A recent Columbia University study shows that religion or spirituality strengthens the brain to stave off depression.
Can being religious protect you from getting depressed? This proved true for those high risk people with a family history of depression. The study included 103 people and revealed that the brains of those who valued religion and spirituality highly had a thicker cortex than those who didn’t. Translation: religious and spirtual people were biologically shown to be more resilient to depression.
This evidence may make doctors more aware of the role of healthy spirituality in mental health and incorporate it into their treatment. With further studies, faith may soon be considered one of the vitamins to combat depression.