A study has found that elderly people who are struggling with religious beliefs while suffering from illness are more at risk of dying.
Results of the two-year study were reported in the Aug. 13–27 edition of Archives of Internal Medicine. The study included 596 hospital patients age 55 or older, most of whom were affiliated with Protestant denominations.
“This study reminds us that religion is a rich, complex process, one that represents a potent resource for people facing problems and one that can, at times, be a source of problems itself,” said Kenneth Pargament, lead author of the study and a psychology professor at Bowling Green State University in Ohio.
“Patients’ reports that they felt alienated from or unloved by God and attributed their illness to the devil were associated with a 19 to 28 percent increase in risk of dying during the follow-up,” they wrote.
The authors — who called their work “the first empirical study to identify religious variables that increase the risk of mortality” — offered several suggestions for why such struggles could increase the risk of death. They thought religious struggle might cause poorer physical health, be associated with personality or emotional differences that relate to mortality (greater stress, depression or anxiety) or lead to social alienation.
“Individuals who voice religious dissatisfaction and discontent in the midst of their illnesses may alienate themselves from the support and caring of family, friends, clergy and health professionals, which may, in turn, result in a loss of social, emotional and tangible support," they wrote. (RNS)
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