Religion, Spirituality and Health

What were your thoughts when you last fell ill? 
Were they positive or negative? 
Do you consider yourself a spiritual or a religious person? 
Do being religious or spiritual help you in coping with illness (yours or family member's)? 
When did you last attend a religious place (temple/church/gurudwara/mosque/other)?
Do you expect to share your religious/spiritual views with your physician?
Have you ever come across a physician who has prayed with you?
(Here, illness refers to the response of a patient to a disease.)
The above questions are meant to give an insight about a physician as well as patient's behavior in times of illness. 
The physician who respects and acknowledges the patient as a whole person with dignity, beyond the person's disease, is able to establish relationship of trust for making joint decisions regarding treatment.
On the other hand, for many patients, religion and spirituality is a unique source of motivation and coping with life events, including the experience of personal illness.
The concept of spirituality is about core meaning and connectedness, and it is from this that we respond to all of life. 
Anger, hate, love, forgiveness and hope come from this core.

Knowing a patient as a whole person, including his/her religious and spiritual beliefs, may allow a physician to aid better in the judgement, coping and healing process in the face of disease.

Although many physicians do agree that religion and spiritualism do play a major role in recovery, they do not deal with such issues due to lack of time, lack of training in obtaining such history and many feel uncomfortable in such matters.
Spirituality for some may be expressed in a relationship with God or a higher being, while for others it may be expressed through family and friends, nature and environment.
If spirituality is considered like an umbrella, religion being one way to express spirituality comes under this umbrella.
Issues of spirituality appear more urgent when people face situational and developmental crisis in life, such as coming to terms with a terminal illness and the rising awareness of one's own mortality.
Religion has been found to play protective effects on mental health outcomes, like well being, suicidal behavior and drug abuse.
Studies on adolescent behavior have given inverse relationship between higher religious involvement and alcohol and drug use, smoking, sexual activity, depressive symptoms and suicide risk.
Studies have also found that spirituality and religion positively related to immune system function in HIV-positive patients.
Religious practices, meditation and yoga have been found associated with reduced blood pressure and improved immune function.
Unfortunately, religion has been sometimes used to justify hatred, aggression and prejudice.
Patient's reliance on faith healing instead of appropriate medical care has led to negative outcomes and deaths for many humans.
Next time be free to share your inner spirit too with your clinician, hoping he'll understand its importance in the long run.
Bye for now.