Faith and Medicine

Session Notes

Premis
- Religion + Medicine => improved healing/wellness/recovery/survival
  regular attendance at church or synagague is linked with better physical and mental health, greater life satisfaction, enhanced recovery from illness, and even increased life expectancy [p. 7].
- body and mind
- doctors and clergy need to work together
Positive Effects of Religion Involvement
1. religion vs spirituality
  - "spirituality" = one's private sarch for meaning and connection, especially with God
  - "religion" = one's adherence to an organized set of beliefs and practices endorsed by a community of fellow believers.
  - being both spiritual and religious is the best combination
2. observations
  - Mormons and Seventh-Day Adventists are healthier than the general population, because they encourage better health practices as a result of their religious beliefs [p. 22].
    - higher, stronger motivation
  - In one study the positive link between church attendance and lower blood pressure held up even if the church attenders were smokers [p. 22]
  - religious involvement has a positive impact on longevity [p. 23]
    - refraining from destructive habits
    - engaging in healthy habits
    - regular (at least weekly) attendance at worship
  - women who attended church more than once a month experienced significantly less anxiety and depresion than those who attended less frequently or not at all [p. 25]
  - in a 1990 study of African-Americans, both men and women with high levels of religious involvement reported significantly less depression [p. 25]
  - religious belief and practice, particularly when accompanied by a profound personal spirituality, ease the life-shattering effects of grief and help bereaved people face and adjust to their losses [p. 26]
  - religious anti-addiction programs (e.g., AA) almost 10x more effective than non-religious ones [p.26]
  - relgiously involved young people less likely to use tobacco, alcohol, and drugs [p. 27]
  - alcoholism drives out spirituality, and spirituality drives out alcoholism [p. 27]
  - Prison inmates who attended regular worship services less likely to complain of physical symptoms [p. 31]
  - Prison inmates who frequented Prison Fellowship were much less likely to be re-arrest on release [p. 32]
Faith Remedies
1. Equanimity -- Overcoming the Wear and Tear of Life [p. 42]
  - stress buffering
  - "the Relaxation Response"
  - immune enhancing
2. Temperance -- Honoring the Body as a Temple of the Spirit [p. 44]
3. Beauty -- Appreciating Art and Nature [p. 44]
  - e.g., music improves the mobility of stroke or Parkinson's-disease patients, lifts depressiona nd anxiety, and even lesson the amount of anesthesia needed by women in childbirth [p. 45]
4. Adoration -- Worshiping with Our Whole Beings [p. 45]
5. Renewal -- Confessing and Starting Over [p. 46]
  - unresolved conflicts and guilt can make us sick
  - confession leads to lifting the burden of guilt
  - confession and forgiveness allows us to learn and move on
6. Community -- Bearing One Another's Burdens [p. 47]
  - lonely and isolated people have poorer health
  - having a network of caring people improves health
  - family's and friend's prayers also has a positive effect (s. Dorsey)
7. Unity -- Gaining Strength Though Shared Beliefs [p. 47]
  - the group that is unified around common values generates a kind of power that can achieve great things [p.48>
8. Ritual -- Taking Comfort in Familiar Activities [p. 48]
  - ritual has a calming power and generates a sense of security (s. Newberg)
9. Meaning -- Finding a Purpose in Life [p. 49]
  - the search for meaning is accentuated in times of illiness and disability
  - without a sense of purpose, we can wither and die
  - religion provides a framework of meaning
10. Trust -- "Letting Go and Letting God' [p. 50]
  - we release our attempts to control the uncontrollable
  - our anxiety diminishes
11. Transcendence -- Connecting with Ultimate Hope [p. 50]
  - expect great things from God
  - patients get better simply because they believe they wil
12. Love -- Caring and Being Cared For [p. 51]
  - love is important in healing!!! Without it, we risk losing our zest for life and our reason for being, and becoming more vulnerable to disease and other disorders. [p. 51]
Negative Effects of Religion Involvement
- when leaders coerce or manipulate adherents to give up all personal autonomy, religious participation is likely to lead to more, not fewer, problems. [p. 53]
Extrinsic vs Intrinsic Involvement
- extrinsics: people who use religion to obtain an end: health, security, status, power.
- intrinsics: people who are dedicated to their religion for its sake
- many studies have shown that people who use religion merely as a tool to bring about benefits like power, prestige, or better health are less likely to reap the faith factor's health benefits. [p. 55]
- those scoring as instrinsics were less likely to be depressed. [p. 55]
Discussion and Conclusion
- Have you seen improvement in health with religious involvement?
- not conclusive, but ...
  - much of medicine is antedotal
  - if it works, try it
  - but don't expect God to be predictable!
  - there is more here than rationality, cause and effect, and predictability
  - at work is the Divine, always a mystery and never quite what we expect
- Why does prayer and religious involvement work for some and not for others?
- we are nephesh: whole people
  - healing is a matter of the whole person
  - if the body ails, so does the mind and spirit, etc.
  - to leave one aspect (the spirit and communal) out of the matrix, is bound to diminish healing