Research Shows Believing in God Improves Mental Health

Direct Link Found Between Mental Health and Believing in a Higher Power

Researchers have found that there is a direct correlation between good mental health and believing in a higher power. Whether you are Buddhist, Catholic, Muslim, Christian, Jewish or belief in another faith, you are more likely to have less stress and better mental health than those who do not affiliate themselves with any religious group, reports Recordnet.com.

Researchers analyzed the results of three studies and the results of their findings are astonishing. The surveys interviewed 160 people total. Of that group, 40 were Buddhist, 41 were Catholic, 22 were Jewish, 26 were Muslim and 31 were Protestant. Amongst all of the faiths, those who said that they were actively spiritual had better mental health, were more extroverted and were less likely to be neurotic.

As researchers looked into the personality traits of each participant, they also compared levels of mental health. While one type of personality wasn't determined to be "healthier" than another type, researchers did conclude that those who believed in a higher power and believed in forgiveness were mentally happier than those who didn't.

In the Journal of Affective Disorders, researchers followed patients receiving care from a hospital-based behavioral health program, hoping to correlate their relationship with religion and the outcome of their treatments. They were not surprised when they found that those who believed in a higher power did significantly better with short-term psychiatric treatment. Individuals with faith also had fewer depressive symptoms. 

The conclusion of every study revealed that spiritual belief is, in fact, associated with mental health.