OUR VETS, HOPE, SUICIDE, AND RELIGION

In SPIRITUALITY & HEALTH RESEARCH: Methods, Measurement, Statistics, and Resources, Harold G. Koenig, MD has written about:

·       what the nearly three thousand published quantitative studies to date have found. The majority of research so far has reported a positive relationship between R/ S [religion and spirituality] and both mental and physical health, although about 10 percent of studies suggest the opposite and about 25 percent indicate no association.

This means that 65% of the research has found a positive correlation between R/S and physical and psychological benefits.

In light of this powerful correlation, some have lamented the purging of Christianity from the military in favor of mental health initiatives that have proved ineffective in curbing the suicide rate of 21/daily among our Vets. Koenig adds:

·       As of early 2010 at least 326 quantitative studies had examined relationships between R/ S and well-being, with 256 (79 percent) finding greater happiness, satisfaction with life, or overall sense that life is good in those who were more R/ S. All of these studies reported statistically significant findings, except for eight studies in which results were at a trend level (0.05 < p < 0.10). Of the 120 studies judged as the methodologically most rigorous, 98 (82 percent) found greater well-being among those who were more R/ S (two at a trend level). Less than 1 percent reported lower well-being in the more R/ S.

Koenig has examined how R/S has positively impacted a number of mental health indicators, like hope:

·       At least 40 studies have examined relationships between R/ S and hope, with 29 (73 percent) finding greater hope among the more R/ S (two at a trend level). Likewise, at least 32 studies have examined relationships between R/ S and optimism, and of those, 26 (81 percent) reported a significant positive relationship.

Regarding suicide, Koenig writes:

·       Strongly linked to depression is suicide. Nearly 10 percent of those with severe depression end their lives by committing suicide...We identified 141 studies that had examined relationships between R/ S and some aspect of suicide (completed suicide, attempted suicide, or attitudes toward suicide), and 106 (75 percent) reported significant inverse relationships; 80 percent of the best designed studies reported this finding.

In view of these studies, our concern for our Vets, and the threat of hopelessness and suicide across the board, it would be heartless to not reconsider the role that Christ has played and is still willing to play.