Religiosity and Mental Health: A Case Study

Abstract

Depression is a mood disorder characterized by hopelessness then heartbreak, helplessness, excessive and unable to decide to start an activity, then unable to concentrate, not having the spirit of life, and in the final stage trying to commit suicide. Depressive symptoms are a collection of behaviors and feelings that can be specifically classified as depression. Symptoms of depression are at least seen from three aspects, namely physical symptoms, psychic symptoms, and social symptoms. Some people have a negative stigma about individuals affected by mental disorders such as depression, some studies show data on affected individuals exposed to negative stigma, one of which was shown by McLean Hospital in 2020 which showed that 75% of individuals with mental disorders had been stigmatized by society. The stigma given by society related to people who have a mental disorder is very diverse, ranging from so-called insane, people who do not have reason, and so on, but the highlight in this study is the stigma from society against people affected by mental disorders is the stigma that those who experience depression or other mental disorders that they lack faith, lack of prayer, lack of belief in God, and various other stigmas, this is then exacerbated by "religious figures" who sometimes give the same stigma and do not provide solutions to what is being felt by people who are affected by mental disorders. The results showed that faith can be a factor that can improve the mental health of an individual.