Can Church Cure Depression?

Have you ever wondered to what extent your spiritual and religious beliefs can protect you from mental illnesses? Because the birth narrative is often seen through a religious and spiritual lens, a group of researchers set out to answer this very question. To be specific, the research question at hand is whether or not religiosity and spirituality are associated with symptoms of PPD. Postpartum Depression (PPD) is an umbrella term for many mental health complications that can occur in women after childbirth. These symptoms can include those of both depression and anxiety, but when depressive symptoms dominate, that person is most likely experiencing PPD. Postpartum depression is the most common issue to arrive post-childbirth. Symptoms range from recurrent crying, quick changes in mood, tiredness, changes in appetite, and intrusive negative thoughts. PPD is not only detrimental to the health of the mother, but also interferes with a mother’s ability to care for her child. The trauma that comes from having a mother with PPD can stay with children for their entire lives, which is why research around PPD is important and vital to our society.

As many mental health issues go untreated, people find alternative ways to cope with mental anguish-- two of these methods being religiosity and spirituality. Having a strong sense of purpose in life has always been seen as a protective factor in the suffering from hardships of everyday life, but does this hold true when it comes to things as severe as depression? To answer this question, researchers located self-identified religious and spiritual women. The researchers got their data from a sample of 702 African American mothers selected from the Community Child Health Network (CCHN). This was a longitudinal, survey-based experiment— the mothers were followed through their postpartum (after birth) period and surveyed at multiple different times. 

The participants were interviewed with questions assessing their varying levels of religiosity and spirituality. The interviews assessed measures of stress, physical health, mental health, resilience, and sociodemographic information. "To what extent do you view yourself as a spiritual person?," was the first question asked, and most questions were formatted the same way. This data was then quantified and analyzed for patterns. This kind of data can be misleading, as humans do have inherent biases and will falsely report information that perhaps they think is true.  The study found that, though not true across all socioeconomic backgrounds, religiosity and spirituality separately had adverse effects on the intensity/prevalence of symptoms of PPD. The results affirmed that religiosity and spirituality are both predictors in the changes of depressive symptoms during the postpartum period. It would not be appropriate to conclude that it serves as a protective factor as this study only highlights a correlation observed with this specific group of women. Interestingly enough, lessened depressive symptoms were much more significant in  the African American women. 

The church has been a central part of the African American community, with nearly 80% of the community currently identifying as religious and/or spiritual. When enslaved Africans were brought to the United States, they suffered unimaginable pain and had to find  a source of strength. That source became religion. Many slaves would congregate to sing hymns, and praise God together, hoping that better days would come. Many did not live to see those better days, but faith became one of the single most unifying factors for enslaved Africans, and this faith is something that holds the Black community together to this day. The research confirms that high religiosity and spirituality among African Americans are linked to lower risk of depression despite past studies of religious involvement being inconsistent. 

The findings are important because they provide insight into how cultural upbringings can shape our mental health and that is not often examined.  Furthermore it allows for analyses about changes in PPD symptoms not studied before which can be helpful in treatment in the future. Regardless of level of religiosity, participants had a significant decrease in depressive symptoms from 6 to 12 months postpartum. The longitudinal design of this study allowed for analyses and conclusions about changes in PPD symptoms that have not often been studied. The researchers reviewed the many attempts by other researchers to draw conclusions about the question at hand, and emphasized that no one has been able to do so. There are plenty of variables at work that prevent there from being any conclusive evidence about how religion and spirituality affect peoples’ mental health. There aren’t any concrete tiers of religiosity, nor do people experience religion the same way. Some people are born into religion while others grow into it. Though these variables can not always be controlled for, this data gives us new information about a very serious illness that plagues many of our mothers, aunties, grandmothers, and more.