Spirituality and Mental Health and Well-being
Does spirituality and faith play a role in well-being and healing from mental illness. If we look strictly at empirical evidence there is substantial support to indicate that people of faith experience higher states of well-being and mental health.. For example, a 2005 study of older adults in the San Francisco Bay area found having an active religious affiliation served as a buffer against depression among people in poorer health, with the highest levels of depression among those who were in poor health and not religious. In addition, a 2013 study found that patients who are being treated for mental-health issues such as depression or anxiety responded better to treatment if they believed in God.
In another review of 93 studies on religion and health, Dr. Harold G. Koenig, director of the Center for Spirituality, Theology and Health at Duke University Medical Center, found that more religious people had fewer depressive symptoms.
"People who are more involved in religious practices and who are more religiously committed seem to cope better with stress," Koenig said. "One of the reasons is because [religion] gives people a sense of purpose and meaning in life, and that helps them to make sense of negative things that happen to them," Koenig said. A person's religious community can also provide support and encouragement through hard times, he said.
In my own practice with over 1060 young adults living abroad, volunteering as humanitarian and proselyting missionaries experienced mental health issues half the rate of the general young adult population. Additionally, people of faith are more receptive to support experiencing 93% recovery rate compared to 80% for the general population.
What and how does spirituality, faith and religious observance contribute to mental health and well-being?
Religious faiths put a great deal of emphasis on particular attributes that have a direct bearing on well-being and contribute to an individual’s capacity to manage stress more effectively. The following are 4 examples;
1. Love
a. A strong motivator to accomplish all that is required to meet the one’s own needs or the needs of another.
b. It is selfless. The one loved comes first.
c. It is patient. Time is not an inhibitor.
d. It is kind. It does no harm.
e. It is forgiving. It holds no grudges.
2. Integrity
a. It honours truth. Seeks for and abides in truth when found.
b. It esteems honesty, uprightness
c. Keeps commitments and is loyal
d. It values trust
3. Chastity
a. Deems the body as sacred and worthy of respect
b. It abhors the abuse of the body in all its forms.
c. It cares for, nurtures and maintains the body in keeping with respect it holds for it.
d. Sees the body as a vessel of the spirit and together represent the soul.
4. Faith
a. It is an acknowledgment of a spiritual beginning
b. Faith advocates adherence to rules laws and commandments deemed of great worth and value.
c. It engenders hope, peace and possibilities
d. It engenders and reinforces virtues of love, patience, long suffering and mercy
The second element faith and spirituality offer is a means to let go of burdens, worries concerns over matters one has little or no control. A belief in a power greater than their own who has the power, means and desire to lift those burdens from those who diligently seek to come to know him and do his will. This abiding faith and implicit trust in this all wise and powerful being allow individuals the opportunity to relinquish the emotional and mental weight of stress inducing matters.
The third contribution spirituality and faith provide is an understanding that their lives have purpose, meaning and direction - - a basic human need. All this in spite of the reality they have weaknesses, shortcomings and imperfections. They are taught to believe that infinite progress is possible through a process of study, learning, repentance, forgiveness, spiritual guidance and diligent effort. Hopelessness, despair and lack of purpose commonly follow many who fall victim to mental illness.
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