While past research has shown that being religious--participating in organized worship services--is tied to lower rates of depression, a new Canadian study shows that being spiritual--searching for a meaning to life--is actually associated with higher risk of depression and anxiety.
Respondents rated their religiousness based on how often they attended organized services as well as their spirituality, or how important searching for a meaning to life was to them. Using DSM-IV criteria, researchers found that religiousness was linked to lower lifetime odds of depression, bipolar disorder, panic disorder and social phobia. Spirituality, meanwhile, was linked to higher odds of suffering from depressive symptoms, social phobia and manic episodes.