158. Benefits of Spirituality Affirmed

A recent University of Missouri study highlighting the positive role of spirituality in recovering from physical and mental health conditions reaffirms what previous NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness) surveys have revealed.

Forty percent of respondents living with depression reported that spirituality was a primary aspect in their recovery. As health care providers, families, individuals and faith leaders continue to recognize the positive role of faith in recovery, they can better meet their own needs and the needs of their family members, patients, and faith communities.

In my own experience, I found that I first had to reach stability through medication to bring me into the realm of adequate functioning. Faith did not do much for me in crisis. Then I involved myself in counseling and psychotherapy to get at the causes of my depression – and greater stability emerged. Finally, I drew on my faith and the grace of God to bring me over the top to triumph over depression. That was the sequence that worked for me – body, soul*, and spirit – and in that order.

*Soul is what we call our self or our personality. It is made up of our mind, emotions, and will.

About Patrick Day

In 2010, I escaped from four long years of deep, dark depression. This blog shares lessons I learned from those years as depicted in my autobiography - How I Escaped from Depression - as well as other insights about depression and anxiety that only come from someone who has gone through it. When you have a heart attack, you become an expert in heart attacks. When you have diabetes, you become an expert in that condition. As such, I am an expert in depression, with a four-year experiential degree and graduate studies in how to live a life going forward that keeps the ever-lurking Depression at a healthy distance.

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