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Health & Fitness

Don't worry, be happy

“Don’t worry, be happy,” goes the 80’s classic tune.  The advice seems a bit trite these days and downright insincere.  Let’s face it; there is plenty to feel uneasy about. 

Approximately 1 in 4 adults suffers from some type of diagnosable mental disorder in a given year, so it’s no wonder that health professionals have made  October, National Depression and Mental Health Screening Month.    

Health professionals are worried about the amount of worrying going on and its impact on health.  Generalized anxiety disorder is the subject of an issue of Healthbeat from Harvard Medical School.  They report those experiencing chronic worrying are at greater risk than others for heart attack and other cardiovascular problems.

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Protracted anxiety manifests itself in a variety ways, including headache, appetite, sleeplessness, and bad habits that contribute to unhealthy lives. As the country focuses on this debilitating problem (the leading cause of disability in the world since the 1990s) evidence is coming to light about an alternative way to address the concern.

Constant worrying doesn’t accomplish anything. It only makes things worse.  Bobby McFerrin is right.  In that hit single Don’t Worry, Be Happy, the vocalist and conductor croons:

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Don’t worry be happy

In every life we have some trouble

When you worry you make it double

Turning off the worry and putting on a happy face seems a tall order as we confront modern-day pressures.  But anxiety and the means of curbing it are not exclusive to contemporary generations. The theme is even mentioned in the Bible.

In his famous Sermon on the Mount, Jesus Christ brings up the subject with a hint of logic.  He asks his listeners, “Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?”  (New International Version - Matthew 6:27)  That seems a reasonable point.

But what can you do about it? The answer to personal anxieties could be as simple as prayer.

A study highlighted in Crossroads, Newsletter of the Center for Spirituality, Theology & Health at Duke University looked at the impact of in-person prayer on depression, anxiety and positive emotion.  The findings are worthy of attention.

The study’s abstract provided the following results: “At the completion of the trial, participants receiving the prayer intervention showed significant improvement of depression and anxiety, as well as increases of daily spiritual experiences and optimism compared to controls (p < 0.01 in all cases). Subjects in the prayer group maintained these significant improvements (p < 0.01 in all cases) for a duration of at least 1 month after the final prayer session. Participants in the control group did not show significant changes during the study.”  Follow-up one year later showed the same improvement among the participants receiving prayer.

The positive link between spirituality and health is well documented. The center at Duke has collected data from over 3000 quantitative, original data-based studies, the majority of which have been conducted within the past decade. Of the 444 studies investigating the relationships between spirituality and depression 61 percent found less depression, faster remission, or a reduction in depression severity in response to including a religious/spirituality component.

 Similar findings have been reported on patients’ overall well-being.  In 326 quantitative studies examining the relationships between religion/spirituality and well-being, 79 percent of them documented greater happiness and satisfaction with life in those individuals who were more spiritual.

 These studies suggest a new/old approach to tackling prolonged despair. And as more knowledge is accumulated and more personal experiences shared about the benefits of prayer, the lives of those suffering from the devastating effects of depression can take a turn for the better.   

We all deserve to find the “be happy” place of true well-being.

 

 Steven Salt is a writer and blogger about health, spirituality and thought.  He is a Christian Science practitioner, curious about everything.  You can follow him on Twitter @SaltSeasoned.

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