We recently
started a series on Teleios’ exciting research findings! A list of our and
others’ findings is on our website (www.teleiosresearch.com).
Religion recently has been associated with good
wellbeing in the medical literature (1,2). However, can religion help those who
are mentally distressed?
Teleios
recently reviewed the medical literature to examine the influence of religion
on depression. Our study showed that religion in First World countries had a
positive impact on:
·
Depressed
individuals generally;
·
Preventing
depression in the physically diseased and their relatives (caregivers);
·
Otherwise
healthy subjects.
How
can these positive findings regarding religion and depression be explained? We
do not know for certain, however all the studies were performed in First World
Christian countries. Christianity is unique among world religions in that
access to God and salvation is through a gift of grace through faith alone and
not by works.
Consequently,
the Christian religion may have advantages in depressed people for the
following reasons:
·
God’s love - Having a proper view of God as loving and
allowing acceptance and access by prayer by faith alone through Christ’s
gracious death on the cross for our sins (Ephesians 2:8-9; Hebrews 10:20-22). Therefore,
even if a person feels badly about themselves for having depression or because
of their past actions, knowing God's acceptance might help allay these
feelings.
·
Hope - Christianity provides an eternal hope. Regardless of
how a person might suffer with depression on earth there is a greater hope in
heaven (Ephesians 1:13-14).
·
Socialization – A caring and giving church might provide
relief for depression by community service, positive social interactions and
the encouragement of unified worship.
Despite
the above speculation little research is available which specifically evaluates
the elements of religious structure which might help depressed patients.
MacIlvaine and Stewart and their coworkers have observed that Christianity
generally assists wellbeing in both healthy and diseased populations (1-3).
They especially noted that the more a person practiced and were knowledgeable
about their faith, the better their wellbeing. This practice included:
religious attendance, prayer, socialization at church, church or community
service, speaking about their faith and Bible education, as well as basic
knowledge about salvation (Acts 2:42,47)
Their
findings are consistent with the findings presented above that an earnest and
knowledgeable practice of Christianity helped depression such as: church
attendance, general religiosity, spiritual beliefs, desire for spiritual
growth, born-again experience and social support. In contrast, patients who
limited the scope of their religious practice, or believed in an ungracious God
(religious strain) experienced a lessor, or in some cases, a negative benefit.
This
review suggests that Christianity might help patients with depression or
symptoms of depression from a broad spectrum of demographic backgrounds. More
research is needed to fully understand the effect of religion on depressed
patients as well as the differences among religions and their influence on
suffering patients.
Thank
you for reading my blog. Please join me again next week as we discuss even more
benefits of Biblical belief!
WC
Stewart
1.
MacIlvaine
WR, Nelson LA, Stewart JA, Stewart WC. Association of strength of community
service to personal wellbeing. Community Ment Health J 2014; 50:577-582.
2.
MacIlvaine
WR, Nelson LA, Stewart JA, Stewart WC. Association of strength of religious
adherence to quality of life measures. Complement Ther Clin Pract
2013;19:251-255.
3.
Stewart WC,
Reynolds KE, Jones LJ, Stewart JA, Nelson LA. The source and impact of specific
parameters that enhance well-being in daily life. J Rel Health
2016;55:1326-1335.
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