III. How well does Spirituality relieve anxiety and improve mood? What do studies show?

Expressing spirituality in daily activities can mean praying for someone or attending church, performing non-religious acts of kindness, giving one’s own time or making charitable donation of money. Recent research has found that all of these compassionate activities can increase happiness, not only for the person receiving, but for those who are giving. The happiness derived from tapping into spirituality can mean better mental and physical health, including lower levels of anxiety.

Economics research has found that it is better for people to tap into spirituality through compassionate activities than with material wealth alone. Researchers at the London School of Economics have found that:

• the more people volunteer, the more their ratings of happiness increased；
• volunteering monthly could yield a 7% increase in happiness； volunteering fortnightly by 12%, and weekly by 16% - equivalent to the same increase in happiness for people earning an increased annual income from £20,000 to £75-100,000 [1].
• In studies of employee bonuses, those who spent more of their bonuses on others or for charitable donations were happier than people who spent more of their bonuses on themselves [1].

Other comparison studies have shown:

• Among Japanese college students, the groups who kept a record of their “acts of kindness” rated themselves happier than those who did not [1].
• In a double-blind study of praying for other people, those who were recipients of the prayers had better health outcome than those who were not prayed for [7].
• People who rated their lives as “part of a larger plan” felt that their lives had meaning were healthier.
• Nonsmokers and former smokers also had higher meaningfulness ratings of their lives than smokers [1].

Since religion is often an expression of spirituality, studies have looked at how religious activities can benefit our minds and bodies as we work through difficult issues like substance abuse and physical illness:

• Religious service attendance has been shown to increase life satisfaction on its own as a means of spiritual expression, but also because of the social support it provides [7].
• Religious or spiritual belief has been shown to be related to the reduction in substance abuse and also an improved quality of life [8, 10].
• Religious belief has been cited as one of the lead factors for coping with stress during an illness [8].
• Spirituality can be viewed as a preventative measure for burnout or psychological distress while caring for others. [9].
• In studies of burnout on doctors, those who had greater spirituality were found to have lower levels of fatigue and emotional burnout [9].
• In pregnant women, greater spirituality reduced the numbers of reported anxiety symptoms in pregnancy monitoring questionnaires [12].
• Religious or spiritual beliefs have also been associated with greater resilience in coping with traumatic life events [10] – take for example the September 11th bombings in the U.S. and the Sichuan Earthquake in China:
• The September 11th bombings left many people with direct and indirect experiences of trauma, whether as bystanders or being at the epicenter of the attacks. In research on the impact among U.S. citizens, greater hope and spirituality were not linked to anxiety levels among a multi-ethnic sample of American students who witnessed the attacks [11]； whereas in adolescents who experienced the attacks, and who had religious beliefs, were in the aftermath, more optimistic in their behaviours and views. They showed appreciation of life itself, more compassion and closeness for others, a greater sense of inner strength, and a greater understanding of spirituality [14].
• The same was found in China during the Sichuan Earthquake that killed over 90,000 in 2008. During the three-day national mourning period, people from all walks of life came together to acknowledge and mourn the deep losses, but also to cheer and foster collective meaning through the local mobilization of support and the rescue services [17]. The government also became an active participant in the commemoration of these losses from the earthquake, which helped to strengthen the flow of volunteers who came from some of the farthest provinces to help the people overcome this devastation [17]. Through many small acts of spirituality, the recovery from the earthquake can be seen as a collective effort of greater purpose and meaning fostered by the flow of all the people in China.
• When people take the major step of seeking psychiatric help for anxiety, spirituality can improve their chances of recovery at a greater level than from a typical psychological treatment.
• Therapeutic treatments for mood disorders that included or were based on spiritual practices, were shown to be effective in improving the quality of life and reducing anxiety symptoms at greater levels than placebo treatments [13].
• A higher sense of religious wellbeing was associated with a higher level of life satisfaction and can lower anxiety among people being treated for mental health concerns in Canada [15].