Religiosity and veteran mental health compared with non-veterans

Abstract

Background While the potential buffering effects of spirituality are well established in the general population, how spirituality affects those in extremely high-stress occupations like the military and law enforcement is less clear. Aims This paper explores the possibility that spiritual influences may operate differently among military veterans than other people. It specifically proposes that attendance at religious services is an especially important buffer for combat veterans. Methods This study engaged in a secondary analysis of 74 480 respondents from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health for the years 2013–17. The respondents were split into four groups; veterans with combat experience before September 2001, veterans with combat experience since September 2001, veterans with no combat experience and non-veterans. Results The likelihood of mental illness decreased in the general population along three different measures of religion; the importance of religion, friendships that shared religious beliefs and attendance at religious services. The relationship was weak and disappeared when controls for non-religion variables were included. A major exception was combat veterans, for whom the religious effects were limited to attendance at services, and the effect survived with the addition of non-religion control variables. Conclusions Mental health professionals, chaplains, pastoral counsellors and clergy need to recognize that among the therapeutic benefits of religious attendance and recognize the value of the religious rituals as ends in themselves.

The Impact of Faith-Based Pastoral Care in Decreasingly Religious Contexts: The Australian Chaplaincy Advantage in Critical Environments

“…Indeed, a large body of evidence reports that ignoring the spiritual and religious elements of life can have a significantly detrimental effect on the identity of and meaning of life for personnel that can lead to existential distress, and eventually to negative impacts on both physical and mental well-being if not addressed at a spiritual level (Amato et al, 2017 ; Bonelli et al, 2012 ; Boucher et al, 2018 ; Bowlus, 2018 ; Dhar et al, 2011 ; Hamlin-Glover, 2011 ; Koenig, 2009 ; Pargament et al, 2013 ; Rogers, 2020 ; Smigelsky et al, 2020 ; Unterrainer et al, 2010 ). While it could be argued that spiritual guidance could be sourced outside of the workplace, when spiritual care occurs from those “on the inside” (i.e.…”

Veteran Evolution: What Makes a Veteran

“…Indeed, 40% of Veterans report having experienced a morally injurious experience with 14.6% of Veterans diagnosed with psychogenic non-epileptic seizures meeting the criteria for MI (LaFrance et al, 2020). Fur-ther, Veterans also report experiencing spiritual and moral distress more commonly than their civilian peers (Rogers, 2020). The risk of experiencing a MI is reported to increase with exposure to combat situations and is closely linked to suicidality risk among returning Veterans (Jamieson et al, 2020a).…”