Source: Reuters
LONDON, ENGLAND, June 29, 2002: A study done in the U.K. at the Royal Free and University College Medical School in London, indicates that people who practise religion recover more quickly and heal faster when a relative or close friend dies. Dr. Michael King and his colleagues studied 129 relatives and close friends of patients who had a terminal illness. The June 29 issue of the British Medical Journal says, “Forty-three percent of the study group said they had strong religious beliefs, 41% said they had low religious beliefs and the remaining 16% did not report any religious beliefs.” Ninety-five individuals from the original control group participated in the follow-up at one month, nine month,and fourteen month intervals. The group with strong spiritual beliefs recovered steadily from their grief and reported progressively less grief at the designated intervals. Those with low religious beliefs started to recover after nine months. However, the nonbelievers still were intensely grieving at fourteen months. King says, “Perhaps people without spiritual beliefs are a vulnerable group, in terms of impact of bereavement.”