That is, one does not necessarily need to follow certain rules, guidelines or practices to be spiritual, but an organized religion often has some combination of these in place.
[13] According to Ellison & Levin (1998), some studies indicate that religiosity appears to positively correlate with physical health.
[15][16] According to Seybold & Hill (2001), almost all studies involved in the effect of religion on a person's physical health have revealed it has a positive attribution to their lifestyle.
Church attendees present with lower rates of alcohol consumption and improvement in mood, which is associated with better physical health.
Studies suggest that it guards against cardiovascular disease by reducing blood pressure, and also improves immune system functioning.
A causal association between a risk factor and an outcome can only be proven by a randomized controlled experiment, obviously infeasible in this case.
One alternative explanation is that social activities performed in church, such as group singing, have health benefits for which a religious component is not necessary.
[23] Loma Linda, California, one of the five original Blue Zones of the world, "live eight to 10 years longer than the average American".
Results indicate that patients, with a previously sound religious life, experienced a 19% to 28% greater mortality due to the belief that God was supposedly punishing them or abandoning them.
[35][36] The link between religion and mental health may be due to the guiding framework or social support that it offers to individuals.
[37] By these routes, religion has the potential to offer security and significance in life, as well as valuable human relationships, to foster mental health.
Some theorists have suggested that the benefits of religion and religiosity are accounted for by the social support afforded by membership in a religious group.
[40][41] This model of religious coping has been criticized for its over-simplicity and failure to take into account other factors, such as level of religiosity, specific religion, and type of stressor.
For instance, Vilchinsky & Kravetz found negative correlations with psychological distress among religious and secular subgroups of Jewish students.
Spirituality shows beneficial effects possibly because it speaks to one's ability to intrinsically find meaning in life, strength, and inner peace, which is especially important for very ill patients.
[50] Studies have reported beneficial effects of spirituality on the lives of patients with schizophrenia, major depression, and other psychotic disorders.
[55] Psychologists of religion have performed multiple studies to measure the positive and negative effects of this coping style.
Negative religious coping (or spiritual struggles) expresses conflict, question, and doubt regarding issues of God and faith.
[63] While the WHO did not amend the preamble to its constitution, resolution WHA31.13 passed by the Thirty-seventh World Health Assembly, in 1984[64] called upon Member States to consider including in their Health For All strategies a spiritual dimension as defined in that resolution in accordance with their own social and cultural patterns,[65] recognizing that "the spiritual dimension plays a great role in motivating people's achievements in all aspects of life".
[66] The complete description of the spiritual dimension as articulated by the Health Assembly is as follows: The spiritual dimension is understood to imply a phenomenon that is not material in nature, but belongs to the realm of ideas, beliefs, values and ethics that have arisen in the minds and conscience of human beings, particularly ennobling ideas.