Cancer Treatment & Management: Belief in God Helps Patients Cope Better, Study Finds

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A new study suggests that religion and faith is a good coping mechanism for cancer-stricken patients.

The study published in the journal Cancer found that those who seek and found comfort in religion and faith are able to cope better with the symptoms of cancer. The study analyzed 44,000 cancer patients and found that belief in God enabled them to experience better health outcomes than their non-believing counterparts.

The research was conducted in three parts. The first part of the research looked into the physical health of the patients. It was found that those with religious beliefs felt better overall. The second part involved the mental health and those who turned to their faith had better states of mind.

Dr. John Salsman of Wake Forest School of Medicine, one of the authors of the study, said that the more spiritual patients had "less anxiety, depression, or distress."

"Greater levels of spiritual distress and a sense of disconnectedness with God or a religious community was associated with greater psychological distress or poorer emotional well-being." Dr. Salsman said in a report by Telegraph.

The third part looked into the social lives of cancer patients and found that those who believed in a kind and almighty God had better social health.

"When we took a closer look, we found that patients with stronger spiritual well-being, more benign images of God - such as perceptions of a benevolent rather than an angry or distant God - or stronger beliefs - such as convictions that a personal God can be called upon for assistance - reported better social health," said one of the study authors, Dr. Allen Sherman from the University of Arkansas, in a report by the Daily Mail. Dr. Sherman added that those who had little to no faith struggled with the effect of cancer on their social lives.

Heather Jim, another study author, said that this does not mean that cancer patients should adapt a new religion. In the report by NY Post, Jim expressed that nonreligious cancer patients can also have great health outcomes as their findings are only "aggregate-level data" and relied on patients' self-reports.

Probable reasons why religious people may have better health outcomes may be because they have healthier lifestyles and behaviors such as the avoidance of drugs and alcohol. They may also go to religious groups and communities for social support and engaging in spiritual acts may induce more positive emotions such as comfort, love and forgiveness.