Prayer and Mental Health
Freud is reported to have said that none of his patients had fully recovered their mental health without also re-finding their religious belief. Religion then jumped on this to bolster their aims.
There is a lot of debate about the role of belief, and especially prayer, in improving mental health particularly in the reduction of stress and depression.
In the excellent televised discussion at the Australian National University, between Richard Dawkins and Lawrence Krauss (see below) some mention of prayer is made and debunked, although this is prayer by people for someone else.
I think that there is no doubt that prayer by an individual can help relieve stress and depression in themselves. Of course it does not matter to whom one is praying – this depends on one’s belief system. There has been some research that indicates that people who pray regularly experience a generally calmer and stress free life. When dealing with loss, grief and guilt prayer can be a solace.
In none-religious beliefs, meditation offers the same relief and solace. Meditation in two forms – self-analysis and quiet time. Allocating a set period of time for uninterrupted self-analysis, thinking through problems, assessing their effects, understanding them and especially in terms of guilt, learning to forgive oneself are very beneficial. Then at a later time simply taking time out to sit quietly and clear the mind of all the “noise” that rattles around inside one’s head can have a very calming, de-stressing and beneficial effect.
Rather than constantly worrying throughout the day – allocate specific time to deal with the worries – analyse them carefully, find solutions, forgive yourself and then leave the worries until the next time you have allocated to think about them, and in the meantime get on and enjoy your life.
The allocation of two meditation periods per day – one active and one passive (say 20 minutes each) and living the rest of the day normally is good advice for reduced stress / depression. It is Important however not to ignore the self-analysis period or hide from it. It may be painful, but when tackled and thought through, will over time reduce worry and distress. Ignoring the self-analysis will only let worries fester and possibly get worse.
Sometimes it may be necessary to find a confidant to discuss problems with or just to listen to you - make this a replacement for an active period.
A religious person may choose to talk to a religious leader to unburden feelings. The Catholic Church and its system of confession was designed for this purpose, but can also be divisive.
For a religious person, belief and prayer can enable better mental health, but meditation can achieve the same results and is available to all, religious and non-religious alike, and does not require any belief in supernatural powers.
Video recorded at the Australian National University 2012