Scholars have increasingly investigated the relationship between
spirituality and/or religion and mental and physical health in recent years. It almost seems to have become conventional
wisdom that spirituality is associated with better health, mental and physical.
However, a recently published British study found that people who consider themselves
spiritual but not religious are more likely to have a mental disorder compared
to conventionally religious people and to those who are neither religious nor
spiritual. Conventionally religious people and those who were neither religious
nor spiritual did not differ in their mental health status, suggesting that
being religious offers few advantages in terms of mental health. The reasons
for this are still unclear. Studies on the psychology of spirituality offer
some clues as to why spiritual but not religious people might be prone to
poorer mental health although more research is needed to fully explain the
relationship.
Recent scholarship has criticised claims that “spirituality” is
beneficial for mental health (see this article for
example) based on the fact that definitions of spirituality
have been broadened so much that they imply mental health by definition (Koenig, 2008). Spirituality traditionally had
a narrow definition centred on belief in supernatural spirits such as God.
However, mental health services have
become increasingly interested in addressing the “spiritual” needs of consumers
in recent times, and as a result attempts have been made to redefine the term
in a way that would be maximally inclusive, so as to apply to people from
diverse religious backgrounds and to those with no religion (Koenig, 2008). Many studies have broadened the
term to incorporate a wide range of positive psychological concepts, such as
purpose in life, hopefulness, social connectedness, peacefulness and well-being
in general. This becomes problematic for research attempting to assess the
relationship between “spirituality” and mental health because by most
definitions good mental health implies that a person has some purpose in life,
is hopeful, socially connected and has peace and well-being. Thus it becomes a
meaningless tautology to say that spirituality is associated with better mental
health when the term is defined this way (Lindeman
& Aarnio, 2007).
A recent British study looked at
the relationship between spirituality and mental health using a more
traditional understanding of the term to avoid this problem of tautology (King et al., 2013). The study involved
in-depth interviews with over 7000 people in England. Participants were sorted
into those whose understanding of life was predominantly religious, spiritual,
or neither. These terms were explained in the following way:
‘By religion, we mean the actual practice of a faith,
e.g. going to a temple, mosque, church or synagogue. Some people do not follow
a religion but do have spiritual beliefs or experiences. Some people make sense
of their lives without any religious or spiritual belief.’
Participants were also
interviewed in depth about their mental health, alcohol and drug use, social
support, psychotropic medication usage, gambling, and were asked about
their overall happiness.
The results showed that religious
participants were similar to non-religious/non-spiritual ones in regards to
their mental health in most respects, although the religious were less likely
to have used or been dependent on drugs in the last year. However, there were
striking differences for those in the spiritual but not religious category.
Compared to people who were neither religious nor spiritual, spiritual but not
religious people were more likely to take psychotropic medication, to use or be
dependent on recreational drugs, to have a generalised anxiety disorder,
phobia, or any neurotic disorder, or to have abnormal eating attitudes. These
differences still held even when taking into account social support and
physical health, as well as age, sex, and ethnicity. None of the groups
differed in their overall happiness though.
The authors concluded that people
who are spiritual but not religious in their understanding of life are more
vulnerable to mental disorders than other people. The nature of the causal
relationship between spirituality and mental disorder is currently unknown. An
earlier British study had similar findings and the authors noted that it is
possible that not having a religious framework for one’s beliefs could lead to
mental disorder in people who have a need for a spiritual understanding of life
(King, Weich, Nazroo, & Blizard, 2006).
Alternatively, having a mental disorder might prompt a person to engage in a
spiritual quest in the hope of mental healing or deeper understanding of one’s
problems.
Previous findings concerning the
personality traits associated with “spirituality” and religiosity might shed
some light onto the relationship between spirituality and mental disorder (Saucier & Skrzypińska, 2006). Spirituality
in this study was defined as “quest for meaning, unity, connectedness to
nature, humanity, and the transcendent.” Note that this definition focuses on
subjective and mystical understandings of life, in contrast to more
conventional religiosity which emphasises adherence to orthodox belief systems.
Although many people describe themselves in terms of both conventional
religiosity and subjective spirituality, people who were more focused on
subjective spirituality and less interested in religiosity tended to have
distinctly different personality characteristics compared to those with a more
orthodox religious orientation. People who described themselves in conventional
religious terms tended to be fairly conservative in their attitudes and
beliefs. Those who were more spiritual and less religious tended to be more
non-conforming and even peculiar in their outlook and personal traits. For
example, they were more likely than other people to describe themselves as weird and crazy. Additionally, they tended to believe in a range of
“alternative” ideas (such as psychokinesis, reincarnation, astrology,
witchcraft, and psychic powers), say that they “respect the power of magic,”
and scored highly in measures of magical thinking, fantasy proneness, and
absorption[1].
"Unfiltered anger" by Louis Dyer
Characteristics such as magical
thinking and so on have been linked to a set of traits known as schizotypy, or
proneness to mildly psychotic thinking. Schizotypy refers to a cluster of
cognitive, emotional, and behavioural traits that are similar to but generally
milder than those exhibited in schizophrenia. It is associated with unusual
beliefs about reality (e.g. that it is possible to harm other by thinking bad
thoughts about them) and the tendency to have odd perceptual experiences (such
as feeling that strangers are reading one’s mind). Other research has found
that "New Age" beliefs and practices (in this study this term encompassed such things as yoga, Reiki, astrology, and Tarot)
are associated with schizotypy (Farias,
Claridge, & Lalljee, 2005). Schizotypy tends to be associated with
high levels of anxiety and depression (Lewandowski
et al., 2006). It could be the case that people with schizotypal
tendencies and associated proneness to anxiety and depression may find
unconventional spiritual ideas to be particularly appealing. It is also
possible (and I admit this is speculation) that adherence to such ideas
exacerbates their existing mental imbalances. (It should be noted though that many
people with schizotypal tendencies are otherwise well-adjusted. Schizotypy has
also been linked to artistic creativity.)
Whether unconventional spiritual
pursuits are harmful to mental health is not yet known. In some respects, the
association between spirituality and mental disorder seems contrary to the
benefits that many spiritual traditions claim to offer. Spiritual fulfilment is
supposed to lead to inner peace, even bliss. In fact certain mystics have gone
so far as to claim
that spiritual “work” can lead to an inner transformation that will result in
“True wisdom and perfect happiness”! The very idea of “perfect happiness” seems
like an impossible mirage, although a more charitable interpretation is that
the term is intended as a poetic metaphor rather than a literal reality. So why
are so many spiritual people so troubled? It may be that some people are simply
not that successful in pursuing whatever spiritual fulfilment they are seeking.
King et al. (2013) found that those who were spiritual but not religious rated
the strength of their belief and the importance of the practice of their faith
somewhat lower than the religious participants in their study. This might
indicate a lack of dedication or self-discipline on the part of those who claim
to be spiritual but not religious. More detailed studies are needed to
determine if this is the case.
Another limitation of the study
by King et al. was that it did not examine the specific content of the beliefs
and practices of the spiritual but not religious. The content of one’s
spiritual beliefs could well affect one’s mental health. For example, belief in
the interconnectedness of things might be relatively beneficial, whereas more
“superstitious” beliefs such as in the “evil eye” could be harmful to one’s
mental health. Research could examine
whether certain particular spiritual practices are more associated with mental
disorder than others. For example, yoga and meditation are generally thought to
be beneficial to one’s well-being, but more bizarre practices (such as
“regression” to before one’s birth) might encourage a person to hold peculiar
ideas that may not serve them well in real life.
An additional puzzle is why the
three groups in the King et al. study did not differ in their overall happiness
even though one group was more prone to mental disorder. Happiness was assessed
with a single question, whereas mental health status was assessed with a
clinical interview, so a more detailed assessment of well-being might provide a
more nuanced picture.
Considering the increasing
prominence in modern society of people who consider themselves spiritual but
not religious, more in-depth research is needed to understand fully why this
group seems to be particularly vulnerable to mental illness.
© Scott McGreal. Please do not reproduce without
permission. Brief excerpts may be quoted as long as a link to the original
article is provided.
This article also appears on Psychology Today on
my blog Unique
- Like Everybody Else. Check out my latest articles!
Other blog posts related
to spirituality
References
Farias, M., Claridge, G., & Lalljee, M. (2005).
Personality and cognitive predictors of New Age practices and beliefs. Personality and Individual Differences, 39(5),
979-989. doi: 10.1016/j.paid.2005.04.003
King, M., Marston, L., McManus, S., Brugha, T., Meltzer, H., & Bebbington, P. (2012). Religion, spirituality and mental health: results from a national study of English households The British Journal of Psychiatry, 202 (1), 68-73 DOI: 10.1192/bjp.bp.112.112003
King, M., Weich, S., Nazroo, J., & Blizard, B. (2006). Religion, mental health and ethnicity. EMPIRIC – A national survey of England. Journal of Mental Health, 15(2), 153-162. doi: doi:10.1080/09638230600608891
Koenig, H. G. (2008). Concerns About Measuring "Spirituality" in Research. The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 196(5), 349-355 310.1097/NMD.1090b1013e31816ff31796.
Lewandowski, K. E., Barrantes-Vidal, N., Nelson-Gray, R. O., Clancy, C., Kepley, H. O., & Kwapil, T. R. (2006). Anxiety and depression symptoms in psychometrically identified schizotypy. Schizophrenia Research, 83(2–3), 225-235. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.schres.2005.11.024
Lindeman, M., & Aarnio, K. (2007). Superstitious, magical, and paranormal beliefs: An integrative model. Journal of Research in Personality, 41(4), 731-744. doi: 10.1016/j.jrp.2006.06.009
Saucier, G., & Skrzypińska, K. (2006). Spiritual But Not Religious? Evidence for Two Independent Dispositions. Journal of Personality, 74(5), 1257-1292. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-6494.2006.00409.x
[1] I
discuss absorption and its relationship to mystical experiences occasioned by
psychedelic drugs in a previous post.
