Under the title “Spiritual and Religious Beliefs as Determinants of the Onset of Major Depressions: An International Prospective Study”, this new thesis led by Professor Michael King, University College London, found a link between depression and religious or spiritual beliefs.
The sociological survey was carried out for a year among 8000 people in 7 different countries (United Kingdom, Spain, Slovenia, Estonia, the Netherlands, Portugal and Chile) in rural and urban areas.
The researchers found that “participants presented as ‘spiritual’ were three times more likely to experience a phase of depression than those from a more ‘secular’ group,” and ” religion, and even more so spirituality unrelated to formal religion, proves to be powerless to help anyone get out of a moment of depression. Worse, they could even constitute aggravating factors “.
Identical results in the 7 countries
These statements remain surprising and unexpected because they go against the majority of the conclusions of the many studies on this question.
According to the results of this study “lThe effect of depression over 12 months was similar in proportion regardless of belief. It affected 9.8% of Catholics, 10.9% of Protestants, 11.5% of other religions, and 10.8% of people with no specific religion “.
The researchers also affirmed that “in no case could the proof be brought that religion or spirituality constituted ramparts allowing to face painful events”. However, they remain cautious, “ensuring that the number of contrasting studies on the issue does not allow a definitive conclusion to be reached. If not that the link between religion or spirituality and psychological well-being would be very weak, even non-existent ”.
This study was published in an academic journal of psychiatry, “Psychological Medicine”.
