Write a 6 pages paper on how can spirituality help a patient alleviate the symptoms of depression. Religiousness may be correlated to attaining a sense of peace which affects the patients’ mood. Braam, Klinkenberg, and Deeg (2011) studied dimensions of religiousness influence mood in the Last Week Of Life using data from surviving relatives of deceased members of the Longitudinal Aging Study Amsterdam (LASA). They did not find any connection between religiousness and depression, although findings showed that the construct of peace of mind relieving depression. They believed that religiousness may produce a feeling of peace about one’s suffering, or finding meaning in death, which resulted in less depressive symptoms. Nelson et al. (2009) sought to create a theoretical framework of the relationship between religiosity, spirituality, and depression. After a cross-sectional study of 367 men with prostate cancer, findings showed that spirituality decreased symptoms of depression, where the meaning/peace subscale mediates the relationship between intrinsic religiosity and depression (Nelson et al., 2009, p. 111). They concluded that spirituality helped people find meaning or peace, which helped alleviate depression.

Spirituality can reduce depression through increasing spiritual and social sources of support. Watlington and Murphy (2006) examined the roles of religion and spirituality in treating posttraumatic stress symptoms and depression symptoms among African American survivors of domestic violence. Findings showed that high spirituality resulted in lower reports of depression. Spiritual beliefs, which produced “connection with the transcendent, gratitude, compassion, and support from the transcendent,” are related to lower levels of depression symptoms (Watlington & Murphy, 2006, p. 850).