Want ‘sustained happiness’? Get religion, study suggests

[ThoughtOnFire]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/a...tudy-suggests/

Want ‘sustained happiness’? Get religion, study suggests

A new study suggests that joining a religious group could do more for someone’s “sustained happiness” than other forms of social participation, such as volunteering, playing sports or taking a class.

A study in the American Journal of Epidemiology by researchers at the London School of Economics and Erasmus University Medical Center in the Netherlands found that the secret to sustained happiness lies in participation in religion.

“The church appears to play a very important social role in keeping depression at bay and also as a coping mechanism during periods of illness in later life,” Mauricio Avendano, an epidemiologist at LSE and an author of the study, said in a statement. “It is not clear to us how much this is about religion per se, or whether it may be about the sense of belonging and not being socially isolated.”

Researchers looked at four areas: 1) volunteering or working with a charity; 2) taking educational courses; 3) participating in religious organizations; 4) participating in a political or community organization. Of the four, participating in a religious organization was the only social activity associated with sustained happiness, researchers found.

The study analyzed 9,000 Europeans who were older than 50. The report that studied older Europeans also found that joining political or community organizations lost their benefits over time. In fact, the short-term benefits from those social connections often lead to depressive symptoms later on, researchers say.

Although healthier people are more likely to volunteer, the researchers found no evidence that volunteering actually leads to better mental health. Benefits could be outweighed by other negative impacts of volunteering, such as stress, Avendano said.

The researchers noted that it is unclear whether the benefits of participating in a religious organization are connected to being in the religious community, or to the faith itself.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/a...tudy-suggests/

[Aoitha]

Originally Posted by ThoughtOnFire

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/a...tudy-suggests/

Want ‘sustained happiness’? Get religion, study suggests

A new study suggests that joining a religious group could do more for someone’s “sustained happiness” than other forms of social participation, such as volunteering, playing sports or taking a class.

A study in the American Journal of Epidemiology by researchers at the London School of Economics and Erasmus University Medical Center in the Netherlands found that the secret to sustained happiness lies in participation in religion.

“The church appears to play a very important social role in keeping depression at bay and also as a coping mechanism during periods of illness in later life,” Mauricio Avendano, an epidemiologist at LSE and an author of the study, said in a statement. “It is not clear to us how much this is about religion per se, or whether it may be about the sense of belonging and not being socially isolated.”

Researchers looked at four areas: 1) volunteering or working with a charity; 2) taking educational courses; 3) participating in religious organizations; 4) participating in a political or community organization. Of the four, participating in a religious organization was the only social activity associated with sustained happiness, researchers found.

The study analyzed 9,000 Europeans who were older than 50. The report that studied older Europeans also found that joining political or community organizations lost their benefits over time. In fact, the short-term benefits from those social connections often lead to depressive symptoms later on, researchers say.

Although healthier people are more likely to volunteer, the researchers found no evidence that volunteering actually leads to better mental health. Benefits could be outweighed by other negative impacts of volunteering, such as stress, Avendano said.

The researchers noted that it is unclear whether the benefits of participating in a religious organization are connected to being in the religious community, or to the faith itself.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/a...tudy-suggests/

Some people do better in groups some do not.It is all a matter what someone needs.Those studies mean nothing to me.They interview or follow a group of people and then take and average estimate.Utter rubbish.

Happiness is found inside not outside, you can be happy on your own doing your own thing with or without religion.


'Happiness is and internal state of feeling that is independant of the external factors'


But, each to their own.

[Serrao]

I believe causeless bliss is independent of the external perceived world.

Happiness can also be caused by external factors.
This kind of happiness keeps the soul bounded to the cycle of birth and death. In this treadmill there is no experience of liberation.
Seeing through the illusion of externally-caused happiness can be achieved through developing discrimination of the source of joy.

[Deusdrum]

Originally Posted by Aoitha

Some people do better in groups some do not.It is all a matter what someone needs.Those studies mean nothing to me.They interview or follow a group of people and then take and average estimate.Utter rubbish.

I think 'utter rubbish' is a bridge too far, however you have a point in that a single study is hardly definitive, and that's assuming the research itself was done properly. I'm more surprised volunteer work didn't show better, I'd have thought it would be at the top of that list.

That said, 9000 is a pretty decent sample size and I found it an interesting article TOF. My favorite bit is the very last line, kind of tantalizingly makes you think 'hmm, which is it?'

"The researchers noted that it is unclear whether the benefits of participating in a religious organization are connected to being in the religious community, or to the faith itself."

As I learned myself in school, the power of placebo is sometimes stronger than the actual pills & medication placebo's are being tested with and against. Belief is a powerful thing. But i suppose maybe that's not the same thing as faith? Or is it? Sometimes? Belief is akin to projection whereas Faith is more of an expectation, I suppose, (ie: 'I believe' active vs. 'I have faith' passive/receptive).

Or another thing I read in an article recently, paraphrasing; what makes you think that precognition of events and psychic influencing of events are mutually exclusive, or not intimately connected to one another? That it's not either/or necessarily.

Does belief dictate experience or does experience dictate belief? Like that line in the U2 song, "a place that has to be believed, to be seen..." ?

Ok I'm off topic i think, diverging from the subject at hand, I apologize my mind takes to conceptualizing flights of fancy sometimes.

Btw I find the notion of sustained happiness somewhat ridiculous in the first place, though it may depend upon definitions and relative to what. Certainly a worthy aim, though. General happiness should be the default, you'd think. It should be good to be alive! Ideally, that or pure ecstatic joy. But can you have the joy without the pain, the ecstasy without the agony? An open question. And here I go I'm rambling again, lol.