RECOVERY In a Duke University study, devout patients recovering from surgery spent an average of 11 days in the hospital compared with nonreligious patients who spent 25 days (Southern Medical Journal, 1998).
MORTALITY Research on 1,931 older adults indicates that those who attend religious services regularly have a lower mortality rate. (American Journal of Public Health, 1998).
IMMUNITY Research on 1,700 adults found that those who attend religious services were less likely to have elevated levels of interleukin-6, an immune substance prevalent in people with chronic diseases (International Journal of Psychiatry in Medicine, 1997).
LIFESTYLE A recent review of several studies suggests that spirituality is linked with low suicide rates, less alcohol and drug abuse, less criminal behavior, fewer divorces and higher marital satisfaction (Religion and Clinical Practice, 1996).
DEPRESSION Women with pious moms are 60% less likely to be depressed in 10 years than women whose mothers aren't so reverent, according to a Columbia University study. Daughters belonging to the same religious denomination as their mothers are even less likely (71%) to suffer the blues; sons were 84% less likely (Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 1997).
A Duke University study of 577 men and women hospitalized for physical illness showed that the more patients used positive religious coping strategies (seeking spiritual support from friends and religious leaders, having faith in God, praying), the lower the level of their depressive symptoms and their quality of life (Journal of Mental and Nervous Disorders, 1998).
PHOTO (COLOR): Prayer may be the oldest spiritual practice and the most popular one in America.
ILLUSTRATION (COLOR)
FURTHER READING
The Healing Power of Faith: Science Explores Medicine's Last Great Frontier, Harold G. Koenig, M.D. (Simon & Schuster, 1999)
The Soul's Code, James Hillman (Random House, 1996)
Everyday Sacred: A Woman's Journey Home, Sue Bender (HarperCollins, 1996)
Adapted by PH.D.
David N. Elkins, Ph.D., is a licensed psychologist and professor of psychology in the Graduate School of Education and Psychology at Pepperdine University. He is the president of the Humanistic Psychology Division of the American Psychological Association and author of Beyond Religion: A Personal Program for Building a Spiritual Life Outside the Walls of Traditional Religion (Quest Books, 1998).
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