Does prayer help or harm your health: Christian reality TV star Jessa Duggar Seewald recently shared three videos of Baptist pastor John Piper, one of them calling anxiety a sin.
Several Instagram commenters and at least one blogger weren't happy with the idea that people could "pray away anxiety."
For many people, prayer is an integral part of their faith. And research has shown that prayer has health benefits.
But experts say that substituting prayer for medical treatment, especially in severe cases, such as anxiety and depression, can lead to years of struggle and more serious complications, even death.
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Does prayer help or harm your health
Can prayer help others heal?
A number of studies have looked at the effects of religion or prayer on health – some have shown benefits.
One study, published last year in PLoS One, found that people who attended church more than once a week were 55% less likely to die during the 18-year follow-up period than those who did not. did not attend church.
A 2016 study by JAMA Internal Medicine also showed that women who attended religious services more than once a week were 33% less likely to die during 16 years of follow-up than non-attenders.
However, these studies do not indicate whether it is religion that gives a boost to health or another factor, such as social support.
Solo prayer is more difficult for researchers to measure than church attendance for several reasons. On the one hand, “how often do you go to church?” Is an easy question to answer. And second, different people may have different ways of praying.
Additionally, people tend to turn to prayer when things are going bad, such as when they are sick, lose a loved one, or are laid off from their job.
“Quite often, prayer becomes a marker of even more serious distress or physical illness, because that's when people turn to prayer for comfort,” said Dr. Harold Koenig, director of the Center for Spirituality, Theology and Health at Duke University. and author of “Religion and Mental Health: Research and Clinical Applications.”
Studies carried out at a given time in a person's life (cross-sectional studies) may only concern people in difficulty.
Overall, research on the benefits of praying for others, known as intercessory prayer, has been mixed.
A review of previous studies found that praying for another person had only weak health benefits. Another showed no effect.
And one study suggests that prayer can make things worse. This study, published in 2006 in the American Heart Journal, found that complication rates were higher among people who knew that another person was praying for their recovery after heart surgery than among those who were not prayed for. .
Praying can improve mental health
Praying for others might not help them much, but several studies have shown benefits to the person praying – whether they are praying for someone else or for themselves.
This may come from the effect of prayer on a person's mental well-being.
“The compassion people show toward others when they pray for them is a good thing for the person praying,” Koenig told Healthline.
Prayer can also have effects on mental well-being similar to those of meditation and yoga, which translate into physical effects.
“All the benefits for mental well-being that prayer has, I think, are going to translate into benefits for physical well-being over time,” Koenig said.
He is quick to point out, however, that he is not talking about the “miraculously heal someone” prayer. Instead, prayer can improve a person's mental health, for example by reducing anxiety and stress.
In turn, this can result in “better physiological functioning,” such as lower levels of the stress hormone cortisol, lower blood pressure, and improved immune functioning.
A 2009 study by Koenig and colleagues found that six weekly in-person Christian prayer sessions with patients in a primary health care office alleviated their symptoms of depression and anxiety and increased their optimism.
The prayer was led by a lay minister, but patients sometimes joined in prayer. It is therefore uncertain whether the effects result from a prayer or an act of prayer.
Other studies have shown that prayer decreased pain symptoms after a cesarean section and improved the quality of life of women undergoing radiation therapy.
Prayer at the place of treatment
Koenig said there is a particular need for ongoing studies over decades to “see whether those who regularly spend time in prayer end up having better mental and physical health over time.”
Does this mean you can ditch your doctor or psychologist and pray instead?
“Absolutely not,” Koenig said.
Serious mental and physical problems are not things to be trifled with.
Untreated anxiety disorders can lead to physical problems and an increased risk of suicide and depression. Depression is linked to physical illness, social isolation and premature death.
Other untreated illnesses can also lead to death or other serious complications.
A study last year by the JNCI: Journal of the National Cancer Institute found that people who used only alternative medicine treatments for their cancer were 2,5 times more likely to die than those who used alternative medicine. conventional cancer treatments.
This study did not specifically focus on prayer, but showed the risks of avoiding medical care.
Even if prayer doesn't "miraculously" heal you, it can still have its place alongside traditional treatments.
“The combination of getting the best medical care and strong religious faith and prayer can lead to better mental and physical health,” Koenig said.
