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Worshipping God can keep you sane: study
Tracey Tong
National Post, with files from Southam News
Regular religious worship can relieve the severity of mental health problems and shorten the hospital stays of psychiatric patients, a new study suggests.
"Our results show that religious commitment has a significant impact on depressive symptoms, satisfaction with life, hospital use and alcohol use," says the study, which is being published today in the Canadian Journal of Psychiatry.
It is the first known Canadian psychiatric study to examine religious commitment and spirituality among psychiatric patients.
The four-month study used questionnaires, interviews and reviews of the medical histories of 44 adult male and 44 adult female patients admitted to Canadian psychiatric in-patient units in 1999.
The study found 59% of participants "believed in a God who rewards and punishes"; 27% said they attended worship frequently and 35% said they "prayed once or more daily."
Patients who worshipped more frequently, attending religious meetings once or more weekly, appeared to benefit the most. These patients were less depressed, had shorter hospital stays, lower rates of alcohol abuse and longer life expectancy than those who worshipped less frequently or not at all.
"Traditionally, psychiatrists thought that spirituality wasn't important with in-patients, but the study has showed us that their level of spirituality is the same as that of the rest of the population," said Dr. Marilyn Baetz, an assistant professor at the University of Saskatchewan, in Saskatoon, who conducted the study.
She said the findings suggest regular worship can help to regulate behaviour and provide social resources for coping with stress and "a sense of coherence and meaning to life."
Another important finding was that patients who worshipped believed they were getting better, even though their problems remained.
Dr. Baetz concludes that a patient's belief system must be addressed by a mental-health professional, and that, in some situations, clergy should be involved.
"What psychiatrists can take away from this study is that, for some people, religion and beliefs could be an important part of an overall treatment," said Dr. Baetz, who is currently at work on a study of the mental-health benefits of religion to the general population. "Patient treatment needs a closer link with a clergy and a safe group, if it's important to the patient."
"I'd have to say, from experience of being a pastor for 25 years, the findings are right on the mark," Major Cliff Hollman, spokesman for the Salvation Army, said yesterday.
Maj. Hollman said he has witnessed how religious commitment helps people in coming to grips with problems.
"There's a support mechanism that comes through spiritually, but also through the attendance at a church where there is a network that is able to bring people into a fold, or surround them with support," he said.
from The National Post. |
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