Spirituality and religion often provide a sense of security and social structure, and those beliefs can be a powerful survival mechanism in difficult times.
Being an active member of a close-knit religious community can provide structure, support, and a sense of acceptance, all of which are beneficial to mental health
. Connecting a group can make people feel welcome and valued. There are also certain circumstances or situations in life that can challenge religious connections and beliefs.This can include chronic illness, the loss of a loved one, or even feelings of rejection in times of change. It is during these difficult times that people can seek guidance outside their faith group or from trusted spiritual leaders on how to deal with the situation and maintain mental well-being. Religion or Spirituality May Have Therapeutic Implications for Mental Health. Randomized trials indicate that religious interventions among religious patients improve recovery from anxiety and depression.
47,48 Psychoeducational groups that focus on spirituality can lead to a greater understanding of problems, feelings, and spiritual aspects of life. 49. First of all, spirituality can make a person more compassionate. How? It involves stepping outside of yourself and looking at the big picture, which improves compassion and empathy for others. What is spiritual love? How does spirituality come into play in relationships? How is spirituality different from religion? Religion involves believing in a higher power, while spirituality refers to something greater than ourselves.
Spirituality influences many decisions that people make. Encourages people to have better relationships with themselves, with others and with the unknown. Spirituality can help you deal with stress by providing you with a sense of peace, purpose, and forgiveness. It often becomes more important during times of emotional stress or illness.
In addition, religion promotes a positive worldview, answers some of the questions about why, promotes meaning, can discourage poor adaptation to situations, and promotes orientation towards others. The association between spiritual and religious participation and depressive symptoms in a Canadian population. It's important to know that there are professionals in the field of mental health who ask about their patients' personal beliefs and will discuss how to use that information to support well-being. There are several protocols on how to ask about spirituality, such as the HOPE questionnaire (sidebar).
Therefore, it's important for psychologists and other health care providers to be aware of the dual nature of religion and spirituality; they can be vital resources for health and well-being, but they can also be sources of distress. May is National Mental Health Awareness Month and El Camino Hospital is raising awareness in this community by organizing events throughout the month. Religion has been found to improve remission in patients with medical and psychiatric illnesses who have established depression. Contrary to the views of Freud,28, who saw religion as a form of universal obsessive neurosis, empirical evidence suggests that religion is associated with higher levels of obsessive personality traits, but not with higher levels of obsessive symptoms.
Research on schizophrenia and religion has predominantly examined religious delusions and hallucinations with religious content. Because religion and spirituality evoke deep feelings in people and because they talk about people's most profound values, practicing psychologists must be careful to approach these processes with knowledge, sensitivity and care. In this sense, some research has shown that meditation based on mantras with a spiritual phrase is more effective in reducing physical pain than meditation with a secular phrase. In a recent Canadian cross-sectional study, religious attendance was associated with a decrease in suicide attempts in the general population and in people with mental illness, regardless of the effects of social support.
Some people are religiously inclined and practice spirituality by attending church, praying, or reading the Bible. .
