{"id":13592,"date":"2008-11-06T22:17:32","date_gmt":"2008-11-07T05:17:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/2008\/11\/06\/faith-is-depressing-but-church-going-isnt.html"},"modified":"2008-11-06T22:17:32","modified_gmt":"2008-11-07T05:17:32","slug":"faith_is_depressing_but_c","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2008\/11\/06\/faith_is_depressing_but_c.html","title":{"rendered":"Faith is depressing but church-going isn’t?"},"content":{"rendered":"

An interesting study<\/a> out on religion and depression:<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

A study released by Temple University found that people who feel close to a higher power and pray often are more likely to be depressed, while people who attend religious services and feel that their lives have purpose are less likely to be depressed.<\/p>\n

<\/span> <\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\n

Lead researcher Joanna Maselko found that people who report being in a close relationship with a higher power are 1.5 times more likely to struggle with depression. She believes depressed people may use religion as a coping mechanism, and as a result, “they’re more closely relating to God and praying more.”<\/p>\n

People who did not necessarily report being close to a higher power but did attend religious services regularly are 30 percent less likely to struggle with depression. Being involved in a faith-based community helps forge attachments to others, which prevents depression, the report said.<\/p>\n

“People with high levels of existential well-being tend to have a good base, which makes them very centered emotionally,” Maselko said in a news release. “People who don’t have those things are at greater risk for depression, and those same people might also turn to religion to cope.”<\/p>\n

The study suggests that people who have a hard time forming close relationships may turn to God for a “stable and secure attachment figure.”<\/p>\n

“It’s hard to disentangle these elements when treating mental illness,” Maselko said. “You can’t just ask a patient if they go to church to gauge their spirituality or coping behaviors. There are other components to consider when treating patients, and it’s important information for doctors to have.”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

What the study authors are trying to say is that the causality here is unclear — are people who are deeply faithful prone to depression, or are depressed people likely to turn to some sort of deep faith? Does going to church regularly lead to a healthier emotional life? Or are gregarious and emotionally balanced faithful more likely to go to church?<\/p>\n

For myself, when I’m feeling depressed, I’m less likely to go off to church or do other social things — but, then, I’m an introvert. Conversely, I find a lot of communal happiness in a church-going setting, when I can get over that hump, and generally find the experience pleasant. (But, then, I’ve chosen a church\/parish that’s a generally positive place to be.)<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

An interesting study out on religion and depression: A study released by Temple University found that people who feel close to a higher power and pray often are more likely…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":0,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[70,27,71],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13592","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-health-science","category-religion","category-religion-me"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":42062,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2014\/05\/19\/americans-exaggerate-how-often-they-attend-church.html","url_meta":{"origin":13592,"position":0},"title":"Americans exaggerate how often they attend church","author":"***Dave","date":"Mon 19-May-14 7:33am","format":false,"excerpt":"A new study indicates a significant difference between how frequently people say they attend depending on whether they are being surveyed on the phone or online, concluding that social expectations even with a stranger on the telephone will cause people to report they are attending church more frequently than they\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":44353,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2014\/08\/14\/secular-academic-dens-of-atheistic-infamy.html","url_meta":{"origin":13592,"position":1},"title":"Secular academic dens of atheistic infamy!","author":"***Dave","date":"Thu 14-Aug-14 2:20pm","format":false,"excerpt":"Apparently colleges don't turn you into atheists and irreligious. In fact, for people born in the 1970s, the chances are greater that you'll \"disaffiliate from religion\" if you don't attend college. \u00a0Apparently college-goers are \"society's best defenders of traditional institutions,\" including, it seems, church-going.\ufeff It Turns Out Colleges Aren't Actually\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":13477,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2008\/12\/02\/i_feel_happy.html","url_meta":{"origin":13592,"position":2},"title":"“I feel happy!”","author":"***Dave","date":"Tue 2-Dec-08 10:46pm","format":false,"excerpt":"So I took the new Online Test of Potential Depression, based on various studies in Europe, and located here. The short-term screening result to see if I'm already depressed told...","rel":"","context":"In "Health Science"","block_context":{"text":"Health Science","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/health\/health-science"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":32772,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2013\/03\/14\/talkin-bout-my-no-religion.html","url_meta":{"origin":13592,"position":3},"title":"Talkin' 'bout my "No Religion"","author":"***Dave","date":"Thu 14-Mar-13 11:52am","format":false,"excerpt":"According to this survey\/study, currently 1 in 5 Americans profess no particular religious affiliation (known in the religion biz as \"unchurched\"). \u00a0That number is highest among the young (though that's always been a phenomenon).Being\u00a0denominationally\u00a0affiliated myself, I look at this in a mixed fashion. \u00a0It indicates a failure, to me, of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":26151,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2012\/02\/07\/the-contraception-rule-is-the-biggest-non-issue-of-all-time.html","url_meta":{"origin":13592,"position":4},"title":"The contraception rule is the biggest non-issue of all time","author":"***Dave","date":"Tue 7-Feb-12 7:14am","format":false,"excerpt":"Which is, of course, why it's getting such dramatic play on the Right, as part of some mythical \"War on Religion.\"So, just to set things straight:First and foremost, under the regulation, churches and religious institutions that employ primarily people of a single religion are exempt from this requirement. Your local\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":33687,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2013\/05\/09\/drawing-depression.html","url_meta":{"origin":13592,"position":5},"title":"Drawing Depression","author":"***Dave","date":"Thu 9-May-13 10:24am","format":false,"excerpt":"This is both depressing and hopeful ... and just darned interesting. \u00a0Having known chronically depressed people, it rings as very true insight.Reshared post from +Victoria HudginsI told you, ALLIE BROSH IS BACK! Hyperbole and a Half: Depression Part Two I played out all the same story lines that had been\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13592","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13592"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13592\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13592"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13592"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13592"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}