In a recent comment, someone asserted that "“Religionism and shamanism were invented and flourished in a world filled with ignorance and superstition. Education and peaceful free secular democracy is rapidly eliminating such things from the developed world and beyond.”
In my response, I took the opportunity to research psychiatric perspectives. An R Awaad MD of Stanford advises, “Psychiatrists...should be willing to work with leaders/members of faith communities, chaplains and pastoral workers...” and used data like “•9 out of 10 of American adults say that they pray and 58% pray daily •Approximately two‐thirds are members of churches or synagogues” (Pew, 2012) Also, “The reality is that the statistical majority of our patients and the world consider spirituality very important when it comes to mental health,” session chair Harvard Med School´s David H. Rosmarin, Ph.D., A.B.P.P., told Psychiatric News. Religion will demonstrate mixtures of qualities depending on the different kinds of practices, institutions, traditions, or scholarly disciplines are being referred to.
Such attitudes in the discipline of psychiatry alone already refute simplistic notions of "ignorance and superstition," and an orientation that is not attempting to "eliminate such things", leaving out the question of the specific nature of "education and peaceful free secular democracy," for the moment. In further exploration, one relevant field is the Psychology of Religion, and observations include, “In one survey study of college students undergoing religious/spiritual struggles, when asked to indicate whether they had grown and/or declined through their struggles, almost half reported that they had grown and not declined and only 3% felt that they had declined and not grown (Desai and Pargament, 2015). “
Yet, as empirical scholars, they also observe studies that show that “not growing from religious/spiritual struggles” can be a study result. Thus, they can frame studies that define and begin to examine those variables, “Taken as a whole, these findings suggest that growth following religious/spiritual struggles is not inevitable. Rather, whether religious/spiritual struggles lead to growth or decline may depend on moderating variables. A few studies have begun to identify some of the factors that may foster growth and reduce distress among those who experience religious/spiritual struggles. These include an accepting attitude toward religious/spiritual struggles (Dworsky, Pargament, Wong, and Exline, 2016), reframing religious/spiritual struggles as an opportunity for positive change (Saritoprak and Exline, in press), finding a sense of meaning through religious/spiritual struggles (Wilt et al., 2016), drawing on religious/spiritual coping resources (Wilt et al., 2019), and having a sense of ultimate hope (Abu Raiya et al., 2016). “
It is literacy in those kind of knowledge domains that reflects insight into the phenomena domains they study, “Hundreds of studies have shown significant links between health and various facets of religion/spirituality—from prayer and meditation to participation in rituals and religious services (e.g., Koenig, King, and Carlson, 2012). “ Thus, it is recommended for clinicians to evaluate people whether they, “Accept the reality of spiritual and transpersonal experiences.”
Reference: Pargament and Exline, 2020, "Religious and spiritual struggles: Research is shedding new light on an overlooked but important human experience." https://www.apa.org/research/action/religious-spiritual-struggles
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