Free Republic
Browse · Search
Religion
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Got Joy? New Study Suggests Religion Is The Key To Lasting Happiness
Aletelia ^ | August 20, 2015 | KIRSTEN ANDERSEN

Posted on 08/20/2015 2:21:28 PM PDT by NYer

Happiness is a big deal to Americans.  Our country was founded, in part, on the right to pursue it.  But how many of us have actually found the key to true and lasting contentment?  According to one recent study, the answer might be found in the pews of our churches on Sunday mornings.
 
The Washington Post reports:
 

A study in the  American Journal of Epidemiology by researchers at the London School of Economics and Erasmus University Medical Center in the Netherlands found that the secret to sustained happiness lies in participation in religion.
 
“The church appears to play a very important social role in keeping depression at bay and also as a coping mechanism during periods of illness in later life,” Mauricio Avendano, an epidemiologist at LSE and an author of the study, said in a statement. “It is not clear to us how much this is about religion per se, or whether it may be about the sense of belonging and not being socially isolated.”
 
Researchers looked at four areas: 1) volunteering or working with a charity; 2) taking educational courses; 3) participating in religious organizations; 4) participating in a political or community organization. Of the four, participating in a religious organization was the only social activity associated with sustained happiness, researchers found.
 
The study of 9,000 European adults found that while those who joined political or community groups sometimes experienced a temporary boost in happiness, that feeling was often replaced by increased levels of depression as time went on.  Only participation in a religious faith community offered these adults lasting satisfaction.
 
So if you’re feeling down in the dumps and haven’t been to Church lately, maybe it’s time to give it a try.  In a world that so often points us toward costly consumerism or pharmaceuticals with all their side effects as the means to achieve the happiness we consider our birthright, it’s nice to know there is at least one scientifically-approved method out there that carries very little risk and costs us nothing more than time.
 
Read the rest of the Post’s coverage of the study here


TOPICS: Catholic; Religion & Culture; Worship
KEYWORDS:

1 posted on 08/20/2015 2:21:28 PM PDT by NYer
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: Tax-chick; GregB; SumProVita; narses; bboop; SevenofNine; Ronaldus Magnus; tiki; Salvation; ...

Ping!


2 posted on 08/20/2015 2:21:43 PM PDT by NYer (Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy them. Mt 6:19)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: NYer

Episcopalians get a mulligan!!


3 posted on 08/20/2015 2:24:22 PM PDT by ken5050 ("Hillary Clinton is the NY Jets of American politics"......Salena Zito)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: NYer

What did the old studies suggest?


4 posted on 08/20/2015 2:33:42 PM PDT by Arm_Bears (Biology is biology. Everything else is imagination.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: NYer

Some religions, but not all. You know which ones lead to misery. (ROP).


5 posted on 08/20/2015 2:57:08 PM PDT by I want the USA back (Media: completely irresponsible. Complicit in the destruction of this country)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: NYer

Of course it is. It offers a future beyond the tortures of life.

Did they really need a study?


6 posted on 08/20/2015 3:51:23 PM PDT by Jim from C-Town (The government is rarely benevolent, often malevolent and never benign!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: NYer

JOY

J=Jesus
O=Others
Y=You


7 posted on 08/20/2015 5:14:02 PM PDT by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Salvation
Family

F=Father
A=All
M=Mighty
I=I
L=Love
Y=You

8 posted on 08/20/2015 6:25:03 PM PDT by MomwithHope (Please support efforts in your state for an Article 5 convention.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 7 | View Replies]

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
Religion
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson