Religion appears to help people with depression, according to the findings of a study on religion, depression, and hopelessness, conducted by Patricia Murphy, PhD, assistant professor, Department of Religion, Health and Human Values at Rush-Presbyterian-St. Luke's Medical Center in Chicago. The study results showed that religious beliefs lead to lower levels of depression, and that religion has an even greater impact on lower levels of hopelessness.
"People who see the world with a hopeless framework are more prone to depression. The study demonstrates that religion has its greatest power to offset depression by its ability to counter hopelessness," said Murphy. This study suggests that in looking at how religion might work to lower depression, it is important to consider how religion impacts hopelessness. This kind of information could help caregivers who are treating depressed people to best utilize the individual's religious beliefs to aid in recovery, according to Murphy.
Results of the study will be presented March 2 for the first time at the American Psychosomatic Society's 58th Annual Scientific Meeting, held March 1-4 in Savannah, GA.
Recently, a growing number of studies have pointed to the health-related benefits of religion. However, no study has examined this effect in persons diagnosed with depression -- until now. The investigation involved 271 religious and non-religious adults who were being treated for depression either in a hospital or through outpatient care. Persons completed a questionnaire about their religious beliefs and practices as well as scales commonly used to measure a person's level of hopelessness and depression.
The research, completed by Murphy and researchers at Loyola College in Maryland, was designed to assess the effectiveness of religion in helping persons who are clinically depressed. The investigators hypothesized that religion helps depressed persons by giving them a way of seeing the world that makes them less hopeless than those who are not religious.
"Religious beliefs account for 16 percent of all the factors that offset hopelessness. Because hopelessness can cause and accompany depression, religious beliefs may alleviate depression," said Murphy. Other factors that offset hopelessness include gender, genetic predisposition and a person's sociodemographics.
Rush-Presbyterian-St. Luke's Medical Center includes the 809-bed Presbyterian-St. Luke's Hospital; 154-bed Johnston R. Bowman Health Center for the Elderly; Rush University (Rush Medical College, College of Nursing, College of Health Sciences and Graduate College); and seven Rush Institutes providing diagnosis, treatment and research into leading health problems. The medical center is the tertiary hub of the Rush System for Health, a comprehensive healthcare system capable of serving about three million people through its outpatient facilities and eight member hospitals.