As a therapist, I\u2019m often asked to explain why depression and anxiety are so common among children and adolescents. One of the most important explanations\u2014and perhaps the most neglected\u2014is declining interest in religion. This cultural shift already has proved disastrous for millions of vulnerable young people.<\/p>\n
A 2018 study in the American Journal of Epidemiology examined how being raised in a family with religious or spiritual beliefs affects mental health. Harvard researchers had examined religious involvement within a longitudinal data set of approximately 5,000 people, with controls for socio-demographic characteristics and maternal health.<\/p>\n
The result? Children or teens who reported attending a religious service at least once per week scored higher on psychological well-being measurements and had lower risks of mental illness. Weekly attendance was associated with higher rates of volunteering, a sense of mission, forgiveness, and lower probabilities of drug use and early sexual initiation. Pity then that the U.S. has seen a 20% decrease in attendance at formal religious services in the past 20 years, according to a Gallup report earlier this year. In 2018 the American Family Survey showed that nearly half of adults under 30 do not identify with any religion.<\/p>\n
Nihilism is fertilizer for anxiety and depression, and being \u201crealistic\u201d is overrated. The belief in God\u2014in a protective and guiding figure to rely on when times are tough\u2014is one of the best kinds of support for kids in an increasingly pessimistic world. That\u2019s only one reason, from a purely mental-health perspective, to pass down a faith tradition.<\/p>\n
Read it all<\/a>.<\/p>\n Giving your children a spiritual or religious center will benefit them for their entire lives, writes @EricaKomisarCSW<\/a> \u2014 Hal Allred (@RoryCalhoun) December 6, 2019<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n
\n🦉
\nIs this bridge too far
\nLife-Love-God bigger than We
\nHope springs eternal
\nHaiku2u #the<\/a>?ofHopeFaithLove https:\/\/t.co\/E8JQGkMzdo<\/a><\/p>\n