CONNECTIONS

Religion and Spirituality

     Religion and spirituality as a subject of serious study in the social sciences seems to be making a comeback. It may be that it never really left.  True, in social psychology and in sociology there have always been dedicated scholars and researchers interested in religion and spirituality, how people use them, and how they benefit or are harmed by religious beliefs and practices.  American intellectual giants like Gordon Alport and  William James were fascinated by religion and spent years studying it.  But psychiatrist David B. Larson of the National Institute for Mental Health pointed out that in the second half of the 20^th Century, serious research into religion and spirituality was pretty much ignored by the mental health community and academic medicine in general.  Larson, together with colleagues Andrew Weaver, Ken Pargament, Harold Koenig and others helped put religion and spirituality back on the map in the social and behavioral sciences. Their findings pointed to the importance of religion and spirituality in the lives of Americans.  Based on their reviews of the scholarly literature, they found a host of health and mental health benefits experienced by people who identified religion/spirituality as having a central importance in their lives.
     Indeed, people who identified religion and spirituality as important influences in their lives consistently showed faster recovery from serious illnesses, less overall depression, and greater resilience when facing serious health problems.  Religion/spirituality seems to provide people with a sort of "inoculation" against the worst effects of depression in both medical and psychiatric settings and seems to extend that preventive effect to the risks of substance abuse among both adults and adolescents as well as decreased risk of relapse among those in recovery.  Larson noted that if the medical community had developed a medication or a treatment that seemed to have the positive effects of the religion/spiritual variable, it would be considered a major breakthrough in the health sciences.
     How does the importance of religion and spirituality show up in family and relationship life?
     What do we know about its helpful effects there?

Spirituality, Mental Health and the Family
     
     Research by psychologist Ken Pargament demonstrates that religion and spirituality may well be the single most important way in which many people cope with the hardships and celebrate the joys of their lives. Faith and belief can give people a powerful sense of meaning as well as a sense of how to live their lives.  In difficult situations such as health problems, addictions, and financial difficulties, families often use religious and spiritual resources to deal with feelings of helplessness and to provide a sense of meaning and order in the midst of crisis.  For many families religion and spirituality can be a potent and vital source of resilience and strength.
Can Spiritual Beliefs Enhance Parenting?
     Attending organized religious services does indeed help some families connect with their spirituality, but it is not the only way.  Spiritual meaning is also available for parents and their children through less traditional ways.  One factor common to all of these diverse practices is involvement with a group or community of families beyond the home.  With multiple demands and pressures on the schedules of today's adults, it is worth considering the benefits of involvement in a community that shares religious and spiritual values.

- Peter Smith, PhD, LCSW-C