A 2008 British study carried out by researchers at the Universites of Leicester, Ulster and Sheffield Hallam and other institutions says: “praying may be crucial to better subjective well-being”
The research is entitled “Prayer and subjective well-being: the application of a cognitive-behavioural framework” and it explored the idea that “prayer has a beneficial effect on subjective well-being”.
The conclusion says: “the present findings suggest that meditative prayer, frequency of prayer, and prayer experience accounts for unique variance (among other measures of prayer) with a standardised measure of subjective well-being (depression, anxiety, somatic symptoms, social dysfunction). Therefore, the present study provides a potentially reliable and valid model that may aid practitioners to understand why praying may be crucial to better subjective well-being.”
The 2008 study suggested meditative prayer, frequency of prayer, and prayer experience can shape both therapeutic and adverse effects of any given drug and suggests medical practitioners obtain a better understanding of the link between patients’ beliefs and expectations and their better subjective well-being.
It also speaks of studies that suggest prayer has a beneficial effect on subjective well-being –
Matlby, Lewis, Day later teamed up with others to develop these ideas. In an article published online December 2010 they observed “the idea that religion is beneficial to health is not a new one”.
The piece stated religion was thought to “significantly” influence a variety of health outcomes including heart disease, cancer and stroke, as well as health related behaviours including smoking, drinking and drugs use.
TonyLobl.com 