xjwsforChrist

According to a paper in the Journal of Affective Disorders http://psychcentral.com/news/2013/04/26/belief-in-god-improves-mental-health-outcomes/54121.htm, belief in God correlates to better outcome in mental health treatments and reduced risk of depression. Many of us without PhD or MD after our names have long thought so, but this makes it a bit more official!



To which I can add only this anecdotal comment: it works for me! Returning to a relationship with Christ was a big help getting past the trauma of divorce. His support does not fail, if only we accept it!

I will second that, dear GLT (good morning and peace to you, my dear!)... but add that it has not only helped me deal with/handle/get past events in my life that some would consider traumatic, but sustains me in almost every way, even the JOYFUL things! I cannot imagine a moment without him (although there are [very brief] moments when it "feels like" his presence is absent, but that's either because he is allowing me to "prove" myself a son (as to an "enemy") and/or may have removed the "hedge" that is ususally around me... or I have been distracted (without really realizing it), etc.).

But he has become as the "air" I breathe... which, in this current vessel, I also cannot imaging being without.

I pray for the time when all of mankind "knows" this. The beasts do... and we are a bit more than beasts. Just a bit, though.

Thank you for your professing him in YOUR life... and, again, peace to you!

YOUR servant and a slave of Christ,

SA

Generalizing, people who can "believe" are people who can "hope". Those who cannot hope are more prone to depression, fatalistic thinking, etc.

They should try another survey/study, only next time measure hope in some future event (kid's birthday, major holiday, vacation, etc.) against people who have nothing to hope for or look forward to along those lines, and then compare the results of the two studies.

I wonder if it was the "God" feature that engendered the results, or hope itself.