UMMS Affiliation
Department of Psychiatry
Date
12-31-2010
Document Type
Article
Medical Subject Headings
Religion; Mental Healing; Spirituality; Pain; Chronic Pain; Adaptation, Psychological
Disciplines
Psychiatry
Abstract
Religion and spirituality are two methods of meaning making that impact a person’s ability to cope, tolerate, and accept disease and pain. The biopsychosocial-spiritual model includes the human spirit’s drive toward meaning-making along with personality, mental health, age, sex, social relationships, and reactions to stress. In this review, studies focusing on religion’s and spirituality’s effect upon pain in relationship to physical and mental health, spiritual practices, and the placebo response are examined. The findings suggest that people who are self efficacious and more religiously and spiritually open to seeking a connection to a meaningful spiritual practice and/or the transcendent are more able to tolerate pain.
Comments
Citation: Lysne C.J., Wachholtz A.B. Pain, Spirituality, and Meaning Making: What Can We Learn from the Literature? Religions. 2011; 2(1):1-16. doi:10.3390/rel2010001
© 2010 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/).