Religious Worship 'Eases Mental Health Woes'

Psychiatric patients who worship report reduced depression, alcohol abuse
Rick Mofina

Vancouver SunThursday, March 28, 2002

OTTAWA -- Regular religious worship helps reduce the severity of mental health problems, a study of Canadian psychiatric patients 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, published in the current issue of the Canadian Journal of Psychiatry.

It is the first known Canadian study to examine levels of spirituality and religiousness among psychiatric patients. The research involved using questionnaires, follow-up interviews and reviews of the medical histories of 44 men and 44 women admitted to psychiatric facilities between June and August 1999.

The study, Canadian Psychiatric Inpatient Religious Commitment: An Association with Mental Health, found that of the participants, 59 per cent said they "believed in a God who rewards and punishes."

Twenty-seven per cent said they "had a high frequency of worship attendance."
And 35 per cent said they "prayed once or more daily."

The study found that worship attendance, defined as attending religious meetings once or more weekly, had the greatest impact on mental health and illness over any other religious commitment.

Those who attended regular worship services were less depressed, had shorter hospital stays, were more content with life and had lower rates of alcohol abuse than those who worship less frequently or not at all.

Author Biased Against Religious Patients

"I was partly surprised about the level of religious commitment," said Dr. Marilyn Baetz, the study's author. "In psychiatry, we've always perhaps been under the assumption our patients are either less religious, or use their religion in a negative way."

The study suggested that regular worship helped regulate lifestyle and behaviour, provided social resources for coping with stress, and provided "a sense of coherence and meaning to life."
Another key observation was that participants with religious beliefs felt they were doing better, even though they still had problems, said Baetz, who is affiliated with the University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon. Baetz acknowledged drawing on the research of Dr. David Larson of the National Institute for Healthcare Research in Rockville, Md. Some of the money for Larson's work came from the John Templeton Foundation, a U.S.-based organization that funds projects and studies worldwide on science, religion, spirituality and health.

The Canadian Journal of Psychiatry requires authors to disclose research support, "whether it's from the federal or provincial governments, or pharmaceutical firms, or organizations like Templeton," editor-in-chief Dr. Quentin Rae-Grant said from Toronto.

"Then it's up to the reader to decide whether or not there is a skew and a balance," he said, adding that he regarded Templeton's support positively "because there have been, to my knowledge, very few if any studies of the effect of religious belief on psychiatric patients."The study concluded a patient's spirituality must be addressed and supported as a potentially important coping resource and that clergy or chaplains should be involved, especially in harmful or complex situations.

Over 80% of all research about the effects of religious practices on mental health report positive correlations.