In healthcare literature religion and spirituality are most of the time used interchangeably, although they have quite different meanings (Miller & Thorensen, 2003). The newsletter highlights recent selections from the journal and useful tips from our blog. Steffen, P.R., Hinderliter, A.L., Blumenthal, J.A. Choral singing is great for health: It engages people mentally and physically. American Journal of Epidemiology, 136, 884-894. In addition, spirituality/religion can mediate the relationship between another variable (e.g., quality of life) and a health outcome (Miller & Thorensen, 2003). 2011. Of course, a definition for spirituality and religiousness has to be broad enough to include all individuals and applicable to all religious denominations (Miller & Thorensen, 2003). The Connections Betweens Our Beliefs and Our Overall Health In a nutshell, being religious is strongly associated with better overall mental health and well-being. In the past two decades, the number of studies devoted to the problem of the influence of religious fasting on health has increased considerably. But why is the religion so important to so many people? American Journal of Public Health, 88, 1469-1475. Hummer, R.A., Rogers, R.G., Nam, C.B. (1992). They were also less likely to smoke (tobacco or marijuana) or drink heavily.53), The 2001 cycle of the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) showed that fewer children from families who worshiped had been diagnosed with ADHD (5.2%) than children whose families did not worship (7.1%).54) (See Chart ), NHIS also showed that families that worshiped every other week (or more) were less likely to have been told that their child had a learning disability (6.7 percent) than were families that did not worship (10.2 percent).55) (See Chart Below), 1.2 Stress, Self-Esteem, and Coping Skills, 4. Regular religious practice lessens depression, promotes self-esteem, and builds familial and marital happiness. A randomized controlled trial of stress reduction for hypertension in older African Americans. Pesut, B., Fowler, M., Taylor, E.J., Reimer-Kirkham, S. & Sawatzky, R. (2008). The study puts forth a new theoretical model: Religion provides a set of rules and beliefs guiding behavior, while spirituality offers methods for managing emotions internally and regulating the experience and expression of those emotions. Journal of Health Psychology ,8, 223-229. Miller and Thorensen (2003) summarize two approaches that could be applied to the research on spirituality/religion and health: the unique variance approach and the causal modeling approach. 49) 50), Adolescents whose mothers attended religious services at least weekly displayed better health, greater problem-solving skills, and higher overall satisfaction with their lives, regardless of race, gender, income, or family structure.51), Youth who both attended religious services weekly and rated religion as important in their lives were more likely to eat healthfully, sleep sufficiently, and exercise regularly.52) Young people who both attended religious services weekly and rated religion as important in their lives were less likely to engage in risky behavior, such as drunk driving, riding with drunk drivers, driving without a seatbelt, or engaging in interpersonal violence. Despite being often overlooked within the discipline of International Relations (Lee, 2004: 29; Bambra et al., 2005: 187), the governance of health has become central to international politics. Religiosity is associated with affective and immune status in symnptomatic HIV-infected gay men. Four most prominent such pathways have been proposed: health behaviors (through prescribing a certain diet and/or discouraging the abuse of alcoholic beverages, smoking, etc., religion can protect and promote a healthy lifestyle), social support (people can experience social contact with co-religionists and have a web of social relations that can help and protect whenever the case), psychological states (religious people can experience a better mental health, more positive psychological states, more optimism and faith, which in turn can lead to a better physical state due to less stress) and ‘psi’ influences (supernatural laws that govern ‘energies’ not currently comprehended by science but possibly understandable at some point by science). The second interpretation, the ‘psychobiological’ one, considers that spirituality/religion influence health through psychoneuroimmunological or psychoneuroendocrinological pathways beyond the benefits that religion has through health behaviors and social support. These facets can have a large positive impact on mental health— research suggests that religiosity reduces suicide rates, alcoholism and drug use. (2011). Community plays a huge role in people’s live Religion and mortality among the community-dwelling elderly. These negative thoughts associated with religion can be linked to higher rates of depression and lower quality of life. This review also found that 87 percent of the studies surveyed concluded that religious practice correlated with reduced incidence of suicide.27) According to Tyler J. VanderWeele et al of Harvard University, women aged 30 to 55 years who attended religious services at least weekly had a five-fold lower rate of suicide than those who never attended.28) A 2016 analysis of the Nurses’ Health Study29) by Harvard researchers showed that women who attended religious services weekly or more were less likely to become depressed. Preventive Medicine, 27, 545-552. Mental Health Benefits of Religion Religion gives people something to believe in, provides a sense of structure and typically offers a group of people to connect with over similar beliefs. The Relationship between Spirituality and Health, The Relationship between Religion and Health, Effects of Collectivistic and Individualistic Cultures on Imagination Inflation in Eastern and Western Cultures, Chinese Women and Christianity in the Late Imperial Era, Gender-Specific Language of the Major Prophets in The Hebrew Bible: The Case of the First and Second Isaiah, Byzantine and Russian Influences in Andrei Rublev's Art, Solving Health Issues in Ethiopia with Religion. McCullough, M.E., Hoyt, W.T., Larson, D.B., Koenig, H.G. (1997). The Ironson-Woods spirituality/religiousness index is associated with long survival, health behaviors, less distress, and low cortisol in people with HIV/AIDS. Though its affect on public health is complex and not always recognized by healthcare professionals. [1] These serious illnesses, which have the greatest mortality rate of any psychological disorder, are characterized... Research shows conflicting results when relaying how personality traits play into successful and satisfying romantic relationships. Sephton, S.E., Koopman, C., Schaal, M., Thorensen, C.E. Attendance at religious services and mortality in a national sample. Yes, religion does affect your mental health, and as the stats show, it affects positively. International Journal of Psychiatry in Medicine, 32, 69-89. The birth, enlightenment, and death of Buddha are the three most commonly recognized festivals for feasting, resting from work, or fasting. & Davidson, J.M. Idler, E.L. & Kasl, S.V. Regular religious practice lessens depression, promotes self-esteem, and builds familial and marital happiness. Annals of Behavioral Medicine, 24, 34-48. Finally, with the aid of community health psychology, the field of health psychology at large should move towards promoting culture as a means of understanding between health care provider and patient and in the interest of prevention, as well. This developing identification has created a void as people move away from the traditional, established symbols and maps of meaning. How Do Spirituality and Religion Influence Health? American Psychologist, 58, 53-63. Contextually, Islam, and indeed all other religions, identify compassion and mercy as fundamental parts of doctrine, and can be used to re-frame discussions and actions on health that are compatible with religion. Inquiries Journal provides undergraduate and graduate students around the world a platform for the wide dissemination of academic work over a range of core disciplines. The relation between religiosity, selected health behaviors, and blood pressure among adult females. Religious practice substantially contributes to physical and mental health. Religious coping, ethnicity, and ambulatory blood pressure. ACTH and β-endorphin in transcendental meditation. But when people convert to other religions, they tend to change. We used to worship the strong and big animals, natural assurances like lightning storm and fire. Religion has the benefit of empowering the individual through connecting him/her to a community, and to a superior force, that might in turn give psychological stability (Oman & Thorensen, 2003). There is also a strong social networking benefit of a shared activity that is often emotionally uplifting. If these other predictors are entered first in a regression equation, they will account for most of the proportion of variance in the health outcome. match them for age, gender, SES etc.). Religion’s influence on patient care is expressed in prayer requests, in clinician-chaplain collaborations, and through health care organizations’ religious accommodations for patients and staff. At other times, this connection may be less helpful—or even harmful—if it creates stress or acts as a barrier to treatment. 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