[Obsessive-compulsive disorders and religion in contemporary perspective].

After a retrospect on former viewpoints about the relationship between psychiatry and religion, especially concerning obsessive-compulsive disorders (S. Freud; "Ekklesiogenic Neurosis") a contemporary perspective shows: religion is hardly mentioned in German-speaking psychiatry textbooks. Pathogenic interaction between religion and psychological disorders is discussed in plurifactorial perspective. Religious views can be distorted by psychic disorders and adapted to the disorders. Starting from an anthropological definition of religion (C. Geertz), the paper presents three functions of religion and explains the relationship of Christian faith and obsessions/compulsions. Teaching programs for students and psychiatrists seem indicated for a better understanding of religion (and its absence) in the context of psychological disorders.