Today
is Day Four of Week Six of the Omer. That is Thirty-eight Days of the
Omer. The Theme continues to be Happiness.
I’ve been
addressing the issue of religion, and how it can impact positively on one’s
Happiness and even longevity. Today, I’m
going to address the connection between religion and mental health. I do so with some trepidation; I freely admit
that, whilst I do have some training in counselling and in the various schools
of counselling and therapy, I am essentially an educated layman where it comes
to clinical, mental health.
Nevertheless, I have read some interesting findings recently, and they
do fit in with what I’ve been asserting over the last few days: that religious involvement is a factor that
can help lead one to positive outcomes in life.
And I’m not at all addressing the theological implications of being
religious against being secular; that’s an entirely different argument to make,
and whilst it is a valid argument it’s not how I wish to address the subject
here. Since I’ve been writing about
Happiness for the past few weeks, and specifically behaviours and lifestyles
that can help lead to Happiness in life, I want to address religion as one more
tool, so to speak, that one can use in seeking to find Happiness and
wholeness. In other words, I am
addressing religion strictly from a pragmatic angle here.
I think that it is important to add
the following caveat to the case I’ve been making for being religious. It needs to be a positive and supportive form
of religion. I’m not going to give a
list of what religions I think are ‘good’ in this respect and which are not. It’s probably self-evident that I consider
Judaism – at least the forms of it that I know! – to be in the former
column. But it certainly isn’t the only
one in that column! But all religion
is not created equal. It would be
counter-intuitive for me to deny that there are instances of various religion –
Judaism included! – that exhibit characteristics that would be unhelpful
pragmatically. Negative religious
beliefs – that G-d is punishing or abandoning you – have been linked to harmful
outcomes such as depression and unhappiness.
"If people have a loving, kind perception of God," and
feel God is supportive, they seem to experience benefits, said Kenneth
Pargament, a professor of psychology and an expert on religion and health at
Bowling Green State University in Ohio. But "we know that there's a darker
side to spirituality," Pargament said. "If you tend to see God as
punitive, threatening or unreliable, then that's not very helpful" to your
health, he said.
Studies on the brains of religious people tend to show activity in
the areas that support good states of mind, the would help inhibit negative
mental states. That’s why, whilst I am
not qualified to treat people with mental illness and I would never consider
religious faith or practice to be a substitute for valid modes of treatment, I
feel confident to say that religion – if it is positive and affirming and
practiced in the midst of a supportive community – is an important element in
finding peace with mental illness. The
tragedy is, that those who would benefit in this respect, often avoid religious
involvement because of fear or judgement by members of the community. The fear is real and its understandable, but
the reality is that any and every religious community has many individuals who
suffer from different forms of mental illness.
I know I’m late completing this evening’s installment, so I’ll
conclude here and get this posted!
No comments:
Post a Comment