Better Health & Living
The God Factor
New science suggests that your spiritual life can boost your mental health, no matter how much stress you're under
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Question:
I am the sole caregiver for my 85-year-old father, who has dementia. I attend church regularly, which seems to help buoy my spirits. Is it possible that religion helps me cope better?
Answer:
“Absolutely,” says Randy Hebert, MD, MPH, assistant professor in the section of palliative care and medical ethics at the University of Pittsburgh. “Studies have found that religious practices and beliefs can boost caregivers’ mental health.” He sees it as a public health issue. “Almost 25 percent of caregivers are depressed,” he says. “If religious practices and beliefs can lessen those feelings of depression, potentially large numbers of people could be helped.”
Religion and Stress
In one study, Dr. Hebert and his colleagues followed 1,229 family caregivers to see whether their religious beliefs and practices eased their stress and depression. “These family caregivers, mainly spouses or adult children, were looking after loved ones with moderate to late-stage dementia, who typically need a great deal of care.”
The researchers asked the caregivers three questions: How often they went to church, how often they prayed, and how important religion was to them. “Like most of the general population, the caregivers we studied tended to be quite religious,” Dr. Hebert says. “Nearly 80 percent of our caregivers prayed every day, and about half attended church weekly.” He found that those who prayed more, went to church more often, and thought their religious faith was important to them experienced less depression while they were providing care than caregivers who lacked that spiritual connection. “Some of the caregivers lost their loved ones during the course of the study. Even after the death, bereaved caregivers who regularly attended religious services suffered less depression and grief.”
Dr. Hebert believes his study’s results would hold true for stress affecting any caregiver. “If any caregiver tells me they pray or go to religious services regularly, I certainly urge them to continue,” he says.
The Benefits of Spirituality
What about other forms of spirituality? “I view religion as a subset of spirituality, a belief in a force greater than yourself, and a search for meaning and answers to life’s ultimate questions,” Dr. Hebert says. “You can search for answers in many ways, through organized religion, a walk in the woods, meditation or yoga, deep breathing, knitting, or journal writing. Some people even consider science, the quest for biochemical answers to long-pursued questions, a form of spirituality.” Here are some ways spirituality—whatever form it takes in your life—can aid your mental health.
Solace “Heaven, for example, offers people hope they’ll see their loved ones again,” Dr. Hebert says. “That’s very comforting to caregivers who feel lost and alone.”
Meaning “Studies show that people who are able to make sense out of traumatic events tend to cope better than those who aren’t,” he says. “Spirituality helps provide the answers.” If a loved one dies, for example, religion helps to explain that death is “part of God’s plan” or takes your loved one to “a better place,” he says. “It provides the meaning we desperately need in difficult times.”
Connection Decades’ worth of research is clear on this point: The more connected you are to others, the healthier, both physically and mentally, you’ll be. “A group helps us realize that suffering is a part of life, that other people around us have gone through similar difficult experiences and have made it through,” says Dr. Hebert.
The Big Question
Would you be a hypocrite if you started looking for help or answers even if you’ve never thought of yourself as spiritual? “No,” says Dr. Hebert. “Even most ‘nonspiritual’ people will discover they have a relationship with something greater than themselves, even if it isn’t God or a higher power. For some people, that relationship could even be with their families.” Nonspiritual coping techniques such as exercise can work well, too, he says. “Anything that helps you deal with stress and depression is a good idea, as long as it’s safe and not self-destructive.”
Regular contributor Linda Rao has written about health, fitness, and caregiving for many national magazines.
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