The spiritual but not religious likely to face mental health issues, drug use, study says

[cbayer]

http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2013/01/09/the-spiritual-but-not-religious-likely-to-face-mental-health-issues-drug-use-study-says/



January 9th, 2013
06:00 AM ET
The spiritual but not religious likely to face mental health issues, drug use, study says
By Dan Merica, CNN

Washington (CNN) - Can being spiritual but not religious lead to mental health issues? The answer is yes, according to a recent study.

The study, published in the January edition of the British Journal of Psychiatry, says spiritual but not religious people, as opposed to people who are religious, agnostic or atheist, were more likely to develop a "mental disorder," "be dependent on drugs" and "have abnormal eating attitudes,” like bulimia and anorexia.

“People who have spiritual beliefs outside of the context of any organized religion are more likely to suffer from these maladies,” said Michael King, a professor at University College London and the head researcher on the project.

Thirty percent of respondents who identified as spiritual said they had used drugs, a number that was nearly twice as much as the 16% of religious respondents who said they had used drugs, according to the study. Among the spiritual respondents, 5% said they were dependent on drugs, while 2% of religious respondents identified as dependent.

more at link

[silverweb]

1. Maybe, maybe not.

[font color="navy" face="Verdana"]The study method states, "We analysed data collected from interviews with 7403 people who participated in the third National Psychiatric Morbidity Study in England."

Data from people who had already participated in a "psychiatric morbidity" study? Wouldn't that seem a bit slanted to begin with?

I think I might have a bit more confidence in results drawn from a study of the general population.

[cbayer]

3. I am pretty sure that this was a study of the general population that was intended to

look at rates of psychiatric morbidity among the general population.

[silverweb]

7. Could be.

[font color="navy" face="Verdana"]I'm just suspicious of most studies anymore. We've seen how they can be manipulated to "prove" a particular viewpoint.

[cbayer]

8. I totally agree with you. One of the weaknesses of our educational

system is teaching people to read the literature critically and determine whether a study had validity or not.

With the plethora of information on the internet, this is a particularly bad problem. Way too many people say that they read a *study* that supports their position, but the study is total bunk.

[silverweb]

9. Exactly.

[font color="navy" face="Verdana"]I was researching a couple of things recently and found completely contradictory information from self-designated "experts" and their "studies." It took some digging and verification of authentic source material to get to the bare facts I needed.

[get the red out]

2. Easy to figure that one out

I would imagine a decent sized portion of those interviewed were participants in 12 step programs, which define themselves as "spiritual rather than religious". This would definitely slant the outcome as well as raise the question of at what point does someone cease to be condemned for ever having a substance abuse problem?

We just love to label and condemn people and push agendas; one "study" that really isn't very scientific at a time.

[cbayer]

4. This study looks well done and was published in Britian's top peer-reviewed psych journal.

http://bjp.rcpsych.org/content/202/1/68.abstract

The correlation with substance abuse is interesting. Some people do *convert* to spirituality in the course of treatment.

The question I have is whether this is the chicken or the egg. Are those suffering with significant psychiatric disorders more likely to explore alternative *spirituality* paths than the general population? My guess would be yes.

[get the red out]

12. That would mean they have guts

It takes courage to go against the grain.

Also, growing up with fire and brimstone thrown at you is not conducive to positive mental health in anyone who might question that point if view, nor does it inspire religious affiliation in that person. I can only speak from personal experience on that. And many religious people could suffer mental illness in private since God would fix that sinful state if they only had enough faith.

[cbayer]

13. It could, but it could also mean that they may be rejecting more

traditional treatments or those treatments have failed them.

Many, if not most, people with psychiatric illness already feel they are going agains the grain due to the way our culture treats them.

[cleanhippie]

16. So was Wakefield's "study" on vaccines.

We know how THAT turned out.

[NJCher]

5. As usual, they get it backwards

What this study is really a measure of is is how sick the society is and therefore how much people sensible people are going to reject the sick society's tenets.

It's admirable to be maladjusted in a sick society like America's. In fact the more a person rejects the de facto American principles (example: junk food, consumerism), the healthier they are.

The sicker the society, the more likely it is that people will reject the "belief systems" the society sets up.

This article notes that more Americans define themselves as spiritual than do Brits, and while the culture in Britain is not exactly a model for mental health, it at least doesn't have near the gun and violence problem that the U.S. does.

The researchers state:
According to Luhrmann, organized religion provides three outlets that benefit churchgoers' well being: social support, attachment to a loving God and the organized practice of prayer.

Of these three, there are two that these researchers don't get correct. An example would be that spiritual people don't engage with others on a regular basis. Wrong-O. There are spiritual centers set up all over the place and people who go to them have attachments to their fellow human beings there.

What about people who convene regularly to do yoga? Bet they didn't count that. But for many who approach it in a spiritual sense, yoga could be considered an "organized practice of prayer."

I won't even address "attachment to a loving God," as most people get the picture.


Cher

Oh and one last thing--and this is related to CNN--look at the dufus picture they chose to illustrate this story. Anything to castigate those who operate out of the mainstream.

[cbayer]

6. Agree with you about the picture. It's intentionally inflammatory, imo.

I think they have it backwards as well. I don't think that people that practice alternative spiritually based practices are more likely to suffer mental illness, but I do think that those that suffer mental illness may be more likely to explore alternative spiritual practices.

Does that make sense?

While some churches and other religious organizations are accepting of those with psychiatric disorders, some are not. In their quest for the things a traditional religious organization might provide, they may look at groups that are, by their very nature, more tolerant and accepting.

[okasha]

11. I know several nones

and they're all people who have already been through variousl hells. They're theists, but not joiners.

[cbayer]

14. I think I know a lot more nones than I know active church goers.

Their reasons for being unaffiliated are as varied as they are.

But one of our closest friends is Jewish and very observant. He owns a beachwear shop on Venice Beach and is so observant that he never works on a Saturday, by far the busiest day of the week on Venice Beach, lol.

[okasha]

15. I must be missing somerhing.

Why is a young man meditating on a beach a doofus? The thing that seems questionaable to me is whether he's a none. I'd guess Buddhist or Hindu.

[kestrel91316]

10. I'm an agnostic, but even I find this offensive.