Does frequent worship lead to better mental health? Often, but not
always, experts say
[May 05, 2026]
By DAVID CRARY
NEW YORK (AP) — Worldwide, the landscape of religion is not serene. Many
denominations have been racked by divisions. In some regions, believers
are targeted with violence. Countless faith leaders have betrayed their
flocks via corruption or sexual abuse.
Against this backdrop, there has been a long-running discussion about
the role that religion can play in enhancing personal well-being and
lowering the risk of mental health problems.
A positive view of religious faith’s relation to mental health is shared
by several prominent U.S. mental health organizations, including the
National Alliance on Mental Illness and Mental Health America.
“Religion gives people something to believe in, provides a sense of
structure and typically offers a group of people to connect with” those
with similar beliefs, according to NAMI. “Research suggests that
religiosity reduces suicide rates, alcoholism and drug use.”
The American Psychological Association takes a nuanced approach,
reflecting the views of several experts who shared theirs with The
Associated Press. The APA says its Handbook of Psychology, Religion and
Spirituality “sheds light on the many purposes religion serves, the rich
variety of religious and spiritual beliefs and practices, and the
capacity of religion and spirituality to do both good and harm.”
At St. John Fisher University — a Catholic school in Rochester, New York
— visiting psychology instructor Timothy Powers says he sees that
duality in his own counseling practice.
“While faith community participation can confer real and well documented
protective benefits, those same communities can also be sources of
shame, spiritual bypass, trauma, and significant barriers to seeking
help,” Powers said via email. “Clinically, both realities show up in the
counseling room, sometimes in the same person.”
“The task for therapists is to approach the subject without assuming
that religion/spirituality is a resource or that it is a wound, to be
open to ambiguity, and to ask rather than presume,” Powers added.
Charles Camosy, a professor of moral theology and bioethics at The
Catholic University of America, also shared nuanced thoughts.
“We expect on the one hand that being faithful will bring with it good
things in this life,” Camosy said in an email.
Yet “living out the Gospel doesn’t lead to healthy, flourishing lives
for everyone. People still get sick, including mentally ill,” he added.
“Christians, and especially faithful Christians who are salt and light
in a world full of violence and injustice, are not promised mental
health as a reward for faithfulness in this life.”
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Angel Sanchez worships at 2819 Church on Nov. 16, 2025, in Atlanta.
(AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski, File)
 On Monday, there was a new
contribution to the discussion, a report assembled by a team of
professors and researchers for the Wheatley Institute at Brigham
Young University. The institute describes as its basic mission:
“Research-supported work that fortifies the core institutions of the
family, religion, and constitutional government.”
Citing an analysis of hundreds of previous studies, the report says
that committed religious involvement — corresponding to at least
weekly attendance at worship services — was linked to lower suicide
risk, better stress management, reduced substance misuse, and higher
levels of hope.
“Although harmful or coercive forms of religion do exist, the
overall pattern across the best available studies is clear:
religious belief and practice are overwhelmingly associated with
better mental and emotional well-being,” the report said.
The executive director of the American Humanist Association, Fish
Stark, said he had no quibble with the assertion that religious
engagement may have psychological benefits. But he stressed that
nonreligious people had ways to fare equally well.
“If you have a strong secular, atheist identity, and actively
participate in a nonreligious community, you get the same benefits,”
Stark said.
“The key is whether you have core convictions and participate in
social groups,” he added. “Those with strong religious identities
and strong secular identities are equally happy.”
Sociology professor Ellen Idler, director of Emory University’s
Religion and Public Health Collaborative, suggested that the effect
of religion on mental health should not be measured solely among
those who attend religious services regularly.
“Those who have been, or perceived that they have been, harmed by
religion will stay away, leaving those less troubled in the pews,”
she said, citing people who had been sexually abused by clergy as
children or were stigmatized by their congregations because they
were LGBTQ+.
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