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Source: (consider it)
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Thread: Depressed? Go to church (! or ?)?
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no prophet's flag is set so...
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# 15560
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Posted
They did a study for 14 years, following 12,000 people, controlled for church just being social support, age, gender, income. Being "spiritual" but not attending religious services doesn't help.
Attending religious services protects against depression, study finds.
quote:
Above link
A 14-year study involving more than 12,000 Canadians shows regular attendance at religious services provides significant protection against depression.
"Even when you control for other factors that might be important, individuals that attended worship services once a month or more over that period of time had a 22 per cent less chance of getting depressed,"
My first thought was that the data must be odd in some way. The people doing the study are psychiatrists, and university affiliated.
So would you go to church if your doctor told you to, so as to help with your mood? Is church better than taking antidepressants?
[Fixed coding of URL - Gwai]
[ 25. April 2013, 16:12: Message edited by: Gwai ]
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loggats
Shipmate
# 17643
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Posted
Don't the reasons why you attend figure into this too? A regular prayer life, fostering a relationship with God, putting your faith into practice however you can... just randomly turning up on a Sunday doesn't seem like it would be much help.
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Desert Daughter
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# 13635
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Posted
If this is a real "scientific" study, it is misquoted, or just too short a snippet out of a larger context.
Besides, the finding might hold only for extroverts (who are, after all, the majority of the population). We introverts can get very depressed precisely by attending church.
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"Prayer is the rejection of concepts." (Evagrius Ponticus)
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Gramps49
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# 16378
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Posted
There was a similar study I think over 20 years ago that compared the improvements mental health of patients of a practicing psychologist to the mental health of members of a church in Atlanta. The conclusion was the same: church goers had better mental health.
I know at one time I was severely depressed and the counselor I was going to suggested I go to church more often. It helped. I think it helped because of the fellowship of other people who were genuinely interested in me. The music also helped--something about how singing is an emotional release. The message also contributed to me getting over my depression: to hear about a caring God, to hear about different approaches to life situations--all good.
Posts: 2193 | From: Pullman WA | Registered: Apr 2011
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Heavenly Anarchist
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# 13313
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Posted
I have bipolar disorder and I find church extremely beneficial as it gives me a stable, regular environment where I feel safe to share my feelings. The sense of community I get in my church has been a major support in my battle with my mental health and I agree with the concept that the music and singing allows for emotional relief. But there is also an issue here as to whether your reasons for attending the church are more influential, knowledge of a loving God may in itself lead to some relief, or at least in my experience.
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quetzalcoatl
Shipmate
# 16740
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Posted
I also recall a study which said that just going to church is not enough; you also have to believe in it all, well, OK, not all, but some of it! I can't actually find the damnn thing, but I think the point is that religion protects against mental illness and suicide in two main ways - via the community of people which you can enjoy; and also the actual belief in a loving God helps. But I will look for this study.
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Posts: 9878 | From: UK | Registered: Oct 2011
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Nicodemia
WYSIWYG
# 4756
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Posted
quote:
Besides, the finding might hold only for extroverts (who are, after all, the majority of the population). We introverts can get very depressed precisely by attending church.
Too true, Desert Daughter, too true! Alas.
Posts: 4544 | From: not too far from Manchester, UK | Registered: Jul 2003
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Schroedinger's cat
Ship's cool cat
# 64
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Posted
I feel better having left the church. So no, it doesn't always work. The full details of the study might show more, but I CBA to search it out.
It can work, for some people. But not for everyone.
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Mudfrog
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# 8116
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Nicodemia:
quote:
Besides, the finding might hold only for extroverts (who are, after all, the majority of the population). We introverts can get very depressed precisely by attending church.
Too true, Desert Daughter, too true! Alas.
Well, I'm an introvert - I'm actually INFJ - and I love church.
In fact I love it so much, I lead one! ![[Biased]](wink.gif)
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Posts: 8237 | From: North Yorkshire, UK | Registered: Jul 2004
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Jengie jon
Semper Reformanda
# 273
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Posted
IIrc the UK studies have also shown this but...
The effect is only as good as belonging to a tennis club. Actually change that, the tennis club is better.
It is basically a measure of social capital/connectedness and the more you have the less likely you are to have mental illness, but as social capital/connectedness also equates to being more likely to have a network of supportive friends this really is not news.
Jengie
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Posts: 20894 | From: city of steel, butterflies and rainbows | Registered: May 2001
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Avila
Shipmate
# 15541
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Posted
Too lazy to search out the refs (on a flop day) but studies have shown that being part of a supportive, caring social network is a significant factor in coping with mental health issues including depression.
Being part of a church, at least in theory, offers that support network.
It is not necessary to actually call on that support but to know that it is there is a positive factor.
So did the study in the opener compare church to not church or church to say the local book club or other social link?
Doctors already know to recommend depressed people try to get out socially as well as exercise - both things that help but which when depression is bad I want to totally avoid.
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Freddy
Shipmate
# 365
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Jengie Jon:
It is basically a measure of social capital/connectedness and the more you have the less likely you are to have mental illness, but as social capital/connectedness also equates to being more likely to have a network of supportive friends this really is not news.
I was thinking the same thing. It's mostly the more stable people who can get it together to show up on a regular basis. They're also the ones who form the social networks that make showing up interesting. But the same is true of the ability to show up regularly at the tennis club.
But it is still true that showing up regularly at church provides this benefit. And there are plenty of other benefits as well.
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"Consequently nothing is of greater importance to a person than knowing what the truth is." Swedenborg
Posts: 12845 | From: Bryn Athyn | Registered: Jun 2001
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South Coast Kevin
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# 16130
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Posted
No prophet's OP said the study was 'controlled for church just being social support'. So that should have removed any effect that would have been equally achieved through membership of, say, a tennis club. Having said that, I have also not looked at the survey itself...
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Posts: 3309 | From: The south coast (of England) | Registered: Jan 2011
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no prophet's flag is set so...
Proceed to see sea
# 15560
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by South Coast Kevin:
No prophet's OP said the study was 'controlled for church just being social support'. So that should have removed any effect that would have been equally achieved through membership of, say, a tennis club. Having said that, I have also not looked at the survey itself...
This is correct, which is why I wondered about the data. Apparently something about (1) committing to something, (2) having other worldly thoughts, and (3) I wonder what what else.
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Posts: 11498 | From: Treaty 6 territory in the nonexistant Province of Buffalo, Canada ↄ⃝' | Registered: Mar 2010
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The Midge
Shipmate
# 2398
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Desert Daughter:
Besides, the finding might hold only for extroverts (who are, after all, the majority of the population). We introverts can get very depressed precisely by attending church.
I think it is about finding the right space within church. Avoid the after church coffee, meet in one to ones, go for a more reflective or contemplative style service. Campaign for the abolition of the big hug form of the peace.
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Belle Ringer
Shipmate
# 13379
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Posted
I read something recently - don't know where, don't know how reliable - that said it wasn't really the church-going, it was the church connections with other people, the friendships. It said people who went to church but sat alone, didn't build connections with others (even just Sunday morning friendships) were no different than people who didn't go at all.
Posts: 5830 | From: Texas | Registered: Jan 2008
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no prophet's flag is set so...
Proceed to see sea
# 15560
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Posted
I'm seeing comments that indicate clicking the link to the study was not part of visiting the thread.
No it does not just apply to 'extroverts' or any other personality characteristic, that the protective effect is 22% less a chance of being diagnosed with depression. They compared people (14,000 of them) in three groups: those who attended worship services once a month or more, those who attended infrequently, and those who never go. You have to attend once per month at minimum.
quote:
The study:
"It's not just the social support. There are other things. Maybe it's the act of committing and going. We do know that individuals that are more committed to attendance might also have more commitment to looking after their health. They may have less substance abuse and things like that".
It doesn't mean people who go to church don't get depressed, because as they age and everything, obviously sometimes they will, but the (data) shows they're much less likely...
quote:
<the findings as> published in the April edition of the Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, are significant because of the large number of subjects from across the country and the long tracking period, factors other studies have lacked
So most of the objections are not borne out. I'm thinking that the factors may be more thoughtfulness, less likely to do some of the really disruptive things that can mess up life: substance abuse, family breakdown, and maybe moral things like honesty. Does a view to the eternal contribute? A sense that beauty is more important than sceptical society thinks?
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Posts: 11498 | From: Treaty 6 territory in the nonexistant Province of Buffalo, Canada ↄ⃝' | Registered: Mar 2010
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quetzalcoatl
Shipmate
# 16740
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Posted
This is an interesting Ph. D. on the effects on heart disease, but she does also comment on the effects on depression and so on. She seems to highlight two factors: congregational support, and 'intrinsic religiousness', which I suppose means some kind of commitment.
http://idea.library.drexel.edu/bitstream/1860/522/1/Wilkins_Victoria.pdf
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Karl: Liberal Backslider
Shipmate
# 76
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Mudfrog:
quote:
Originally posted by Nicodemia:
quote:
Besides, the finding might hold only for extroverts (who are, after all, the majority of the population). We introverts can get very depressed precisely by attending church.
Too true, Desert Daughter, too true! Alas.
Well, I'm an introvert - I'm actually INFJ - and I love church.
In fact I love it so much, I lead one!
Funnily enough, one of the ways introverts cope with church is becoming leaders in them.
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Posts: 17938 | From: Chesterfield | Registered: May 2001
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Desert Daughter
Shipmate
# 13635
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Posted
Not so sure. A true introvert (one who scores high on the "I" scale, not just 20 or 30%) will not seek church leadership, because this entails precisely that which introverts dread most: deep interaction with many strangers. Remember introverts are the people who get their stimuli from within. Outside stimuli (such as accepting this "deep" interaction) drain and frequently even depress them.
Church leaders may be "mildly" introverted, which could well serve them.
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"Prayer is the rejection of concepts." (Evagrius Ponticus)
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Karl: Liberal Backslider
Shipmate
# 76
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Desert Daughter:
Not so sure. A true introvert (one who scores high on the "I" scale, not just 20 or 30%) will not seek church leadership, because this entails precisely that which introverts dread most: deep interaction with many strangers. Remember introverts are the people who get their stimuli from within. Outside stimuli (such as accepting this "deep" interaction) drain and frequently even depress them.
Church leaders may be "mildly" introverted, which could well serve them.
You'd think, wouldn't you? I think it's a bit more subtle than that - introverts may sit in the pews, unmoved by the gestalt of the congregational group dynamic, thinking "it could be done a lot better than this". And once you start thinking that, there's a danger that you'll act on it.
Besides which, I'd say more that church leaders only have to interact superficially with large groups; it's individuals where you may have to interact at a deep level and that's not so challenging for the introvert.
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Might as well ask the bloody cat.
Posts: 17938 | From: Chesterfield | Registered: May 2001
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quetzalcoatl
Shipmate
# 16740
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Posted
Anecdote: about 20 years ago, I did a couple of sermons, invited by my then rector. I found them utterly awful and stressful, although everybody said they were good. Anyway, I said to him, it is now utterly confirmed, that I am a card-carrying introvert, and I shall never do another one. And he said, oh lucky man.
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I can't talk to you today; I talked to two people yesterday.
Posts: 9878 | From: UK | Registered: Oct 2011
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Penny S
Shipmate
# 14768
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Posted
There was a similar survey when I was in my teens, half a century ago.
Posts: 5833 | Registered: May 2009
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leo
Shipmate
# 1458
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Desert Daughter:
Not so sure. A true introvert (one who scores high on the "I" scale, not just 20 or 30%) will not seek church leadership, because this entails precisely that which introverts dread most: deep interaction with many strangers. Remember introverts are the people who get their stimuli from within. Outside stimuli (such as accepting this "deep" interaction) drain and frequently even depress them.
Church leaders may be "mildly" introverted, which could well serve them.
That is bot born out by statistics. Most church leaders are introverts. Extremely so. The role gives introverts a mask to hide behind - not in a any nasty way - it boosts our confidence.
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Posts: 23198 | From: Bristol | Registered: Oct 2001
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Belle Ringer
Shipmate
# 13379
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Posted
When I fussed at a pastor that church is for extroverts, he agreed and said 75% of church members are extroverts and 75% of clergy are introverts.
For me, definitely introvert, strong loner tendencies, haven't a clue how to do small talk, I am comfortable around people when I have a role, the role gives interactions with people structure, some don't believe I'm deeply introvert because they see me only when I'm in a role. Clergy have a role.
Posts: 5830 | From: Texas | Registered: Jan 2008
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Timothy the Obscure
Mostly Friendly
# 292
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Posted
I don't find this surprising at all. Most of the performers I know (myself included) are introverts who are drawn to performing because it gives them a structured way to connect to others. That's true both in my roles as musician and as psychologist (yes, being a therapist is a performance). I'm sure it's just a true for clergy (which I might have been if my sort of Quakers had them).
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When you think of the long and gloomy history of man, you will find more hideous crimes have been committed in the name of obedience than have ever been committed in the name of rebellion.
- C. P. Snow
Posts: 6114 | From: PDX | Registered: May 2001
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leo
Shipmate
# 1458
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Posted
Agree. My introversion drew me to teaching and amateur dramatics.
Posts: 23198 | From: Bristol | Registered: Oct 2001
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quetzalcoatl
Shipmate
# 16740
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Posted
Isn't it a way of being hidden in plain sight? The persona of being a performer of some kind provides a brilliant hiding place in public.
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I can't talk to you today; I talked to two people yesterday.
Posts: 9878 | From: UK | Registered: Oct 2011
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Desert Daughter
Shipmate
# 13635
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Timothy the Obscure:
introverts who are drawn to performing because it gives them a structured way to connect to others.
Yes, I see what you mean. I score 99% on the introversion scale of the MBTI yet I have no problem with teaching/lecturing. An auditorium with 500 students is no problem for me. Neither is a one-to-one tutorial in research methods. All nicely structured. But the thought of having a chat with colleagues in the common room, mingling at a party or (horror of horrors!) church coffee gives me the jitters.
As to church leaders, there might be introverts among them, but probably not very high-scoring ones, and many of them seem to have developed a knack for ministering to the extrovert. When talking to them I try to signal that I don't want to chat and I don't seek company, but that I have a concrete (spiritual/ theological) issue to discuss. But this sort of behaviour from a parishioner just does not seem to be part of their repertoire. ![[Frown]](frown.gif)
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"Prayer is the rejection of concepts." (Evagrius Ponticus)
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rolyn
Shipmate
# 16840
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Posted
With the OP and the (! or ?) are we to assume the implication that attending church is more likely to cause depression rather that cure it ?
The wording is quite clever though because it says 'protect against depression'. The fear of depression is becoming widespread in secular Western cultures so the Church may well be in a position to offer a morsel of comfort .
Personally I would say sip at it rather than gulp it down, particularly if you find God at a very low point in your life.
Fighting fire with fire is Ok provided you don't create a bigger more destructive one.
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Change is the only certainty of existence
Posts: 3206 | From: U.K. | Registered: Dec 2011
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Chorister
Completely Frocked
# 473
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Posted
If you attend a church which genuinely tries to provide comfort for those who are distressed, then I believe it can help. But what about those churches which try to disturb people because they believe Christianity is all about stirring people up and booting them out of their comfort zone? I don't think that would be much help to someone who is feeling depressed or worried.
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Retired, sitting back and watching others for a change.
Posts: 34626 | From: Cream Tealand | Registered: Jun 2001
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Clotilde
Shipmate
# 17600
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Posted
Sometimes depressed people find it difficult to go out. Sometimes it is even hard to get out of bed.
I speak from personal experience.
It can be an effort but also an achievement to go among people. If they are welcoming people who give space then that's good. Some churches are like that. So, yes, I can see that going to (an appropriate) church can help.
But it must only be part of the story, of course. I've heard some food stuffs have been suggested as helping.
A many pronged approach to depression, I think, is best.
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A witness of female resistance
Posts: 159 | From: A man's world | Registered: Mar 2013
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Boogie
Boogie on down!
# 13538
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Posted
I agree Clotilde. When my husband had depression he went to bed for over three months. He couldn't stop eating tangerine oranges, I wonder if there is something in them which helped?
The people from Church were wonderful - never lost touch, but went at his pace and welcomed him when he could return.
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Garden. Room. Walk
Posts: 13030 | From: Boogie Wonderland | Registered: Mar 2008
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Moo
Ship's tough old bird
# 107
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Posted
Introverts who choose to become clergy are a self-selected group. They want contact with people, but casual contact with strangers is difficult.
Those introverts who do not want contact with many people choose occupations where they don't have to interact much.
I once heard a talk by a priest who was a professional counselor and an introvert. He said that introverts are more aware of others' feelings than extroverts. I once had a pastor who was an off-the-chart extrovert. He couldn't believe that other people were really different from him. Once at a vestry meeting we discussed having a family retreat. One woman said that people needed advance warning so that they could find the money in their budgets. The pastor said that he didn't believe that would be a problem for anyone; everyone builds slack into their budgets. Some of us tried to convince him that this wasn't true, but we didn't succeed. He took it for granted that other people were like him. In situations where he couldn't deny the difference, he assumed the people who were different were weird.
Moo
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Posts: 20365 | From: Alleghany Mountains of Virginia | Registered: May 2001
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bib
Shipmate
# 13074
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Posted
When I had severe depression I couldn't go anywhere, let alone church and my mind became a vacuum with no awareness of God or ability to pray. As I improved with medical help, my interest in living and faith in God gradually returned. God was always there, I just was absent for a long time. I'm not sure going to church prevented or cured my depression but I have appreciated the support of Christians at church and a wonderful Christian doctor. I was unfortunate to come across a priest who tried to talk me out of using medical help as he claimed all I needed was stronger faith.This really set me back a long way and I'm sure he wouldn't have made that claim for a serious physical illness. Everyone is different and there isn't one universal cure to illnesses. Not everyone will get better from every illness.
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Posts: 1307 | From: Australia | Registered: Oct 2007
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The Midge
Shipmate
# 2398
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Posted
Perhaps Feeling Intorverts make better pro church leaders than Thinking Introverts.
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Some days you are the fly.
On other days you are the windscreen.
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no prophet's flag is set so...
Proceed to see sea
# 15560
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Posted
I suspect depression protectiveness of church attendance probably reflects some aspects of personality, though I doubt that introversion is more than one of several. I was simply considering that there may be something ineffable going on with the church attending person, within and without, more than being inaffable.
The view of myself as merely one of 4 generations in a single century, with the span of time going on before and after, and possibly hopeful nonsense that I can touch eternity through some phraseology or aesthetic contact with some of the perennial wisdom expressed within a liturgy. Truth in beauty making me feel more positive.
However, I'm unqualified to comment properly on depression, only qualified to comment more generally on mood. I've learned from life experience that I don't really "do depression", but I can experience the other 2 of the trinity: anger and anxiety. Not that there are clear lines between the three.
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Posts: 11498 | From: Treaty 6 territory in the nonexistant Province of Buffalo, Canada ↄ⃝' | Registered: Mar 2010
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tclune
Shipmate
# 7959
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Posted
Let's see... Is there any reason to believe that folks who have recognized a God-shaped hole in their lives and found a way to fill that void through Church might be statistically less depressed than those who have not found that relief? Nope, I can't think of any...
--Tom Clune
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Posts: 8013 | From: Western MA | Registered: Jul 2004
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JoannaP
Shipmate
# 4493
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Boogie:
I agree Clotilde. When my husband had depression he went to bed for over three months. He couldn't stop eating tangerine oranges, I wonder if there is something in them which helped?
The people from Church were wonderful - never lost touch, but went at his pace and welcomed him when he could return.
Boogie,
I hope you are aware how blessed you are. The feeling of being abandoned by ny church when I was not able to go did not help at all. If I had asked for help I would probably have got it but I just was not capable of that sort of reaching out. When I was well enough to go back they were lovely but...
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"Freedom for the pike is death for the minnow." R. H. Tawney (quoted by Isaiah Berlin)
"Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety." Benjamin Franklin
Posts: 1877 | From: England | Registered: May 2003
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Jack o' the Green
Shipmate
# 11091
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Belle Ringer:
I read something recently - don't know where, don't know how reliable - that said it wasn't really the church-going, it was the church connections with other people, the friendships. It said people who went to church but sat alone, didn't build connections with others (even just Sunday morning friendships) were no different than people who didn't go at all.
That makes a lot of sense. I think church going might help, simply because it gives you a reason to get up in the morning and helps the ole 'diurnal variation' kick in (i.e. people who experience depression often feel slightly better as the day progresses).
The terrible isolation and loneliness which people feel when depressed could, I suspect, make them feel worse if they aren't at a church which is sufficiently caring. The other problem might also be those texts which mention damnation, hell fire, judgement and stoning people for working on the Sabbath! They could well reinforce a person's feeling of self hatred and the fear that God is rather nasty.
I remember when the Quaker Gerald Priestland spoke about his depression, he said that the message he got from looking at a crucifix was that "you did this to me, and there is no health in you".
Posts: 3121 | From: Lancashire, England | Registered: Feb 2006
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Liopleurodon
Mighty sea creature
# 4836
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Posted
What level of depression are we talking about? Mild? Severe? Makes an enormous amount of difference to the kind of illness we're talking about. People with mild depression are often able to "snap out of it" to some extent and particular behaviours can make a big difference - exercise, hobbies, going to church etc. However, one of the most damaging things for those with a more severe form of the illness is having the stuff which is beneficial to the more mildly affected thrown in their faces. "You should go to the gym!" people say to the person who can't get out of bed. "Why don't you take an evening course?" to the person whose life is one long panic attack. If you're in that position, you're not only utterly convinced that you suck at everything, you're also too pathetic to do the things that are supposed to help, so your illness is "your fault."
The likelihood of maintaining regular church attendance during severe depression is low. The kind of person who is prone to severe depression is also probably less likely to go to church in the first place. To some extent churchgoers are pretty much a self selecting group of relatively cheerful people. Same with anyone who has the organisation and energy to do any recreational/optional activity regularly. That doesn't mean that church stops you from being depressed.
Posts: 1921 | From: Lurking under the ship | Registered: Aug 2003
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Heavenly Anarchist
Shipmate
# 13313
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Posted
I have experience both deep depression and mania to the point of needing medication, though deep depression is rare for me and I am fairly stable these days. I actually find church very helpful when depressed, possibly because the sense of community cohesion is very strong in my current church, and in the church where I was when I was diagnosed as bipolar. However, my last parish church would have been a disaster for me during a strongly depressive phase as it was going through major internal conflict itself. The church itself makes a lot of difference.
I particularly find church reassuring during periods of anxiety, which I often have as a pre-cursor to my more manic stages.
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'I love deadlines. I like the whooshing sound they make as they fly by.' Douglas Adams
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Posts: 2831 | From: Trumpington | Registered: Jan 2008
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Chorister
Completely Frocked
# 473
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Heavenly Anarchist:
I particularly find church reassuring during periods of anxiety, which I often have as a pre-cursor to my more manic stages.
Sadly, some churches seem to create anxiety in people.
I personally find Compline very calming, and also Evensong, both of which are full of reassuring prayers. I should think that, in the days when life was more nasty, brutish and short than it is today, that people found church set prayers to be helpful.
Be our light in the darkness, O Lord, and in your great mercy
defend us from all perils and dangers of this night; for the
love of your only Son, our Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.
Be present, O merciful God, and protect us through the hours
of this night, so that we who are wearied by the changes and
chances of this life may rest in your eternal changelessness;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
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Retired, sitting back and watching others for a change.
Posts: 34626 | From: Cream Tealand | Registered: Jun 2001
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Matt Black
Shipmate
# 2210
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Posted
It depends on how depressed you are and what sort of church service IME. For instance, Mrs B and I really didn't enjoy the service at our evo Anglican gaffe on Sunday. We'd both struggled out of bed and it swiftly became apparent that this was to be a Black Dog Day for both of us. Nevertheless, we got the children up and out to the 930 service just in time. Worship was annoyingly upbeat and just didn't connect with where we were at. Youngest child insisted on staying with us rather than going to his Sunday school class during the sermon so were unable to pay full attention to that. Not that it mattered much, because the preacher was a retired Pentie minister who basically presented the (evangelical version of) the Gospel ( ![[Snore]](graemlins/snore.gif) like we've never heard that before). The best bit for me was the coffee afterwards although Mrs B doesn't like that because her depression manifests itself as disliking large crowds and noise (another reason for her not to like the worship); both of us left feeling worse than when we came!
Another example: shortly after my first marriage broke up I was (a) very depressed and (b) still at the charismatic evangelical house church I'd been at for some years. The reason I was still there was that, yes, the people there at homegroup level were very good to me and looked after me (big tick) but I hated the Sunday morning service: horribly happy-clappy choruses with (as I saw it at the time) a bunch of lobotomised morons waving their hands in the air with inane grins which I wanted to wipe off their faces, followed by a triumphalist talk (I won't dignify it with the term 'sermon').
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"Protestant and Reformed, according to the Tradition of the ancient Catholic Church" - + John Cosin (1594-1672)
Posts: 14304 | From: Hampshire, UK | Registered: Jan 2002
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Pomona
Shipmate
# 17175
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Posted
I love church when I'm depressed, all I want is to be blessed and sprinkled with holy water and light candles and be blanketed in incense. But the people? That's a different story. Services I can dip in and out of are of great help though, especially those with choirs. Music does a lot of good.
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Consider the work of God: Who is able to straighten what he has bent? [Ecclesiastes 7:13]
Posts: 5319 | From: UK | Registered: Jun 2012
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AmyBo
Shipmate
# 15040
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Posted
Wow. Over a decade ago, being involved in a church made my depression worse and my so-called fellow christians' attitudes led me to contemplate suicide. I really hope this isn't being seen as a cure per se. Medication and counseling help depression, not well-intentioned bigots (in my case, anyways).
Posts: 122 | From: Minnesota | Registered: Aug 2009
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Spiffy
Ship's WonderSheep
# 5267
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by tclune:
Let's see... Is there any reason to believe that folks who have recognized a God-shaped hole in their lives and found a way to fill that void through Church might be statistically less depressed than those who have not found that relief? Nope, I can't think of any...
Of course, then there's those people who have always had God in their lives and it was only through moving laterally to a church that invited into deeper community and commitment that they determined it wasn't a decade-long dark night of the soul but a chemical imbalance issue and sought treatment for Major Depressive Disorder Moderate/Severe.
Then again, anecdotes do not equal data.
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Posts: 10281 | From: Beervana | Registered: Dec 2003
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A.Pilgrim
Shipmate
# 15044
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Posted
My experience has been that attending a religious service has for years been the most depressing experience of the week. Why did I keep going? Well, something to do with wanting to be a faithful disciple of Jesus; and having a chat with friends afterwards was a compensation, but the service itself would push me into withdrawn apathy. So that goes contrary to the survey findings.
Angus
[ 10. May 2013, 22:06: Message edited by: A.Pilgrim ]
Posts: 434 | From: UK | Registered: Aug 2009
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