Within the last few years there have been numerous studies that has linked religion to health, longevity and wellbeing .
Some studies have found that being religious reduces subjective experience of pain, others have reported that religious people are likely to live longer than their non-religious counterparts and another has found that daily religious activity such as praying and studying religious texts reduces rates of hypertension .
The latest in this string of studies has found that women who attended regular religious services not only live longer but have more optimism, greater social support and subsequently are less likely to be diagnosed with depression .
The study surveyed 92,000 postmenopausal women from a variety of ethnic backgrounds, religious orientations, socio-economic levels. The results suggested that the women who said they attended a religious service at least one a week were 56 percent more likely to positively view life and 27 percent less chance of suffering from symptoms of depression .
The women’s religions were specifically not disclosed with no reporting of a particular religion having more of a positive impact on health and wellbeing.
It was highlighted that though there is a correlation between attending religious services and optimism and risk of depression the researchers argued it could be the case that optimistic people seek out religion rather than religion causing optimism, further research into the exact relationship between religious practice and wellbeing is needed.
