Existential Well-being and Depression

Researchers - as reported by Science Daily - have concluded that spirituality protects against depression better than church attendance.

I can't say I am surprised, but I do say that I am inordinately pleased that this kind of research is coming out of the woodwork.

The articles indicates that "Lead researcher Joanna Maselko, Sc.D., characterized the religiosity of 918 study participants in terms of three domains of religiosity: religious service attendance, which refers to being involved with a church; religious well-being, which refers to the quality of a person's relationship with a higher power; and existential well-being, which refers to a person's sense of meaning and their purpose in life."

And when reporting their results, this is said: "Researchers also found that those who attended religious services were 30 percent less likely to have had depression in their lifetime, and those who had high levels of existential well-being were 70 percent less likely to have had depression than those who had low levels of existential well-being."

Read entire article here.