I am currently on an Adult Psychiatric rotation and I stumbled upon this study from the Journal of Affective Disorders and thought it was worth sharing:
From Psych Central.
(H/T Rob P.)
Excerpt:
A new study suggests belief in God may significantly improve the
outcome of those receiving short-term treatment for psychiatric illness.
Researchers followed patients receiving care from a
hospital-based behavioral health program to investigate the relationship
between patients’ level of belief in God, expectations for treatment and actual
treatment outcomes.
In the study, published in the current issue of Journal of
Affective Disorders, researchers comment that people with a moderate to high
level of belief in a higher power do significantly better in short-term
psychiatric treatment than those without.
“Belief was associated with not only improved psychological
well-being, but decreases in depression and intention to self-harm,”
says David H. Rosmarin, Ph.D., an instructor in the Department of Psychiatry at
Harvard Medical School.
The study looked at 159 patients, recruited over a one-year
period. Each participant was asked to gauge their belief in God as well as
their expectations for treatment outcome and emotion regulation, each on a
five-point scale.
Levels of depression, well-being, and self-harm were assessed at
the beginning and end of their treatment program.
Obviously, the
issue of God’s existence is a matter to be decided based on what is true and
false, but this kind of study is at least interesting to note.
