Religion is Back
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The NIH National Library of Medicine (www.pubmed.gov)
lists 346 published journal articles on Suicide, Religion, and Spirituality
​Overview and Summary​
Why Religious Belief Provides a Real Buffer against Suicide Risk
by David H. Rosmarin, PhD, Associate Professor of Psychology at the Harvard University Department of Psychiatry
Director of the McLean Hospital Spirituality and Mental Health Program
Highlights: The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention confirms that religious belief can strongly discourage suicidal behavior. A study of 90,000 women over two decades found that women who attended religious services weekly were five times less likely to die from suicide than those who did not attend at all. (See below.) A similar study of 100,000 men and women found that weekly service attendance predicted 68 per cent lower risk of all "deaths of despair" (suicide, drugs and alcohol) among females, and 33 per cent lower risk among males.
https://psyche.co/ideas/why-religious-belief-provides-a-real-buffer-against-suicide-risk
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Evidence and Findings
Attending religious services once a week is associated with a 5-fold lower rate of suicide.
Association Between Religious Service Attendance and Lower Suicide Rates Among US Women, JAMA Psychiatry, 2016
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27367927/
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Religion should be incorporated into suicide prevention programs and policies.
Relationship of Religion with Suicidal Ideation, Suicide Plan, Suicide Attempt, and Suicide Death: A Meta-analysis, Journal of Research in Health Sciences, 2021
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9315464/
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Religion significantly reduces suicidal ideation, planning, attempts, and completed suicide.
Relationship of religion with suicidal ideation, suicide plan, suicide attempt, and suicide death: a meta-analysis, J Res. Health Science, 2022. This meta-analysis reviewed 63 studies involving 8,053,697 participants
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36511249/
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People with no religious affiliation are significantly more likely to attempt suicide.
Religious Affiliation and Suicide Attempt. American Journal of Psychiatry, 2004. Religiously unaffiliated subjects had significantly more lifetime suicide attempts and more first-degree relatives who committed suicide than subjects who endorsed a religious affiliation.
https://psychiatryonline.org/doi/full/10.1176/appi.ajp.161.12.2303
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Religion's stress-buffering effects suppress suicidal ideation.
The role of religion in suicide prevention, Oxford Textbook of Suicidology and Suicide Prevention (2nd ed., pp. 9–15). Oxford University Press, 2021
The available evidence indicates that religiosity exerts stress-buffering effects and may suppress suicidal ideation as well as the acting out of it. The protective effects of religiosity on suicide attest that this spiritual commodity is still meaningful to many.
https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2021-47929-002
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Christianity, Judaism, and Islam are associated with significantly lower suicide rates, while Hinduism is associated with higher rates of suicide.
Religion and Suicide: Comparisons among Religions (pdf), Journal of Religion and Health, 2018
https://www.iecj.com.br/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/religion-and-suicide.pdf
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Children and Adolescents
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Religion reduces suicide among adolescents and provides them with reasons for living.
Religion should be addressed in clinical practice and prevention efforts.
Systematic Review: A 25-Year Global Publication Analysis of the Role of Spirituality and Religiosity in Suicidal Risk Assessment in Adolescents, JAACAP, 2025.
A substantial majority of studies demonstrated that greater investment in religiosity/spirituality predicted reduced suicidality in adolescents.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2949732925000146
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Veterans
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Religious beliefs, practices, and affiliations can protect veterans from suicide.
Spirituality and Religion: Neglected Factors in Preventing Veteran Suicide?, Pastoral Psychology, 2017
This paper (a) summarizes these perspectives, (b) considers how clinical inquiry into the role of religion and/or spirituality in the lives of veterans at high risk of suicide fits into the suicide prevention program of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, and (c) offers specific recommendations to practitioners.
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Religion buffers the effects of stress on mental health.
Religion and Spirituality: A Suicide Risk and Protective Factor for Veterans (pdf), US Department of Veteran Affairs, 2024
For some Veterans, religious and spiritual practices can help buffer the effects of stress on mental health and suicide risk.A holistic view of suicide risk assessment and mental health treatment should consider both the adaptive and maladaptive dimensions of religious faith and spirituality, and their impact on veterans.
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Religion helps with PTSD.
The Impact of Religion and Spirituality on Suicide Risk in Veterans and Refugees With PTSD. Journal of Nervous Mental Disorders, 2023. Religion and spirituality contain social as well as psychological domains which should be considered in strategies of prevention of suicide in veteran and refugee populations with PTSD.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36596288/
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Veterans reporting "poor spiritual health" have a greater risk of suicide.
The spiritual health of veterans with a history of suicide ideation. Health Psychology and Behavioral Medicine, 2014
The results show that Veterans with suicide ideation more often rate their spiritual health as worse than that of Veterans without suicide ideation. This suggests that spiritual well-being may indeed be relevant to suicide prevention efforts in Veteran populations.
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/21642850.2014.881260​
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Negative religious coping increases suicide risk among veterans.
Religious Coping and Suicide Risk in a Sample of Recently Returned Veterans, Archives of Suicide Research, 2018
The findings support the importance of understanding veteran experiences of religious coping, particularly negative religious coping, in the context of suicide prevention efforts.
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13811118.2017.1390513​
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Clinicians should address the complex relationship between religion and suicide for veterans.
Spirituality, Religion, and Suicidality Among Veterans: A Qualitative Study. Archives of Suicide Research, 2018.
Findings highlight a complex and diverse relationship between spirituality/religion and suicidality. These findings may inform further research on treatment strategies that assess the function of spirituality/religion, and incorporate protective aspects of spirituality/religion into mental health treatment.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28636486/​​​​
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Putting the findings into practice
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Faith-Based Organizations’ Support of Veteran Congregants at Risk for Mental Health Conditions and Suicide: A Qualitative Study of Clergy Experiences in Los Angeles County
Journal of Religion and Health, 2023
Faith-based organizations (FBOs) are often “gatekeepers” to mental health care for congregants at risk of mental illness and suicide, especially U.S. military Veterans. This study suggests strategies to improve collaboration between FBOs and the mental healthcare system in Los Angeles County.
Journal of Religion and Health, 2023https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10943-023-01912-6
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Spirituality and Religiosity during Suicide Bereavement: A Qualitative Systematic Review
Religions Journal, 2021
Spirituality and/or religiosity (S/R) can be both an important resource and a source of stigmatisation during suicide bereavement. This study reviewed 484 citations and seven studies and found that practitioners and religious communities should be mindful of the S/R themes during suicide bereavement.
https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/12/9/766
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