35% of Americans believe prayer can cure mental illness

As reported by The Guardian, Lifeway Research has released a study showing that 35% of Americans and 48% of whom identify as evangelical christians believeprayer and bible study alone can cure illness and mental illnesses.

Ed Stetzer, the president of Lifeway Research said this study actually shows that churches must do a better job addressing mental illness. Churches who avoid addressing mental illness as something that needs professional medical attention are risking the lives of their congregation who look to the church for guidance in these situations.

The mega church pastor Rick Warren recently addressed this issue after his son Matthew committed suicide. Matthew suffered from borderline personality disorder and depression. Warren told CNN he has now started talking to his congregation about the stigma related to mental illness.

A 2006 study conducted by Harvard Universityactually showed that prayer could do more harm than good, if the patients in recovery knew they were being prayed for. .

Link

I have seen this happen firsthand with someone close. The church they were going to had them convinced the problems they were having could be cured through prayer and adherence to the church. Their pastor would meet weekly with her for counseling. She finally snapped and wound up in the hospital where she was properly diagnosed and it wound up being a simple deficiency of a mineral. Now she is fine leading a normal life but it nearly cost her life. Since then she wants nothing to do with religion.

reply to post by Grimpachi


It's the power of belief

reply to post by Grimpachi


Ah, the power of idiocy...

Scary.
But looking at the numbers in a bit more detail:

Evangelical, fundamentalist, or born-again Christians (48 percent) agree prayer can overcome mental illness. Only 27 percent of other Americans agree.

The high percentage of "enthusiastic" Christians skews the overall result quite a bit.


Here is the question:
“With just Bible study and prayer, ALONE, people with serious mental illness like depression, bipolar disorder, and schizophrenia could overcome mental illness.”
blog.lifeway.com...

The results don`t surprise me but I seriously doubt that they will be able to pray away genetic defects.

The biggest study yet into genetics and mental health has come up with a stunning result: The five most common mental illnesses -- autism, attention deficit disorder, bipolar disease, schizophrenia and major depression -- all have a common genetic root.

The finding, published in the journal Lancet on Wednesday, may eventually lead to a complete rewrite of the medical understanding of the causes of mental illness.

www.nbcnews.com...

This just in! 35% of Americans suffer from either severe mental illness in the form of a personality disorder, or a genetic mutation where their reward system malfunctions when they make mistakes and they never learn from them.

....

i believe wholeheartedly in prayer helping and even healing but here's where i differ from most.. i also believe God works through people, meaning.. guiding doctors, healthcare professionals.. etc..

since 2007 i have been in and out of the hospital almost on a yearly basis and have been given last rites on three separate occasions and somehow even after doctors where all ready to give up i was granted an extension and while i've never "seen" anything.. "the light", "tunnel" whatever a lot of people see i have definitely seen my share of what i consider "miracles".

anyway.. that's my two cents, take it for what it's worth.

on a funny side note.. once while in the hospital i suffered some kind of dementia brought on by being intubated for longer than usual and i remember two things to this day very vividly.. i thought a nurse was trying to kill me and, the best part, i thought i could hook into and control the internet with my mind!!! haha so awesome.

reply to post by Phage


I believe religion can be helpful to some with mental illness but just like in your article they need to do more than just support prayer which would include counseling and medication in cases. There are some churches that frown upon medication. I do think it gets over prescribed but it does help a good many people as well.

reply to post by Grimpachi


What if mental illness is the correct response and all the ones that consider themselves not mentally ill and happy about it all are truly the abnormal ones?

Sorry but I find this to be a load of crap.

I have bi polar disorder and prayer will not change a chemical imbalance in my brain. If that were the case all the years I prayed before I "saw the light" that is the BS of religion I would have been "Cured."

As someone who has a mental illness it always amazes me how people (religious types) think prayer is the answer to everything esp in the medical field. I am all for the power of positive thought but sometimes you need more than that, you need actual medicine.

If prayer really cured anything then there would be no disease, hunger, war, poor, illness and so on.

reply to post by Grimpachi


I once worked in a mental ward and the last thing mentally ill people need is a religious person telling them they will get better If they follow (insert brand name here).
We dreaded the clergy coming around and telling mentally unwell people If they follow Jesus they will get better, It gave the people false hope and when things took a turn for the worst they would use their "new found" religion to feed their delusions.
I once had a patient who became a christian and I went to church with him, he stood up infront of a load of churchie people proclaiming himself the second coming...right in the middle of some vicars sermon
I agree positive thinking can help but feeding a delusion to a delusionary person just makes it all worse.

reply to post by mblahnikluver


You might be onto something.



We need to make bipolar medicines that makes us 5% bodyfat and super muscular while giving us a good solid 8 hrs sleep per night with no grogginess while awake.

The funny thing about this is:

The esoteric core of all religions have one universal tenant: Enlightenment, which equals wholeness, completion, and having transcended all mental and psychological disorders.

Unfortunately, a watered down unenlightened Christianity has taken hold in the west, and so people think praying things away will make them go away. Sometimes, its knowing what to do and how to handle things that is the answer to prayer

i think a lot of us are taking this the wrong way.. you have to have complete faith for it to work. God isn't gonna be sitting around talking to Peter, saying.. Peet!! Peet!! watch this.. this fool just started praying to me, like yesterday, thinking i'm all over their issue but he's not sure so i'm gonna heal him and freak him the F out haha go get Mary i want her to see this to!!.

Prayer is great. At the same time, it doesn't suddenly cure a chemical imbalance.

Prayer is a way for people to express hope. Chemistry is a way to achieve that hope should blood work show the imbalance and a remedy be available.

I shudder when I hear of diabetics who have been "prayed" over and believe their condition is cured. My best hope is they don't wind up in a coma before finding out they are still diabetic.

reply to post by Grimpachi


Ha ha the irony in this statement Is
amazebeans.


Carry on

I am a product of this idiotic thinking. My family believing that mental illness was the devils work, and only through prayer and revival meetings and crap, could I be cured. I only got better when I got away from the religious nonsense.

hknudzkknexnt
reply to post by Grimpachi

 

It's the power of belief

WIth the right level of need and maybe some chi it it is possible to help the body help itself. The placebo effect is a typical example of it. And if following synchronicity the patient would in one way or another find what the patient needs be it a doctor or a change in intake.

Spirit/mind/body in symbiotic union.

n3mesis
i think a lot of us are taking this the wrong way.. you have to have complete faith for it to work. God isn't gonna be sitting around talking to Peter, saying.. Peet!! Peet!! watch this.. this fool just started praying to me, like yesterday, thinking i'm all over their issue but he's not sure so i'm gonna heal him and freak him the F out haha go get Mary i want her to see this to!!.

Lol. Sometimes it works the other way and the miracles keep appearing and paranormal things happen to the soul to get it. I am not fond if faith since it make presumptions it should not make so I rather question everything any person tells me.

Go the spiritual route and find the big answers and not the watered down version of it that people keep eating since they cannot handle the heightened awareness version.

I hate to break the good pastor's bubble but he needs the meds that those that are mentally ill require.
He will find them extremely beneficial and will aid in his own recovery.
What a complete goof.