Spirituality, religiousness, and mental health: A review of the current scientific evidence

Abstract

Research in the field of “Spirituality and Health” has been growing, with spirituality/religiousness (S/R) being consistently related to both physical and mental health. The objective of this article is to provide an updated review of the current scientific evidence on the relationship between S/R and mental health, highlighting the most important studies. As a secondary objective, the mechanisms that explain this relationship and the interventions that utilize this information in treating mental disorders will be discussed. The findings reveal a large body of evidence across numerous psychiatric disorders. Although solid evidence is now available for depression, suicidality, and substance use, other diagnosis, such as post-traumatic stress disorder, psychosis, and anxiety, have also shown promising results. The effects of S/R on mental health are likely bidirectional, and the manner in which religious beliefs are used to cope with distress ( i.e. negative and positive), may affect mental health outcomes. Despite these findings, the mechanisms that explain these associations and the role of S/R interventions need further study. Concerning clinical practice, mental health providers should ask patients about S/R that are important in their lives to provide holistic and patient-centered care.

The Meaning of Healing to Adult Patients with Advanced Cancer

“…When patients are faced with distressing events of life, casting the burden on to the supernatural being gives them peace of mind which could explain why this is part of the healing experience [ 30 ]. Associations between religious involvement and mental health, less functional disability, and less cognitive decline in aging have been demonstrated by previous studies [ 42 ]. Such pathways may explain the positive correlation between faith and positive psychological and social experiences even when patients experience traumatic events such as a terminal diagnosis.…”

The Course of God’s Providence

“…2 However, medical research has generally addressed spirituality as a category of belief or behavior, rather than engaging with the content of spiritual beliefs per se. 3,4 Spirituality is often treated as one of several coping strategies rather than an integral part of understanding the nature of disease and suffering. In The Course of God's Providence, Phillipa Koch engages with the scholarly work on post-Enlightenment understandings of sickness to argue that 18th century protestants in the United States and Europe did not divorce religious and medical explanatory models, but instead believed their faith in God's providence should motivate their response to suffering and their work in the world (p. 1).…”

Exploring the mediating effects of negative and positive religious coping between resilience and mental well-being

“…Struggles occur when certain aspects of a person’s current belief system, practices, or experiences become the center of negative thoughts and emotions, worry, or conflict (Exline, 2013 ; Exline et al, 2014 ). Research has shown that religious struggles and tensions negatively correlated with well-being, life satisfaction, quality of life, self-esteem, coping resources, internal locus of control, optimism, gratitude, prosocial sensitivity, and prosocial behavior (Koenig, 2012 , 2020 ; Lucchetti and Lucchetti, 2014 ; Abdel-Khalek, 2019 ; Lucchetti et al, 2021 ; Konaszewski et al, 2022 ). In our opinion, in the context of the presented research results, it is worth taking a closer look at both the direct religious relationship between coping with mental well-being and the indirect role of religious coping in the relationship between resilience and mental well-being.…”