Most clergy endorsed mixing both medical and religious approaches to depression.
“These results suggest that medical professionals should view the vast majority of religious leaders as allies in identifying and properly treating depression,” the study concludes.
Major depression is the most common mental disorder in the U.S. and is the strongest risk factor for suicide. Studies have shown an increase in depression in the U.S. population from 6.6% in 2005 to as high as 9% in 2020, according to a study published last year by Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health and City University of New York.
The National Survey of Religious Leaders was conducted online, on paper and by phone just as the coronavirus pandemic began. But Chaves said he didn’t think the results would change dramatically if the study were fielded today.
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“I don’t see why the pandemic might change people’s views of the underlying causes of depression and how to treat it,” he said. Still, he said, the study provided a baseline that should be repeated to assess changes over time.
Harold G. Koenig, a Duke professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences who was not connected to the study, said its results were heartening.
“The majority of mental health professionals are not religious, and that’s a problem because the majority of their patients are,” Koenig said. “So it’s encouraging to see the vast majority of clergy see depression as something that is more likely to have biological or situational rather than religious causes.”
This article originally appeared here.
