How can having faith in a higher power benefit health?

Researchers in the field of psychoneuroimmunology (mind/body interplay) report growing evidence on the positive effects of faith in God or a Higher Power on your health.  These experts contend that the human body has a powerful sacramental dimension to it, and those who acknowledge this with a strong sense of higher purpose--a body-soul connectedness--are the ones who are more likely to stay with programs that lead to optimal health.  This does not mean that faith in God or a Higher Power should ever replace much-needed medical treatment. However, having faith in something greater than yourself offers a type of curative power, helping you to disconnect unhealthy worries and replace these with soothing belief.

In Greek, the word for faith is “pistis,” which means the act of giving one’s trust.  Trusting in God or a Higher Power permits us to trust and commit to proven medical, nutritional or fitness regimes we know will benefit us.  Likewise, according to the latest medical research, faith is healthy and even healing.  Many studies of late have found that people who are active in religious organizations and attend group functions regularly are also healthier with reports of lower blood pressure, less depression and greater longevity.

Perhaps the most famous faith study was done on prayer and conducted by Dr. Randolph Byrd, a cardiologist at the University of California at San Francisco Medical Center. He took 393 people who had been admitted to the hospital with a heart attack. All of the subjects received the same high-tech, state-of-the-art coronary care, but half were also prayed for by name by prayer groups around the country. No one knew who was being prayed for--the patients, the doctors, the nurses. The prayed-for group had fewer deaths, faster recovery, less intubations, and used fewer potent medications.

Williams and Kemper (2010) recognize that the strength of an individual’s social support network can contribute to the sustainability of the cognitive functions by keeping the brain actively engaged and even lowers the risk of mortality. Therefore, those who maintain participation in a positive social environment can help increase their quality and length of life (Williams & Kemper, 2010). Thus, people who have a strong religious support group coupled with having faith in a higher power create a sense of optimism. Thus, the level of one’s faith can be correlated to the level of positive thinking during a health crisis. 

It has long been recognized by researchers and medical professionals that social relationships, including religious ones, along with an individual’s personality can influence both physical and mental health across the lifespan. Since the 1960’s the study of aging and all its processes has focused on explaining the human aging process from a holistic perspective; meaning that it is no longer just being viewed as a biological phenomenon but also a social, religious, psychological, physical and emotional process.