Food For Thought is a public theology & Bible advocacy blog for Eternity from Sophia Think Tank’s David Wilson, who gathers top Christian thinkers to take a closer look at how the Christian faith addresses matters in society at large every week.

‘Spiritual’ people are predisposed to mental health problems more than religious or secular people, according to a piece of research published in the British Journal of Psychiatry. The Age ran an article on the research earlier this month. The results of the research go something like this:

• Data was collected from interviews with 7403 people who participated in an English Psychiatric study (no problem there with the size of the sample!).
• 35% identified themselves as religious, 19% said they were spiritual but not religious, and 46% claimed to be neither religious nor spiritual (The Age identifies this group as ‘Atheists’ when in reality they should be seen as secularists).
• Religious and secular people were about equal in regards to the prevalence of mental disorders while those identifying themselves as spiritual without a religious framework were 50% more likely to have an anxiety disorder, 72% more likely to suffer from a phobia, and 77% more likely to have a drug dependency.

The conclusion the researchers draw from this study is “People who have a spiritual understanding of life in the absence of a religious framework are vulnerable to mental disorder”.

So, what do we do with that? On my reading of the research, the methodology and the data collection is sound. It’s a good piece of research that shouldn’t be dismissed just because the results and conclusions may sit uncomfortably with some.

But actually, they don’t sit uncomfortably with me. I think the results are really enlightening.  Psychology has for over 100 years tried to align mental disorder and spirituality. Freud (Psychoanalytic psychology) believed spirituality was one of the greatest expressions of obsessional neurosis known to ‘man’. Skinner (Behaviouristic psychology) rejected it as absurd – we are what we see, nothing more and nothing less; highly evolved animals or very complex machines. Maslow, in his early writings (Humanistic psychology), regarded it as immature expressions of humanness. The field of psychology of religion has variously tried to prove the causal effect of religion/spirituality on mental disorders. It’s ‘If you believe in something out there it will drive you mad’- type of thinking.

But there has been plenty of writing and research going the other way too. My own Masters thesis was around this topic, seeking to provide evidence through psychological testing that a theistic religion that was highly spiritual was not necessarily detrimental to one’s mental health.

The Age article also quotes from Ellen Idler of Rutgers University, author of the paper ‘The Psychological and Physical Benefits of Spiritual/Religious Practices’ as saying “Transcendent spiritual and religious experiences have a positive, healing, restorative effect, especially if they are ‘built in’, so to speak, to one’s daily, weekly, seasonal, and annual cycles of living”. In other words, from Idler’s research, if spirituality is something intrinsic to the person (internalised) and relevant to the everyday of that person’s life, it is actually conducive to mental health.

There are many things that come out of the British research that call for further analysis and reflection. The authors themselves agree with that. But the main point for now that I want to reflect on is the conclusion: “People who have a spiritual understanding of life in the absence of a religious framework are vulnerable to mental disorder”.

The conclusion could just as easily have been: “People who are vulnerable to mental disorder are likely to be drawn to a spiritual understanding of life”. You get my point don’t you? Where’s the cause? Does spirituality cause mental disorder or does mental disorder cause a person to search beyond themselves for meaning and purpose and acceptance? I’m sure it’s actually both ways but to state the conclusion as existing in only one direction is unjustifiable.

Jesus is quoted as saying that it’s the sick who need a doctor (Matthew 9:12) not those who think they are well. His whole ministry concentrated on people who were marginalised within His society and many of them would today be diagnosed as having some type of mental health problem. It shouldn’t be a surprise or a concern to us that spiritual seekers are a population with higher mental health problems than the rest of the population. Jesus started it! The greater concern is why organised religion doesn’t attract that same population.

This also sheds some light onto the seemingly contradictory evidence that Ellen Idler presents, as quoted above. Idler points out that spirituality has a restorative effect to it. This would suggest that those who are experiencing mental health problems find help in turning to a spiritual framework.  That’s good. It also means that both religious and secular frameworks don’t do much for those with mental health challenges. That must be a concern for any religious people and/or secularists who want to make a difference.

Yes, I find this research truly enlightening. I hope that those who hold positions in the areas of policy making and funding listen well and respond appropriately. It could cause some breakthroughs in the field of mental health intervention and God knows we need those breakthroughs!

Food for Thought.