A Relationship With God Can Boost Mental Health, Even if You Don’t Believe
New research points to mental health benefits for the devout and agnostic alike
Maybe you don’t believe in God. But could cultivating a relationship with God, despite your agnostic stance, make a difference for your mental health? As a philosopher of religion, this question is of great interest to me — and now a recent research trend suggests the answer might be yes.
For decades, researchers have wondered about the factors that account for the complex relationship between religion and mental health. Under certain circumstances, it appears that religion positively influences mental health — though not in all cases. One key variable in this equation has become increasingly clear over the past ten years: the value (to the believer) of a perceived relationship with God.
Research in this area focuses on what psychologists call “attachment to God.” If “attachment” sounds familiar, it should — attachment theory (often invoked as a framework for understanding…
