IS RELIGION A BUFFER AGAINST PSYCHOPATHOLOGIES?

Abstract

Objective: The present research investigated if religion acts as a protective buffer against different psychopathologies.

Research Design: Ex-post facto research design was used in the present research   

Place of study: Lahore

Sample and Method: Sixty subjects were taken from different teaching hospitals of Lahore: Jinnah Hospital; Services Hospital; Sir Ganga Ram Hospital; Mayo Hospital with different psychopathologies. They were diagnosed according to DSM-IV-TR and were having single diagnosis. Later, to make a comparison, sixty non-psychiatric subjects were recruited from different areas of Lahore city: Bund Road, Krishan Nagar, Model Town, Faisal Town, Johar Town and Riwaz Garden and both samples were matched on two variables i.e., education and monthly income. Each subject had been examined on both religiosity (Religious Rituals Scale & Religious Beliefs Scale) and for different psychopathologies: Depression; Somatoform; Anxiety and OCD (Symptom Checklist-Revised).

Results: The results revealed that subjects from psychiatric population obtained high scores on psychopathology and relatively low scores on religiosity whereas, subjects from non-psychiatric population obtained low score on psychopathology and high score on religiosity.

Conclusion: On the basis of results, it could be concluded that religiosity acts as a buffer against psychopathologies; therefore, people with greater inclination towards religion have less vulnerability towards psychopathologies.