By William Crooks
Local Journalism Initiative
Dr. Robert Edward Whitley, of McGill University’s psychiatry department, has shed light on a compelling correlation in a Dec. 20 interview: the more religious individuals are, the better their mental health tends to be. Supported by an array of studies, Whitley’s research reveals a moderate yet positive relationship across various religious practices and mental well-being, pointing to the nuanced yet significant role faith plays in psychological health. This groundbreaking research not only navigates the complexities of religiosity and atheism but also highlights the potential of Eastern religious practices like yoga and meditation in improving mental health outcomes. As societies grapple with the implications of faith and well-being, Whitley’s empirical findings offer a nuanced perspective on the ancient debate surrounding the impact of spirituality on mental health.
“The more religious people tend to be, the better their mental health,” Whitley said; a proposition supported by numerous studies. He noted that “religiosity” can be measured systematically using criteria such as how often one attends a place of worship, engages in prayer, and reads or meditates upon sacred texts. Mental health is measured using criteria including symptoms of depression, anxiety, and other markers of wellbeing. A “moderate” positive relationship between the two has been shown across many different religions.
Most studies have been done using Christian samples, the minority using Jewish and Muslim samples. Lower rates of suicide and substance abuse have been shown to correlate with the religiosity of countries regardless of religion.
“It’s not a perfect linear relationship between complete atheism and very devout religion,” Whitley explained, “in fact, it’s more complex than that.” In the surveys used in these studies, there is a category called the “nones”. “Nones” are those who check “none of the above” when they are asked if they are a particular religion or spiritual at all. This metric “mixes in” hardcore atheists and agnostics, those who are “not quite sure” but do not practice.
Hardcore atheists do not tend to have the worst mental health, for they have their own ideology and belief system that gives them “purpose and meaning”; this is the only world there is, they think, and they try to make the best of it. Those with the worst mental health simply practice nothing and have nothing to replace it with. In addition, there is some evidence that some religious practices can be “damaging” if they are taken too far – fasting and religious concepts of ‘sin’ and ‘perfection’ can cause a lot of guilt and shame. However, Whitley reaffirmed, the relationship between religiosity and mental health is positive, despite these nuances.
A new body of research shows some of the practices of Eastern religions can be very good for your mental health: yoga and “mindfulness” or meditation, for instance. In Western countries, these practices tend to be stripped of their moral and spiritual dimensions, a phenomenon some criticize. He does research on military veterans, who have been successfully dealing with sleep, chronic pain, and PTSD issues, using yoga.
Every religion comes with a moral code, a set of practices determining what it is to live your life well. Research has shown giving support to others is good for your own mental health by connecting yourself into a “wider group” and giving your life meaning and purpose.
“G. K. Chesterton said that when people stop believing in God, they believe in anything,” Whitley continued. What Chesterton was referring to was astrology, palm-reading and other “pseudo-sciences”, but, Whitley said, this nugget of wisdom has a broader application. Societies that have abolished God and religion, like Communist Russia and Nazi Germany, have replaced them with “very harmful and damaging ideologies”.
Whitley has done research on those who have abandoned their religious upbringing and become involved in damaging subcultures. Part of their recovery involved rejoining a religious group and rediscovering its importance in their lives.
Whitley emphasized that he is an empirical researcher and is not promoting any particular religion, the adherence to which is a matter of personal choice. But, “the evidence is irrefutable” that religiosity is good for your mental health, which is important for people to factor in when that choice is made.