A growing number of medical studies are showing that religious faith has a definite impact on people's wellbeing. Check out some of the research.
Happiness
- A number of studies have shown that "religiously active people" tend to be happier all over the world (see Psychology and Christianity, page 70).
- Believers also tend to have high levels of marital and sexual satisfaction and higher overall wellbeing.
- An American study of teenagers also found that religious faith tended to lead to people being happier (For many kids, faith is the key to happiness).
Destructive and anti-social behaviour
- In the US, "actively religious" people "are much less likely than irrelegious people to become delinquent, to abuse drugs and alcohol" (Psychology and Christianity, page 70).
- Religious belief is the biggest single predictor (inversely) of drug abuse; likewise, alcohol abuse is highest among non-believers ("God: the evidence" by Patrick Glynn).
Physical health
- Church attenders tend to be healthier compared to non-attenders - they are almost half as likely to suffer from arteriosclerotic heart disease, a quarter as likely to die from cirrhosis of the liver, they have lower blood pressure and they recover more quickly from surgery ("God: the evidence" by Patrick Glynn.
- Harold Koenig, medical researcher, author of "The Healing Connection" and many other books and 200 medical research papers, has found that chronically ill believers have below average mortality rates and pain levels.
- Studies have shown that faith can give a person a more positive mental outlook that can significantly help their recovery from cancer (Researchers Study Health-Faith Connection and from heart surgery (Religious Beliefs May Affect Psychological Recovery After Cardiac Surgery).
Worry
- Researchers at Harvard-affiliated McLean Hospital have found that those who believe in a benevolent God tend to worry less and be more tolerant of life's uncertainties than those who believe in an indifferent or punishing God. The lead author, David H. Rosmarin, recommends that psychiatrists take more account of patients' religious beliefs. One can perhaps assume that non-believers are midway between these two types of believers on the worry scale.
- A 2010 study at the University of Toronto Scarborough found that when believers think about God they feel less distressed, for example, they take setbacks in stride and react with less distress to anxiety-provoking mistakes. "Thinking about religion makes you calm under fire." says researcher Michael Inzlicht, "there is some evidence that religious people live longer and they tend to be happier and healthier.". It turns out that when atheists think about God they feel increased distress, perhaps because this contradicts the meaning systems they embrace. "Maybe atheists would do better if they were primed to think about their own beliefs" Inzlicht said.
Mental health and stress
Suicide
- Religious peope are much less likely to suicide than non-religious (Religious Affiliation, Atheism and Suicide).
- About a dozen studies show that those who don't attend church are 4 times more likely to attempt suicide than church attendees - in fact church attendance is the biggest single predictor of suicide, more important even than unemployment ("God: the evidence" by Patrick Glynn).
It isn't clear whether belief is the cause of these positive results, or if there is some other coincidental cause such as social support systems. But psychologist David Larsen writes:
If a new health treatment were discovered that helped reduce the rate of teenage suicide, prevent drug and alcohol abuse, improve treatment for depression, reduce recovery time from surgery, lower divorce rates and enhance a sense of wellbeing, one would think that every physician in the country would be scrambling to try it.
In "God: the evidence", Patrick Glynn summarises all this information and suggests that it is a good reason to believe that God exists. Of course many disagree with Glynn's interpretations of this data and his conclusions regarding the existence of God, but the clear connection between faith and well being seems well accepted.