Abstract
Background: Depressive disorders are among the most important causes of disability and can be considered a major contributor to the global burden of mental illnesses. Religious beliefs and practices have roots in the history of mankind and are broadly prevalent around the world. People with chronic medical and psychiatric conditions employ religion as a healing resource. This is a review of the literature assessing religion and depression treatment.
Materials and Methods: MEDLINE; Embase; and PsychINFO via OvidSP were searched using text words and relevant indexing to identify studies focusing on the effects of religion and spirituality on etiology, course, therapy and prognosis of major depressive disorder. A total of 105 non-identical abstracts were identified. A PRISMA flow diagram usedto select relevant articles. This approach identified 23 articles.
Results: A significant number of articles (n=19 of 23) reported a positive correlation between religious behaviors and improvement of depressive symptoms to some extent. Some articles also mentioned that there is less prevalence and incidence of depression in more religious populations.
Conclusion: People with religious involvement are at a reduced risk for depressive disorders. Some longitudinal research suggested that religious involvement might exert a protective effect against the incidence and persistence of depressive symptoms and disorders. Clinicians involved in the treatment of depressed patients should consider the religious beliefs and practices and incorporate it into their therapy schedule.
Keywords: Religion; Spirituality; Depression; MDD