Summary: The Efficacy Of Spirituality On Positive Mental Health

Great Essays
As spirituality becomes an increasingly popular tool in the service of mental health, the efficacy of spirituality on positive mental health must be examined. The question arises, not just whether or not spirituality is effective, but also “why or why not?” As a skeptic of spiritual practice, I have been curious about the effectiveness as well as the perceived effectiveness, and how those compare. Understanding this issue will be important in discovering which aspects of spirituality can be beneficial in the realm of mental health, and which aspects are not useful, and/or possibly harmful. Before I continue, it is important that I define “spirituality” for my purposes as the definition can vary drastically depending on the person using the …show more content…
The religiosity of each participant was self-reported by the importance they placed on their religion and spiritual beliefs. According the the paper, “offspring who reported at year 10 that religion or spirituality was highly important to them had about one-fourth the risk of experiencing major depression between years 10 and 20 compared with other participants” (Miller et al., 2012). However, a possible fault of this study was that of 226 possibly candidates, 33 were excluded since they did report as Catholic or Protestant at the 10 year mark. 20 participants declined, six could not be contacted, and four were deceased. 34 participants were excluded because they did not report an denomination at year 20, despite the fact that did at year 10, because the researchers “wished to study the stability of personal importance of religion/spirituality and frequency of attendance over time in the context of stable denomination.” Ultimately, the participants used to conduct the research were divided into three groups that did not varied less on demographics such as age, sex, etc. but when controlled for income, education, marital status, and parental clinical status, the findings remained sound. Their remarkable findings were the those who held high levels of spirituality and/or …show more content…
The 103 adult participants of this study are in the process of a 3-generation study which has been taken place 30 years thus far. They hoped to find “whether high-risk adults who reported high importance of religion or spirituality had thicker cortexes than those who reported moderate or low importance of religion or spirituality and whether this effect varied by family risk status” (Miller et al., 2014). They quite literally answered how religiosity can decrease risk of major depression in finding that there is a correlation between religiosity and thicker brain cortexes, as well as more activity in the prefrontal cortex. Thicker brain cortexes mean more resilience to depressive disorders, more empathy, and even less tendency to sociopathic behavior. Of course, the religiosity does not stand alone in these effects; those with higher importance of religiosity participated in meditate practices far more, and with the findings of Andrew Newberg in mind, we know that this is a result of different brain stimulations. While the quick interpretation by a person of Protestant or Catholic religious beliefs might find Miller et al’s research to be an affirmation of their religious beliefs, an integrative understanding of this topic shows that it is the physical act of the spiritual practice rather than the belief or any single god and/or religion that is

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    There have been many different views concerning the roles that religion and spirituality play in both physical and mental health. These perspectives have been extreme from religion being blamed for mental health illnesses to relying on religion to help with physical health problems. Albert Ellis believed that religion and mental health were incompatible with one another. He thought religion could harm an individual’s mental health. Ellis had a viewpoint known as naturalistic metaphysical extremism, which refers to human nature as a naturalistic system that should not depend on religion.…

    • 627 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    There has been a lot of attention over the last few years on what role spirituality and religion have in health. When patients turn to spiritual or religious ways of coping, it can be associated with a decrease in both stress and depression, which in turn creates reduced rates of mortality in patients. When religious-accommodating approaches are merged with religious elements, the psychologist shows acceptance and respect for the religious client, and in turn, increases trust and elevates the therapeutic alliance. Religion and spirituality can be an invaluable factor in the process of imprinting and aiding in psychological well-being, positive coping skills, and resilience in religious clients. Integrating religion and spirituality into therapy and treatments can increase acceptability and accessibility among patients (Stanley, Bush, Camp, Jameson, Phillips, Barber & Cully,…

    • 598 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Religion is a conversational topic in the mental health care field today. Some professionals believe that religion effects mental health in a positive way, other professionals believe that religion affects mental health in a negative way. It’s hard to decide which side is right, because there’s a lot of “expectation to the rules,” when it comes to religion and mental health.…

    • 1150 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Religion touches parts of mental illnesses. As stated on the first pages, religion affects one’s mentality. It is also known to be a way of a person to seek for his purpose. Religion seldom serves as a completion to an individual’s life. Early psychiatrists deal with patients that have psychotic disorders in another way. Most people in the field of psychiatry believe in a scientific and secular world-view. Sigmund Freud thought that religion results neurotic and some psychotic symptoms. He said that religious beliefs came from one’s fantasies and illusions; thus, it could be responsible for the development of psychosis. This negative view continued until the modern times until today’s generation. The scientific study of religion is now given…

    • 160 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Superior Essays

    William James Psychology

    • 1425 Words
    • 6 Pages

    William James undertakes a tremendous task in this journey: he seeks to combine religious experiences into the psychology field of his time. James provides a unique perspective due to his education as a physician but he also provides sufficient experience as a psychologist and philosopher. During this time period, scholars of different fields of study were just starting to communicate with each other. This collection of lectures is James’ attempt to integrate religion and spirituality into psychology. This was unheard of for his time because psychology was brand new in its title as a science. Many psychological founders shied away from religion because it seemed to invalidate their scientific study. James realized the necessity of spirituality in the field of psychology, in order to counsel every aspect of a person’s life. James is very accommodating in his lectures, perhaps in an effort to invite more scholars into the conversation. He utilizes specific cases of varying religions, cases of non-religious but “spiritual” occurrences, and scientific processes. The different ideological forms that James draws from speaks to his pluralism, he does not identify to one idea and he wants to consider all of the possibilities. All of these factors make James’ lectures a thought-provoking read.…

    • 1425 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In conclusion, spirituality and religion are two related words, yet they differ in faith. People who practice spirituality do many things, such as going to church, mosque, yoga, and many other things. Whereas religion is a set system followed by many people around the world. Spirituality doesn’t have only one meaning to people. But everyone does different spiritual things they are happy…

    • 543 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    A person’s belief about what is right and what is wrong values. Spirituality is a sense of connectedness with God (or some higher spiritual being). Religiosity incorporates this spirituality but includes the added dimension of living the faith. A person high in religiosity, however, has both this close relationship with God and acts on this belief by going to church and engaging in other sorts of religious activities. Gallup polls consistently find that most elderly Americans consider religion an important part of their life. In general, children and adolescents raised in families that value social responsibility and compassion internalize these values. Numerous research studies have examined the impact of religiosity on youth development (as an example, see Cotton et al., 2006; Fehring et al., 1998; King & Benson, 2005; Oser, Scarlett, & Butcher, 2006 Ream & Savin, Williams, 2003; Sinha, Cnaan, & Gelles, 2007; Youniss, McLellan, & Yates, 1999). Religiosity in adolescence is associated with many positive outcomes such as healthy coping skills, higher levels of community service and volunteer work, less depression, and greater empathy for those in need. As Flanagan (2004) points out, these children and adolescents engage in higher levels of volunteerism and show greater passion for those in need that children not raised in such…

    • 1390 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Research in the past has displayed a positive correlation between Christianity and positive social behavior in youth. Youth that are involved in religion are less likely to abuse alcohol, cigarettes drugs, have premarital sex, and commit crimes ( ). The text recognizes that these associations do not fully identify whether the participation in Christianity has an actual effect on these outcomes. This is a result from the inability to observe other factors that influence the youth and their families. Even though the studies cannot conclude that the youth are positively affected, it is still able to be assumed that it does based…

    • 231 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In How God Changes your Brain Andrew Newberg and Mark Robert Waldman give some very insightful descriptions of the chemical and emotional changes and processes that are occur in the brain. In this book these changes are explained in detail and the different processes that are involved with growing and maintaining a faith. The concept of faith and religious practice having a strong effect on the brain has often been the topic of debate and conflict within the religious community and secular scientists, and this book does a great job of answering this age old question of faith versus science. The major scientific and theological breakthrough is thoroughly explained in this book and this book can definitely help a reader rediscover their faith and can help answer the questions that many believers have struggled with throughout their spiritual walk.…

    • 1508 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    However that does not change the reality that religion, overall, has a positive impact on youth. The influence that religion has over adolescents is in a variety of aspects of their lives. The morals and values of an adolescent can change throughout time but still have the ability to weigh heavily on a child’s decisions and behaviors. Religion influences many values that an adolescent may have once they understand that consequences are more than just punishment from their parents. They begin to understand that it is also morally wrong i.e. The Ten Commandments. As stated above, the social aspect of a child’s life is one of the most important. Religious affiliation can give a child’s a sense of belonging as well as an academic push. Religion can also have a part of a child’s belief in premarital sex and the actions they partake in after the fact. Studies show that belonging to a religion is a positive influence in an adolescent’s life. The problem is that studies do not show the extent to which religion is apart of an individual’s life. In continuing the research, scholars will have to find ways that will have more detailed evidence, so that there will be a better understanding and correlations between religion and…

    • 1070 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Spirituality has the capacity to offer an extra psychological facet for individuals to live the good life, in regards to both desirability and moral goodness…

    • 1072 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Social Support Benefits

    • 766 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Religiousness and spirituality impacts well-being tremendously and is very important when trying to maintain a mindful life. There are consistent findings that result in when there is greater spirituality, there is better mental health and higher subjective well-being. Likewise, there are several reasons why obtaining religious perspectives benefit mental and physical health; and here are the following reasons. First, religion provides social support. Social support is one of the highest predictors of subjective well-being. The reason why, is because there are religious activities that involve a lot of participation within a community. Social support also offers beneficial impact on the immune system and stress. Next, religion supports healthy…

    • 766 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Spirituality can have various meanings. The word “spirituality” has gained varied, and occasionally contradictory meanings. Traditionally, spirituality is attached to religious values. Some individuals…

    • 992 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    People who are committed to their religion have been found to have a strong and positive well-being (Larson, 1991). Those that are religious are less stressed and worrisome. On the contrary, those not committed to a religion have an increase of psychological stress. Hence, it decreases the chances of being unhealthy from diseases or any type of illnesses. According to researchers from the Johns Hopkins University School of Public Health, people who have high blood pressure and go church often see the reduction of blood pressure by 2 to 4 millimeters. Likewise, the mortality rate also decreases (1972). Religious people are more forgiving and thankful amongst themselves and others. Regularly practicing gratitude indicates that people are more joyous and less…

    • 793 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Effects Of Prayer Essay

    • 1722 Words
    • 7 Pages

    One of the studies was published in the Journal of Clinical Psychology looked at how faith can actually help protect patients against the symptoms of depression ("Faith & Health"). Now it might not seem possible but the university has made several connections between prayer and depression. Yet the researchers from Rush University have conducted an extensive amount of research on depressions and its contributing factors. The university has applied some of these things to see if it would decrease depression. They also wanted to see what it would do to patients who did not have depression but were likely to get it. The test concluded that many of the patients who received prayer as treatment did not show any sign of forming depression. And the people who did have depression showed a substantial decreased. So not only does prayer improve mental health it also deflects depressed…

    • 1722 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Improved Essays