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An article today on faith and mental health that many here might find interesting: http://www.deseretnews.com/article/print/865561443/Balancing-faith-and-mental-health-Both-complex-important-to-well-being.html ” class=”bbcode_url”> http://www.deseretnews.com/article/print/865561443/Balancing-faith-and-mental-health-Both-complex-important-to-well-being.html This part of the article struck me:
Quote:Though there have been few studies that have found any difference between LDS Church members and those of other religions, Richards said there have been hundreds of studies that have shown evidence that religiously devout people — in any denomination — enjoy more positive mental health and psychosocial adjustment than people who are less religious or not religious at all.
“Clearly the research has supported the idea that being involved in a religion is beneficial to a person’s mental health,” Richards said.
It is interesting to me they mention “any denomination” can be good for mental health.It reminds me of the quote from the Sci-Fi movie, Serenity:
“I don’t care what you believe in, just believe in it.”Quote:Tim Smith, department chair of counseling psychology at BYU, said the effect faith has on a person’s mental health depends on how they live it and how they internalize it. He named three main factors that change how a person’s beliefs affect their well being.
The first factor is how they live their beliefs. Someone who holds a certain set of beliefs but lives contrary to those beliefs is more likely to develop mental health problems. On the flip side, people who fully live their established beliefs have an increased chance for mental health.
The second factor is the motivation for participating in their religion. If a person goes to church to be seen by others, to make business connections or because they’re worried that others will judge them, these extrinsic motivations are more likely to contribute to mental health problems. However, if they attend church and follow the doctrine of their religion because they love it and truly believe in it, or in other words, they have intrinsic motivations, this contributes highly to their mental well being.
The final factor is how individuals use their religion to cope with their problems. If people use their religion to passively accept their problems as God’s will without trying to solve them, or if they blame God for all of their problems, it can be very unproductive for emotional health. If, however, people use their religion to take advantage of the social network it provides, or to participate regularly in meditative, sincere prayer, this has shown to help a person maintain their psychological health.
This has been something I have worked through in my journey. My religion doesn’t CAUSE me pain, it is how I use my religion that can bring me peace or pain. I think I had an “Ah-Ha” moment when I started to see it was how I use my faith, not my faith by itself, that determines my peace and happiness and fulfillment with Staying LDS. I just had to find new ways to look at and use Mormonism…not just chuck the baby with the bathwater.
It has also been part of my journey to look at other practices (meditation, communication techniques, therapy, Buddhism, etc) to compliment my faith, not replace my faith.
Another quote was:
Quote:“Refusing to take medication is like praying for your garden to grow and refusing to plant the seeds,” she said. “Don’t be afraid to get help.”
Sometimes when we struggle…there are real needs for medication to help the brain function properly. Prayer can help also, but why would the Lord cause miracles in someone’s life when the doctor’s already have a simple solution? I think the Lord helps those that help themselves.
I just wanted to share that today. Perhaps others have some experiences or thoughts around positive mental health and religion, and keeping it balanced in a “middle way” approach.
I have found this article somewhat misleading. The word “moderation” should have been inserted mentally healthy and religious. People who do not have moderation have excessive guilt and or anger trying to adhere to the tenants of a faith. There is countless examples of this within unles orthodox of any denomination which which those studies show. The key word is moderation(which the studies also show) for mental health. I find it very helpful to take what I have learned and experienced in psychology and then apply the religious tenants with that rather then the other way around. If I would have done that earlier it would have been so much healthier for me. But I refused for many years to listen to anything that psychology had to say that contradicted our teachings that it never led me anywhere(or my family or others around me) until we established mentally psychology then applying the teachings to fit in those. I hear splotting all the time in every ultra orthodox denomination which is very mentally unhealthy but taking it down to moderation helps tremendously. The moral of the story is extremes are very unhealthy even if we see it as god justified. Peace within ourselves helps to bring peace to others. I feel there is a bit of a gap in this Article. It talks about how people in Utah have a higher percentage of Anti depressant drugs. It doesn’t fully address why this is. I feel the theory of more highly educated people knowing the symptoms of depression is false. I have seen plenty a few Youtube videos of LDS who become mainstream Christian. The women mention how stressed out they were because they felt the weight of Celestial glory for the family was on their shoulders. Some of the men felt the same way. Some of the married couples felt the need to try to keep up with the Joneses of Mormon land. It was the desire to be the best Peter Perfect and Molly Mormon that they could possibly be.
During my TBM days my mental health was not very good. I took a couple different medications. I went through counselling. Looking back my biggest issue was feeling that I just was never good enough. When the sacrament tray was passed to me I would find the piece that was all crust. I felt that is all that i deserved because I was barely worthy enough to take the sacrament. On Monday when I felt that I did some kind of sin I would feel like trash. By Saturday night I was in absolute Hell. Sunday was the only day that I felt okay because that was the day I could take sacrament. Sometimes I wished that I would fall over dead just after sacrament because that way I would have died just after the weekly ordinance that forgave me of my sins.
I now do not take things so seriously because I do not fully believe in the doctrines.
After learning about some of the things Joe Smith Jr. and Brigham Young pulled my worst sin doesn’t even come close to some of the things those guys did.
After falling into Fowler Stage 4 and began to step into Stage 5 my personal outlook on life is so much better. I am no longer so scared and stressed about not being good enough. I am the best Greenapples that I know. No one will ever be a better me than me. That allows me to feel good and the weight that was once on my shoulders is gone.
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