Religious belief and spirituality has become a controversial topic in the current age with a rising percentage of the world’s population leaning towards the lack of it thereof. In Canada, many people are still religious but most of them are part of the older generation and generational replacement is causing their reduction (Pew Research Center, 2014). Nevertheless, the medical community believes that spirituality can be used as an alternative means of coping with illness and the pain associated with it and research tends to support this notion (Siddall, Lovell, & MacLeod, 2015). Therefore, religious beliefs provide an effective buffer for coping with pain, illness, and mortality.
An atheist refers to someone who does not believe in the existence of any gods while an agnostic is a person who does not claim to know whether or not gods exist. The fundamental difference between atheism and agnosticism is that the first is based on belief and the second is based on knowledge (Cline, 2011). Unlike common belief, that agnosticism is an alternative to either being an atheist or a theist, these three terms are not mutually exclusive. One can be an atheist and an agnostic or a theist and an agnostic. Due to the negative attitude related to being an atheist, most people prefer not to identify with it even though they do not believe in the existence of any gods; such individuals are atheists regardless. Monotheistic influence has also affected the definition of atheism and some people think that this group includes people that do not believe in the existence of one true God (Cline, 2011). However, even polytheistic people are theists. Essentially, agnostics have no evidence knowledge to back their beliefs; they just believe.
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In Canada, religious statistics have been changing over the past few decades due to factors such as immigration and generational replacement. According to a Pew research based on data collected in the 2001 census and the 2011 National Household Survey, the percentage of Canadians who are Christians has dropped. The values stand at 47% to 39% for Catholics and 41% to 27% for Protestants between 2001 and 2011 (Pew Research Center, 2014). Although immigration has seen the growth of other religions such as Islam, Hindu, Buddhism, and Sikhism among others, the number of people who do not identify with any religion is growing at an even higher rate. According to the 2011 National Household Survey this was approximately 7.9 million people, and about 23.9% of the Canadian population compared to 16.5% as of 2001 ("Canadian Demographics at a Glance," 2014). This value can only be expected to increase in coming years due to the increased secularization of life in the west.
In the midst of secularization and growth of medical technology like the human race has never experienced, professionals are beginning to turn attention to alternative regimens of care (Siddall, Lovell, & MacLeod, 2015). This has raised the question whether religion or spiritual affiliation helps people cope with paid and adverse health conditions. People tend to seek spiritual guidance when they are in pain or sick through activities such as prayer, meditation, and reading scripture (Koenig, 2012). Furthermore, people use spirituality to cope with poor health and pain is experienced when they were actively involved in their religious life even prior to the illness (Dedeli & Kaptan, 2013). People do this to cope with symptoms and according to research, it has been found to be quite effective at pain management (Koenig, 2012). In this respect, meditation is particularly effective at reducing pain but the effects are magnified when a religious word is used to focus one’s attention.
Religious beliefs help people mitigate stressful life changes such as those involved in chronic or adverse illness and thus stabilize their mental state. Even among mental health patients, they are able to cope better if they have some spiritual affiliation (Siddall, Lovell, & MacLeod, 2015). Spirituality has also been associated with reduced symptoms of depression and anxiety related with psychological illness. The religious connection helps a patient maintain a sense of peace and calm and find some optimism in an otherwise dull situation (Koenig, 2012). Spiritual affiliation also creates social support as most religious people belong to a community which tries to comfort the afflicted person by visiting them, bringing treats, and helping them to meet the obligations they cannot due to their illness.
Spiritual beliefs are deemed to be effective because they give a person hope that their suffering will be elevated (Siddall, Lovell, & MacLeod, 2015). A person also gives meaning to the pain where some people see it as a means of spiritual strengthening and thus purposeful (Koenig, 2013). Such individuals feel that the pain they face is meant to strengthen their beliefs or test their faith and that coping and therefore overcoming it will bring a reward. As a result, people who depend on the strength of a higher power to cope with pain and illness have significantly better mental health during this period (Koenig, 2012). Good mental health can help one recover faster because they do not have hormones in their system that interfere with their health as some mental conditions such as depression have been known to have implications on one’s physical health (Koenig, 2012). Many research studies show that spiritual people have better moods, general wellbeing, and can withstand higher pain intensity. However, the conclusion from this research is that rather than spirituality reducing pain in a patient, it increases pain tolerance and satisfaction (Siddall, Lovell, & MacLeod, 2015). A person is also able to focus on something else bigger than themselves that takes the focus off their situation.
Despite all the positive results relating to coping with pain, research also reveals that the role of religion is only one factor in a spectrum whose results depend on the nature of one’s spiritual relationship (Siddall, Lovell, & MacLeod, 2015). Therefore, a spiritual person can experience more pain or suffer low pain tolerance if their deity is seen as harsh and cruel as compared to one who sees them as loving and caring (Siddall, Lovell, & MacLeod, 2015). For instance, some Christians believe that God uses diseases to punish people or bring them closer to him. Such as Christian may experience more pain and suffering than one who believes that the devil causes all disease and suffering and they look to God to save them and relieve their pain. Spirituality may also increase pain if one feels like God has abandoned them despite of viewing him as caring and loving.
Spiritual interventions and the view of pain and suffering are also affected by culture (Dedeli & Kaptan, 2013). For instance, one may be an atheist who does not believe in God but comes from a society where tolerance and physical resilience will have a high pain tolerance. The opposite will ensue for a Christian from a culture where pain and suffering is not tolerated. This is important to not because some people seek spirituality later in life when they have grown up in societies that are not necessarily affiliated to their religions, while others switch religious affiliations (Dedeli & Kaptan, 2013). In such cases, one’s culture affects their behavior and attitude more than religion does in most cases.
Extensive research has been conducted on the effect of religion on coping with death (Siddall, Lovell, & MacLeod, 2015). It shows that people who are spiritual have better coping skills when facing mortality, but it also depends on other factors for others. For instance, a person whose religion believes in damnation may have trouble coping with death if they think they have not lived a good life and will therefore suffer after death. However, for most spiritual people, facing mortality is made easier by the comfort of going to a better place where there is no pain and suffering (Siddall, Lovell, & MacLeod, 2015). Such people, especially if they share the religious beliefs, also experience little anxiety because their families are also able to cope with their death.
References
Canadian Demographics at a Glance. (2014, June 19). Retrieved from https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/91-003-x/2014001/section03/33-eng.htm
Cline, A. (2011, October 1). Main Differences Between Atheists and Agnostics. Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/atheist-vs-agnostic-whats-the-difference-248040
Dedeli, O., & Kaptan, G. (2013). Spirituality and religion in pain and pain management. Health Psychology Research , 1 (3), 29. doi:10.4081/hpr.2013.1448
Koenig, H. G. (2012). Religion, Spirituality, and Health: The Research and Clinical Implications. ISRN Psychiatry , 2012 , 1-33. doi:10.5402/2012/278730
Pew Research Center. (2014, February 5). Canada's Changing Religious Landscape. Retrieved from https://www.pewforum.org/2013/06/27/canadas-changing-religious-landscape/
Siddall, P. J., Lovell, M., & MacLeod, R. (2015). Spirituality: What is Its Role in Pain Medicine? Pain Medicine , 16 (1), 51-60. doi:10.1111/pme.12511
