1. REPORT
Submitted To
Siddhartha Vashishta Charitable Trust
By
Rachna Mishra
M.A. Psychology
Delhi University
Being a Master‟s student in Psychology from Delhi University, it is expected out of
the top 20% student population in the department to carry out a dissertation in the
final year under supervision of a faculty professor. The topic that have selected
belongs to a specialised branch of Psychology that is currently in its nascent stages, i.e.
Positive Psychology. My topic is “ Spirituality and Mental Health” where I „am
looking into four spiritual dimensions (Meaning, Transcendence, Intrinsic values and
Spiritual community) in five groups of people:
 Caregivers of psychiatric patients.
 Cancer patients
 Parents who have suffered accidental death of their teenaged sons.
 Parents of autistic children
 Adolescents who have suffered death of a single parent.
For collecting the data, I definitely needed help from one or the organisations and so I
was in search for an NGO/Hospital who can provide me with the above mentioned
group of people.
As it was proving to be immensely difficult to get cancer patients from hospitals,
perhaps because of ethical reasons or their non-willingness to help a non-medical
student, I was not finding help anywhere.
I came to know about SVCT through Google search engine. I emailed Mr. Ashok
Passy, the administrator about my urgent need to get in contact with five cancer
patients. It was indeed overwhelming to get a spontaneous reply from him wherein he
had permitted me to come to the office for further discussion. I went to the NGO the
next week and was surprised to see the extremely down to earth nature of Mr. Passy.
On carefully evaluating the questionnaires I wished to administer on cancer patients,
he gave me the opportunity to get in contact with some of the patients. He almost
immediately agreed to give me five patients and asked me to come the next.

2. ASSESSMENT TOOLS USED
Beck Depression Inventory II
The Beck Depression Inventory (BDI-II), created by Dr. Aaron T. Beck, is a 21-
question multiple-choice self-report inventory, one of the most widely used
instruments for measuring the severity of depression. In its current version the
questionnaire is designed for individuals aged 13 and over, and is composed of items
relating to symptoms of depression such as hopelessness and irritability, cognitions
such as guilt or feelings of being punished, as well as physical symptoms such as
fatigue, weight loss, and lack of interest in sex.
Spiritual Assessment Scale-
The Howden Spirituality and Assessment Scale (SAS; Howden, 1992) was developed
as a way of assessing spiritual wellness factors consistent with Westgate‟s model,
specifically to measure unifying interconnectedness, purpose and meaning in life, and
innerness, and transcendence (Harper & Gill, 2005). The SAS contains universal
language and is based on a well-conceptualized model, theory, and factor analysis
(Stanard et al., 2000). Because the subscales can be scored and used individually as
well as collectively, a counselor can work with the client to gain insight into each of
these attributes or spiritual wellness as a holistic concept. The information gained can
be useful when attempting to understand the spiritual orientation of the client and for
treatment planning/intervention purposes.

3. CASES
CASE-1
Bharat‟s family was highly inviting and warmly welcomed me. The assessment began.
Mr. Puranchand, Bharat‟s father willingly answered all the questions although at
some point it occurred to me that he was being influenced by the presence of his wife,
son and investigator from SVCT who were all in the same room and were carefully
listening to his replies. Nonetheless, unavailability of another room compelled me to
proceed in the same environment
Name- Mr.Puranchand.
Gender- Male
Age- 53 yrs.
Occupation- working
Diagnosis- throat cancer (December, 2010)
Treatment- received on July,2011
On Beck Depression Inventory, he obtained a score of 5 which indicates that he does
not suffer from depression and is well in the normal range. The Spiritual Assessment
Scale which measures the four dimensions of Spirituality reported a score of 156
which falls in the range of “strong and positive spirituality”, which is the highest
category of spiritual wellness.
Thus, in Mr. Puranchand‟s case, an inverse relation has been found between
Depression and Spiritual wellness wherein low score on depression is accompanied
by a very high score on spiritual wellness.
Case-2
Name- Mrs. Balwindar Kaur
Gender- female
Age-47 years
Occupation- housewife
Diagnosis- Breast cancer (January,2006)
Treatment- received on March,2006
On Beck Depression Inventory, she obtained a score of 15 which falls in the range of
„mild depression‟. Mild depression, also known as dysthymic disorder, affects many
people. It can be triggered by a specific incident or medical problem. Often people
don't realize that they're actually suffering from a medical condition because
symptoms are mild and are easy to overlook until they start to affect your daily
functioning. Mild depression is defined as chronic depression with symptoms that are
not as severe as someone suffering from a severe episode. Psychology Information
Online says that mild depression is often characterized by general sadness, problems

4. concentrating, forgetfulness, negative thoughts and social withdrawal. Mild
depression can usually be treated with cognitive/behavioral therapy. The therapist
teaches you how to recognize and stop negative thoughts and how to replace them
with positive, healthy ones. If the depression is impairing daily functioning, a doctor
can prescribe antidepressant medication. This is used in conjunction with therapy and
can usually be discontinued after you learn to deal with the mild depression
cognitively.
On Spiritual Assessment Scale, she obtained a score of 144 which falls in the cateory
of “strong positive spirituality”. Her findings can be interpreted by acknowledging the
fact that despite having suffered breast cancer and also having suffered the societal
embarrassment of the husband being jailed for over 8 years now, she is only mildly
depressed. Her spiritual and religious faith which is falling in the highest category can
be thought to be a positive support in her life which is giving her the motivation to
keep going.
Case-3
Name- Mrs.Surajmukhi
Gender-female
Age- 80+ years
Diagnosis-
Treatment- undergoing at Metro hospital, Preet Vihar.
On Beck Depression Inventory, she obtained a score of 15 indicating mild depression.
On Spiritual Assessment Scale, the score was 107 indicating average range of
spiritual wellness.
My experience at SVCT was an eye-opening experience as everyone at the centre was
extremely kind and caring towards me. I got much more than what I had expected.
Mr.Passy went out of his way to help me get in contact with patients. At last, I would
like to give a warm thanks to Mr.Passy, who extended his helping hand when it was
most needed. It is only because of people like him that some hope is still alive in this
world. I would also like to thank SVCT, without which I could not have found a
platform to proceed for my data collection. The noble work which it is doing is
evident in the eyes of those who have benefited from it at the time of need. I wish all
the best to SVCT to prosper even more by reaching out to more and more people.