15 Jan '13 04:45>1 edit
New Research Links Spiritual-Not-Religious to Mental Disorder
British psychiatry researchers recently stirred the roiling religious affiliation and identification pot with a study published in the British Journal of Psychiatry that concludes that “People who have a spiritual understanding of life in the absence of a religious framework are vulnerable to mental disorder.” This week, the news swam the pond to appear in a number of US news outlets.
The research, which was led by University College London professor Michael King, reveals a population of “spiritual but not religious” Brits that generally tracks to the US population of “Nones” identified in a recent study by the Pew Forum on Religion in American Life. Some 35 percent of the more than 7,000 Brits surveyed indicated that they had “a religious understanding of life.” The majority of these identified as Christian. Nineteen percent self-identified as “spiritual but not religious” (SBNR), while 46 percent described themselves as neither spiritual nor religious. American “Nones,” however, seem less inclined to embrace the “spiritual but not religious” label, with fewer than half in the Pew population of the religiously unaffiliated identifying as such.
In the British study, SBNRs were found to be significantly more likely to be drug-dependent ( 77% ) and to suffer from phobias ( 72% ) or anxiety ( 50% ). No wonder they’re significantly more likely ( 40% ) than the religious to be being treated with psychotropic drugs.
http://www.religiondispatches.org/archive/atheologies/6764/new_research_links_spiritual_not_religious_to_mental_disorder
*********** I never thought about it that much. But now that I recall all the people I've known who fit into the SBNR category--yep, most of them have a host of mental and emotional problems. Interesting study.
British psychiatry researchers recently stirred the roiling religious affiliation and identification pot with a study published in the British Journal of Psychiatry that concludes that “People who have a spiritual understanding of life in the absence of a religious framework are vulnerable to mental disorder.” This week, the news swam the pond to appear in a number of US news outlets.
The research, which was led by University College London professor Michael King, reveals a population of “spiritual but not religious” Brits that generally tracks to the US population of “Nones” identified in a recent study by the Pew Forum on Religion in American Life. Some 35 percent of the more than 7,000 Brits surveyed indicated that they had “a religious understanding of life.” The majority of these identified as Christian. Nineteen percent self-identified as “spiritual but not religious” (SBNR), while 46 percent described themselves as neither spiritual nor religious. American “Nones,” however, seem less inclined to embrace the “spiritual but not religious” label, with fewer than half in the Pew population of the religiously unaffiliated identifying as such.
In the British study, SBNRs were found to be significantly more likely to be drug-dependent ( 77% ) and to suffer from phobias ( 72% ) or anxiety ( 50% ). No wonder they’re significantly more likely ( 40% ) than the religious to be being treated with psychotropic drugs.
http://www.religiondispatches.org/archive/atheologies/6764/new_research_links_spiritual_not_religious_to_mental_disorder
*********** I never thought about it that much. But now that I recall all the people I've known who fit into the SBNR category--yep, most of them have a host of mental and emotional problems. Interesting study.