Question

Where do you personally stand on the relationship between mental health and religion? What, from religion, can contribute to a person’s psychological well-being? What, from religion, can prove to be problematic for one’s emotional well-being and mental health.

Answer 1

Ans.

From a personal standpoint, I feel that religion assumes an important role in the determination of mental health. Religious beliefs are notions that hold personal meaning to individuals practising them. Beliefs might have a positive or negative significance to the individuals concerned. As any attitude or belief is associated with our mental health and well-being, religious beliefs may also be assumed to have an impact on mental health.

Religion can contribute to a person’s psychological well-being. This is true because religious beliefs and practices help inculcate hope and optimism. A person prays, conducts fasts and indulges in other religious practices for the purpose of satisfying the Lord and to obtain his/her blessings, or for the mere purpose of seeking peace or salvation. Holding on to religious beliefs provides a sense of satisfaction on the part of the individual and makes him/her hopeful about positive outcomes and achievements. This kind of hopefulness and optimism helps develop peace of mind and this leads to the mental well-being of the individual.

However, there are instances where religion may prove to be problematic for one’s emotional well-being and mental health as well. This happens especially for those who have neurotic tendencies and those who have a pessimistic approach towards life. Religion for them is a medium of releasing stress. Although it might initially seem to be an effective mechanism, it takes a toll on the lives of such individuals, who become completely dependent upon religious practices in the face of stressful situations. This is a type of emotional dependence that may sometimes outweigh logic and rationality. This is the major cause of developing superstitions in the long run. In the process, such individuals may also come across people who use religion as a means of extortion of money, who may take advantage of them by inducing fear in their minds and extracting money from them by giving them false hopes about their future. With time, individuals become more and more dependent upon these fraudulent practices, and when they fail to have their hopes met, fall into greater grief and hopelessness. Religious beliefs as adopted from traditional and orthodox perspectives that emphasize upon strict norms and regulations often deprive people from enjoying the basic privileges offered by life. This can again lead to depressive thoughts and disregarding them may lead to guilt. These are the ways by which religion may have detrimental effects on the mental health and emotional well-being of individuals.