If you or someone you know is suffering from depression, researchers say religion may help. For the first time ever, new research shows religious beliefs lead to lower levels of hopelessness.

Lisa H. has battled depression for years. After recently ending a long-term relationship, her depression got so bad she often struggled to make it into work. "I think it was mostly a sad overarching kind of a feeling of hopelessness. It just was cloudy, dark. There was no joy. There were no times of laughter," she says.

Lisa began seeing a therapist, but she also turned to God. Prayer and reading the Bible became routine, and her depression started to lift. She says, "The sun could start to come in. I could start to feel things. I was engaged with my emotional side."

Patricia Murphy, Ph.D., an assistant professor at Rush-Presbyterian St. Luke's Medical Center in Chicago studied more than 200 patients diagnosed with clinical depression.

Murphy says, "The people who were more strongly religious were less depressed than the other folks."

Patients filled out questionnaires about their religious beliefs and were given a series of tests to determine their level of depression. Dr. Murphy found religious beliefs account for 16 percent of all factors that help offset hopelessness.

"To our surprise, how frequently they prayed didn't seem to make a difference. It was more their level of belief," says Murphy.

Religion means prayer for some patients. For many others, it is attending religious services. Lisa says just reading one scripture in the Bible a day helps her feel better.

Murphy says religious beliefs are just one component to help feelings of hopelessness. Many people who are diagnosed with clinical depression will need the combination of medication, therapy and religious beliefs.

If you would like more information, please contact:

Patricia Murphy, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Department of Religion, Health and Human Values
Rush-Presbyterian St. Luke's Medical Center
1653 West Congress Parkway
Chicago, Illinois 60612-3833
(312) 942-5571

Ivanhoe Broadcast News, Inc. August 2000

Dr. Mercola's Comments:

Spiritual resources are the highest level of healing so it is not surprising to find this observation. However it is encouraging to see it documented by traditional researchers. Prayer is a profound healing tool. Journaling is a simple way to capture much of the benefit of prayer. The healing in journaling actually comes from the process, not in reviewing it at a later date. Many may have fears of writing everything they would like to for fear of someone reading it. If that were the case it would be best to burn or destroy the paper afterwards or delete the file if typing it. I have been journaling for the last 15 years and have found it to be an enormously valuable resource. I wrote my journal for the first ten years but I have been using a program called Daily Journal from Parson's Software for the last five years. I can type much faster and clearer than I can write, so it works well for me. If you are interested in the strong connection between spiritual health and physical health, you can browse through the many articles listed on our Prayer/Faith/Religion index page. You may also want to check out the web site of the The National Institute for Healthcare Research, a privately funded, nonprofit organization, which is dedicated to advancing the understanding of the connection between spirituality and health. Related Articles: FAITH SPEEDS RECOVERY FROM DEPRESSION Prayer/Faith/Religion Index Page Prayer and Medical Science