connecting with your spirit 139
that allow it to heal. Negative emotions such as anxiety, fear,
depression, hopelessness, anger, resentment, or even simply
boredom, can interfere with the normal operations of the
immune, hormonal, and cardiovascular systems.
Religious faith, belief in a God who cares and who loves
us, and who has a purpose for every person — no matter what
their situation in life or their physical or mental health — helps
many people to cope with diffi cult circumstances that often
cause the negative emotions described above. Because of this
powerful role that religion serves in helping people to cope,
and because of its infl uences on daily decisions that affect
health, faith has the potential to dramatically infl uence the
development of disease, physiological responses to illness,
and rates of healing.
Indeed, systematic research has demonstrated exactly
this. First, persons who are more religiously involved experi-
ence lower rates of depression and recover more quickly from
depression. This is especially true for those experiencing seri-
ous health problems. In fact, the magnitude of the correlation
between religiousness and depression is directly proportional
to how much stress or illness the person is currently facing.
The more stress, the stronger the inverse correlation between
religion and depression. Because religion is such a powerful
coping behavior, research can best demonstrate its effects in
situations where people have a lot to cope with.
Second, many studies now demonstrate that religious
involvement is related to better immune function, lower blood
pressure, greater longevity, better cognitive functioning, and
slower progression of disability as persons age. This is all very
consistent, since we know that depression, anxiety, and other
negative emotions are all related to poorer immune function,
higher blood pressure, greater risk of heart disease, worse cogni-
tive functioning, greater problems with physical functioning, and
shortened longevity. Likewise, religious persons recover more
quickly from surgery and have fewer surgical complications.
All of this research suggests that religious involvement can