FINDING PEACE IN STRESS

We all know effective stress management involves tangible activities such as eating right and exercising, but what about activities such as praying or attending church? Social scientists say that religious activities have a positive effect on both mental and physical health.

WRITER: MELISSA MURPHY

Everybody is familiar with tangible stress relief techniques strategies—eating healthy, getting enough sleep, and exercising. But did you know a growing body of evidence suggests becoming active in religious circles can be useful for managing stress?

A person’s involvement with religious organizations appears to be a factor in determining long-term health, as well as life satisfaction.

Psychologists use the term religious coping to describe the act of adopting religious beliefs and turning to religious institutions to manage the stressful situations in life. Though people of all ages use religious coping, it may be especially useful to aging individuals. The older a person gets, the more crises they have to deal with such as the death of loved ones and an increase in physical health problems.

In addition, the older people are the more acutely aware of their own mortality they become. Interestingly, many elderly people cite religious coping as their primary means for managing all of these stressors.

Psychologists identified the basis for the success of religious coping lies in a person’s spiritual beliefs and attitudes.

For example, older people who emphasize religious faith don’t worry near as much about life situations as their non-religious peers. Interesting, too, is the fact that the physical and mental health benefits of religious coping seem to be about the same in all religions and across all cultural lines.

Here are some other interesting facts about spiritual versus nonspiritual individuals:

• Nonspiritual people have a stroke risk double that of spiritual persons.

• Religious or spiritual people suffer from depression less often than those who are spiritual.

• Hospitalized people who do not have a strong religious affiliation stay in the hospital three times as long as those who are active in religious circles.

Psychologists also linked the attendance of religious services to certain healthy habits.

For example, elderly people with high blood pressure who attend regular services are more likely to follow medical protocol and be proactive in managing their symptoms than those who don’t attend religious services on a regular basis.

Researchers think that this phenomenon might be due to the social interaction that takes place at religious events with others that may have the same condition. This social platform may provide people with the positive encouragement that they need to make good decisions concerning their health issues.

Although social scientists do not have all the answers regarding the relationship between spirituality and good health, it does seem that there is a distinctly positive correlation.