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Spirituality, Faith, and Placebo Effects on Health
Many factors have been proven to influence human health and well-being through research and experiments. These factors are mind-triggered, genetically inherited, or learned and believed to work. Although there is a controversy between spiritual life and its effects on health, there is no clear proof and concluded research that has proven that faith, spirituality, and placebos have the potential of improving human life and health. However, some research on the topic has been done. More are underway to give educational insights on the importance of spirituality, faith, and placebos effects on the healing process for patients suffering from various illnesses. Therefore, this research paper strives to define spirituality, religious faith, placebos, and their anticipated health benefits for patients suffering from various diseases.
Spirituality is ones perception or the way someone would find some act meaningful. Moreover, it could also refer to hope, comfort, and a persons inner peace. There are several ways people find spirituality, including religion, music, art, or connection with the environment. Therefore, spirituality solely depends on ones perception, beliefs, and principles that ones community holds onto. Placebos effect refers to fake treatments that are given to patients who are, in return, expected to receive an accurate dose. The sole aim of placebo treatment is to make patients feel better by confusing the brain through administering actions that stabilize the mind. Both nurses and patients beliefs reinforce placebo effects because these are not accurate doses of the diagnosed conditions but still are believed and hoped to initiate and speed the healing process.
Understanding the working mechanism of spirituality, faith, and placebo effects on health is complicated. Still, several theories have been put forward to explain how these forces work to lessen a patients pain and condition. Self-limiting disorders are one theory that explains the mechanism by which spirituality affects health. According to Qureshi et al. (2018), many human conditions and diseases like the common cold are self-limiting. These conditions revolve around themselves regardless of the role of placebos or medications. Remission is also another theory that tries to explain the effect of a placebo on human health. Specific symptoms of some conditions, such as multiple sclerosis and lupus, sometimes disappear and appear. Reduced anxiety also helps to reduce stress on body chemicals like adrenaline and aid in healing or recovering mode. Moreover, several pieces of research have proved that the human brain responds to imagined scenes the same way we react to actual situations. Therefore, when one believes in the healing effect of placebos, it happens. Other theories such as altered perception, brain chemicals, and altered brain state explain how ones spirituality, faith, and placebos connect with health.
Placebos substances and procedures positively influence an individuals psychological and physical well-being, which comes about with changes in brain activity. According to Schienle et al. (2021), placebo effects and treatment can be realized through various practices. The research also found that different placebos had a different impacts on health-related variables. The context of Schienle et al.s (2021) research was based on placebos religious and practices beliefs. In this case, the participant was subjected to inert substances, the tap water, which was verbally suggested to have come from the sanctuary in Lourdes. This research investigated the resting-state functionality connectivity associated with the three brain systems- default mode, salience, and cognitive control.
This research was carried out on 37 females to examine their faith and beliefs that sanctuary water would have a beneficial outcome in their lives. However, this could only be possible if the individual participants hold strong faith in the importance and power of the sanctuary water (Schienle et al., 2021). To test the applicability of this research, the female participants must have a strong belief and perception that drinking or washing with sanctuary water would strengthen their spirits and emotions and reinstates their physical well-being as opposed to when they had not used it. This research positively proves that placebo effects have beneficial effects as patient conditions are concerned. According to Schienle et al. (2021), it was found that the placebo effect induced through sanctuary tap water reduced the cognitive control network and increased the salience network. Moreover, more than half the participants rated well regarding their affective states. Therefore, placebos effects play significant roles in healthcare where virtual therapeutic actions are administered to patients to make them feel better hence improving care services.
Spiritual and religion have also been found to help or hinder human health. Harvard Medical School (2022) details how human beliefs and religious practices could benefit or harm human health. According to this report, 71 percent of Americans believe in Supreme God, and about 81 percent of this population acknowledges the deity of these religious or spiritual beliefs. Thus, the report presents that holding onto these values helps in lessening health disparities for those who truly trust God and do what is expected of them (Harvard Medical School, 2022). Moreover, it is published in this report that the power and the potential effect of spirituality and religion on our health cannot be underlooked. This is because, globally, different communities believe that God is the giver of life and the controller of human well-being; thus, He can restore a mans health status.
However, spirituality and religious beliefs may also negatively affect human health. Some religious people hold strong faith in God and believe that only He is capable of restoring their conditions. Thus, they tend to pray and seek Gods healing giving little attention to medical help, which in collaboration with their faith could help them recover quickly. For example, a religious leader suffering from HIV/AIDs could hold their trust in God to maintain his health condition and reject the ARVs drugs. Since we trust God, HIV/AIDs patients cannot survive without taking the prescribed ARVs drugs (Harvard Medical School, 2022). Patients under no medical attention emaciate and eventually die since their body weakens due to HIV. Hence spirituality and religious beliefs occasionally mislead people who do not understand how it works as health issues are concerned, resulting in unnecessary, preventable deaths.
More research has also found positive correlations between spirituality and good human health. Bersagel-Braley (2020) suggested that individuals who purported to participate in various spiritual services and related practices and strongly feel attached to God rarely experience sickness. These individuals have comfort, and hope, and believe that God gives them strength and wisdom to overcome world trials. These believers are not entitled to life pressures and shocks, which are familiar to many. Bersagel-Braley (2020) further proves that holding strong faith in God reduces the chances of heart disease, cancer, cardiovascular disease, hypertension, drug abuse, suicide, and mortality rates. This is true because residing in the house of the Lord, besides having a solid perception of God, soothes and makes your mind relaxed. As such, believers are free of anxiety, overthinking, and life pressures. Happiness and laughter are the best medicine. Therefore believers who rejoice and find comfort in the name of the Lord are at a reduced risk of chronic diseases caused by stress and pressure.
Furthermore, the research also acknowledged the importance of faith and beliefs in certain practices. For example, smoking and excessive drinking are constantly linked to chronic diseases such as cancer and liver cirrhosis; as such, many youths and adults with this information and beliefs stay away from unhealthy behaviors hence saving their lives. Therefore, faith and religious beliefs help healthcare centers control major drug abuse disorders, including mental disorders and drug addiction. Moreover, the government also, through faith, spends little money and resources on caring for unavoidable patient conditions in hospitals.
In conclusion, it can be said that spirituality, religious faith, and placebos, in collaboration with accurate doses, play an essential role as human health is concerned. Although human health is affected by many factors such as genes and physical activities, research has also proven that strong beliefs in God and generally how we perceive other situations and actions have many benefits in our lives. This paper has highlighted and explained why most individual participating in spiritual practices registers good health more than those with a high level of stress. Moreover, religious leaders encourage their congregation to find peace and rejoice in the presence of the Lord hence making the congregation happy and free of stress, thus good life.
References
Bersagel Braley, M. (2020). Why Religion and Spirituality Matter for Public Health Evidence, Implications, and Resources, ed. Doug Oman, Springer, 2018. Christian Journal For Global Health, 7(2), 159-163. doi: 10.15566/cjgh.v7i2.399
Harvard Medical School. (2022). Spirituality and Healing.
Qureshi, N., Khalil, A., & Alsanad, S. (2018). Spiritual and religious healing practices: some reflections from Saudi national center for complementary and alternative medicine, Riyadh. Journal of Religion and Health, 59(2), 845-869. doi: 10.1007/s10943-018-0677-0
Schienle, A., Gremsl, A., & Wabnegger, A. (2021). Placebo effects in the context of religious beliefs and practices: A resting-state functional connectivity study. Frontiers In Behavioral Neuroscience, 15(6), 279-290. doi: 10.3389/fnbeh.2021.653359
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