BYU Report Links Religion to Better Mental Health

A new report from the Wheatley Institute at Brigham Young University asserts that committed religious involvement, such as weekly worship attendance, correlates with better mental health outcomes including lower suicide risk, improved stress management, reduced substance misuse and higher levels of hope. Released on Monday, the analysis draws from hundreds of prior studies and concludes that religious belief and practice are overwhelmingly linked to enhanced emotional wellbeing, while acknowledging the existence of harmful or coercive forms of religion.

The findings emerge amid global challenges facing religious communities, including denominational divisions, violence against believers in some regions and scandals involving faith leaders accused of corruption or sexual abuse. These issues have fueled ongoing debates about religion's potential to support personal wellbeing and mitigate mental health risks.

Prominent U.S. mental health organizations, such as the National Alliance on Mental Illness and Mental Health America, express positive views on the connection. According to NAMI, religion provides belief, structure and connections with like-minded people, with research...