured interviews. The participants were recruited through snowball sampling and were occupational therapist in different institutions around Sweden. A qualitative content analysis resulted in a main category: Existential health is a natural element in occupational therapy and three categories: The environment is used as tool for touching the aspects of existential health, Activities is used to awaken thoughts and feelings and In conversation the existential health is made conscious and strengthened. The conclusion was that existential health was perceived by Occupational Therapists’ as a natural element in occupational therapy and was more or less intentionally integrated towards the target group with mental illness. The existential dimension was integrated through the environment, activities and conversation.

For several decades much research has shown that people who often attend religious services estimate their life quality and health higher than people who never attend church. (e g Koenig, McCullough & Larson, 2001, 2012). Much of this research has been done in USA. What about Sweden - one of the most secularized countries in the world? The theories of existential epidemiology and of the importance of existential health to other aspects of health from prof. Valerie DeMarinis were used as a theoretical base in this study.  The purpose of this mixed method sequential study was to compare 247 elderly (medium age 75) according to their frequencies of church attendance: Were there any significant correlations between frequency of church attendance and existential health according to WHOQOL-SRPB? Where there any significant correlations between existential health and the other aspects of health assessed in WHOQOL?  What factors were mentioned as explanations to existential health among elderly in this secular country? This question was investigated in the second qualitative part of the study where eight interviews were done, four with persons who never attend church and four who often did. The interview persons were matced to demografic variables and to general health according to WHOQOL. Statistical calculations were made with Spearmans rank order correlation and Mann-Withneys U-test for nonparametri variables. The interviews were analyzed both inductively and deductively.  The results showed significant correlations on 0,01 level between church attendance and all aspects of existential health in SRPB. The result also showed significant correlations between every aspect of existential health to other aspects of health, most clearly to social and psychological health. The correations were stronger to some of the aspects of existential health. It was also  a clear difference in existential health accordning to assessment on SRPB between the two groups.  For intrview persons who never attend church the ways to get existential health was for three of them to engage in different activities as physical exercise, music, spending time with relatives and friends. The fourth person, who estimated higher on SRPB, described a number of aspects of existential health. Among those who often attend Sunday service this was not per se a a factor mentioned as an explanation to their high existential health. Instead it was their Christian faith as a whole that made their existential health.  Researchers in Psychology of religion in Sweden claim an existential epidemiology spread, especially in groups of young people and immigrants. This study shows rather low existential health also in a group of elderly . A collaboration between health care centers and local priests, deacons, pastors and imams are suggested to prevent and treat low existential health.

My approach in this exploratory thesis is to lay the foundation for the development of pastoral care for a new time and a new social situation, and to build a foundation for later studies to be able to apply existential queer theological perspectives to the pastoral care work within the Church of Sweden. The work is thus hypoyhesisgenerating in order to develop a method. This is done on the basis of a literature review. By bringing together two theoretical areas, a foundation is created for the development with in the next stage of a new model and tools that improve practical interventions in theological contexts, and that provide new approaches to pastoral care when meeting confidants suffering from depression. athe diagnosis of depression is increasing drastically and affects the world health situation at large. We live in a secular/post-secualr age, when neo-liberalism with its system measures everything in terms of efficiency, productivity and profit. Existential perspectives are generally missing in the National Board of Health and Welfare´s guidelines regarding health today, and the question is what the transformative approach of existential queer theology can contribute to the theological and pastoral care work/meeting with depressed people. My theory is that these perspectives open new avenues for pastoral care in a theological context to contribute to personal health. It is about laying the faoundation for the development of pastoral care with a transformative perspective, for a new time and a new situation. The results and conclusions of the study will be used to develop practice in future research.

Bakgrund: Den äldre befolkningen kommer att öka vilket innebär ett ökat behov av vård och stöd för att en bra hälsa ska kunna upprätthållas. Begreppet hälsa innefattar fysiskt, mentalt och socialt välbefinnande. Det blir allt vanligare att man även tar hänsyn till en existentiell dimension när det gäller hälsan. Interventioner riktade mot existentiell hälsa har visat positiva resultat. Arbetsterapeuters arbetsuppgift är att arbeta klientcentrerat och stärka varje patients emotionella och fysiska välbefinnande utifrån varje individs unika förutsättningar. Spiritualitet ingår som en del i varje människa och är därför en viktig del för arbetsterapeuter att beakta. Syfte: Att kartlägga och beskriva interventioner för äldre personer med fokus på existentiell hälsa. Metod: En litteraturstudie i form av en scoping review har använts. Artiklar har samlats in genom sökningar i databaserna AMED, CINAHL och PubMed. Elva artiklar har slutligen använts i arbetet och resultatet har granskats och analyserats numeriskt och tematiskt. Resultat: Interventionerna har kartlagts och beskrivits under följande kategorier: plats för interventionerna, spirituella interventioner, interventioner riktade mot mening och syfte med livet, kommunikationsbaserade interventioner riktade mot existentiell hälsa samt vårdgivarnas utbildning och utförande av interventioner riktade mot existentiell hälsa. Slutsats: Individuellt utformade interventioner riktade mot äldre personers existentiella hälsa ger ett positivt resultat i form av en bättre fysisk och psykisk hälsa. Känslan av att ha ett syfte och en mening med livet är viktig och ger individen ett ökat välbefinnande. Vidare forskning behöver utföras. / Interventions for elderly people with a focus on existential health - A scoping review.Background: The elderly population will increase, which means an increased need for care and support to ensure that good health can be maintained. The concept of health includes physical, mental and social well-being. It is becoming increasingly common to also consider an existential dimension in terms of health. Interventions aimed at existential health have shown a positive result. The duty of occupational therapists is to work client-centered and strengthen each patient's emotional and physical well-being based on each individual's unique conditions. Spirituality is part of every human being and is therefore an important part of occupational therapists to consider. Purpose: To map and describe interventions for elderly people with a focus on existential health. Method: A literature study in the form of a scoping review has been used. Articles have been collected through searches in the databases AMED, CINAHL and PubMed. Eleven articles have finally been used in the work and the result has been reviewed and analyzed numerically and thematically. Results: The interventions have been mapped and described in the following categories: place for the interventions, spiritual interventions, interventions aimed at meaning and purpose of life, communication-based interventions aimed at existential health and the care providers' education and execution of interventions aimed at existential health. Conclusion: Individually designed interventions aimed at the existential health of elderly people give a positive result in the form of better physical and mental health. The feeling of having a purpose and a meaning with life is important and gives the individual an increased well-being. Further research needs to be done.

Goddess-based civilisations worshipped the divine as a parthenogentic primordial creative force. Parthenogensis a Greek word that derives from parthenos “virgin” and genesis “from the beginning” was the path of liberation or rebirth into one’s divine nature. Thus, the supreme deity was worshipped as the Virgin Goddess who alone, without male intervention created the Universe by entering liminal states or otherwise altered states of consciousness. Ontologically these states in goddess worshipping cultures were entered during rites of passage through dance, repetitive action, song and descending into underground grottoes. It is the intention of this thesis to explore two rites of passage, pre-menarche and menarche to establish if spiritualising these two events in our lives can lead to women having a vision of the divine, which is the intention of parthenogenesis – our own self-realisation.            Using the kaleidoscope theory as the primary methodology - a method which incorporates a consideration of linguistics, mythology, history, and folklore as well as archaeology - this thesis follows several lines of approach. First, by reviewing the belief systems around parthenogenesis through a matriarchal cosmogony myth and other ancient religious interpretations, it shows that in the pre-patriarchal western world a Virgin Mother Goddess was worshipped due to her parthenogenesis.        Second, it argues that the prepubescent initiation for Artemis of Brauron known as the arkteia, where young girls up to the age of 10 would play the She bear for Artemis was pre-menarchial rite of passage that set the stage for the divine experience during menarche, by retaining our instincts and intuition through our wild nature. To illustrate this, archaeological data as well as historical and mythological clues provide substantive evidence for this. Thirdly, it argues that the Annunciation of the Virgin Mary could have actually been her own menarche or first blood, whereby her spiritual conception of Christ-consciousness is announced by Gabriel and begins her journey to liberation through parthenogenesis. This will be illustrated through early century iconography and theological interpretations of Mary as she weaves the red thread to create the veil of the temple of Jerusalem. Additionally, through the Gospel of Mary Magdalene who was the first Apostle to see a vision of the resurrected Christ and is today considered the keeper of women’s blood mysteries, I argue that the spiritualising of menarche can also lead women to eventually have a vision of the divine, which culminates the path and intention of parthenogenesis – our own self-realisation.            Lastly it explores through existential health how these two rites of passage are reclaimed in the modern world and how they provide an embodied relationship for women with the divine.      This study pulls together fragmented elements of pre-history to make a compelling case for menarche as being the foundation for self-realisation and contemporary understanding of mythological and biblical narratives, rites of passage and their liminal spaces. The lost matriarchal path of parthenogenesis is determined to be applicable ontologically in the modern world.

Psykisk ohälsa är ett utbrett problem i det svenska samhället. En möjlig delförklaring till detta kan vara bristen på utrymme för existentiella frågor i vården såväl som i samhället i stort. På senare tid har existentiella dimensioner av hälsa uppmärksammats allt mer. Det digitala Livsstilsverktyget är utformat för att främja hälsa ur ett holistiskt och existentiellt perspektiv. Denna studie syftade till att undersöka användares upplevelser av existentiell hälsa i relation till Livsstilsverktyget. Sex användare intervjuades och materialet analyserades genom en induktiv tematisk analys. Analysen resulterade i tre teman: Hitta sin egen väg, Omvärderade förhållningssätt och Att vila i något större. Upplevelser av existentiell hälsa i relation till Livsstilsverktyget berörde ökad självkännedom, förändrade förhållningssätt till sig själv och sin omvärld, närvaro i livet och utforskande av andlighet. / Mental illness is a widespread problem in the Swedish society. A partial explanation for this could be the lack of space for existential questions in healthcare and in society as a whole. Recently there has been an increased recognition of existential dimensions of health. The digital lifestyle-tool Livsstilsverktyget is designed to promote health from a holistic and existential perspective. This study aimed to examine users' experience of existential health in relation to Livsstilsverktyget. Six users were interviewed and the material was analyzed through an inductive thematic analysis. The analysis resulted in three themes: Finding one’s own way, Reassessed approaches and To rest in something bigger. Experiences of existential health in relation to Livsstilsverktyget included increased self-awareness, changed approaches to oneself and one's surroundings, presence in life and exploration of spirituality.

Author: Charlotte Hedberg Affiliation: Stockholm School of Theology- University College Stockholm The inner revolution  A pilot study of Existential health in relation to mystical experience. The aim of the pilot study is to investigate five individuals self-rated health in relation to the existential aspects in secular contexts. Intensive experiences often lead to a new way of looking at life and a new orientation in life. The study builds on five qualitative interviews and theories of mysticism, existential health as well as alexithymia. The empiric material is analyzed through Pahnkes nine typologies for mystical experience aswell as the existential health facets stated in WHOQOL-SRPB.  The study found that all of the participants had experienced an increased self-rated existential health after their mystical experiences. The conclusion of the study states that mystical experiences has been positively affecting self-rated existential health in all eight existential health facets stated in WHOQOL-SRPB.  The results are discussed by adding theories of alexythymia and the role of interpretation.

This thesis examines and presents a critical analysis of how societal institutions in Sweden use efforts to improve existential health as a tool to increase coping skills, resilience and meaning-making. The data set consisted of three webinars arranged within the concept “Meaning-making in our time”, with the Swedish Association of Local Authorities and Regions as the coordinator and wherein examples of existential health efforts were shared. Primarily concerned questions were how the needs of meaning-making and existential health were described, how existential health was used as a tool and what consequences the efforts may cause on individual and societal level. The methodology used was qualitative thematic content analysis, and the theoretical framework was derived from an understanding of meaning-making, coping and resilience in a biopsychosocial-ecological system according to Pargament, Kleinman/DeMarinis, Bronfenbrenner and Ungar. The results of the inquiries show that the webinars picture a broad understanding of how existential health can contribute to coping and resilience, mainly on the individual level. Possible effects might be seen in healthcare and in an expanded common understanding of the existential questions as a part of human life, no matter if there is a religious belief or not. The systemic and interactional effects, and how resilience can be strengthened on a societal level, are less mentioned.