Spirituality/Medicine Interface Project

Spirituality, Depression and Suicide in Middle Age

Authors: J. Michael Bostwick, MD, Teresa A. Rummans, MD

Abstract

The interpersonal aspects of religion, in addition to the intrapsychic experiences of spirituality, offer protection to adults against depression and suicide. Three lines of evidence support this statement. First, each of Erikson's adult life stages focuses upon relational crises that must be surmounted to grow;1 second, involvement in religious observances, not spirituality per se, guards against social isolation; third, fractures in the activities of love and of work contribute to several risk factors for suicide in adults.

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