Chai Brady
Regular Mass going protects against feelings of loneliness and suicidal thoughts a new Irish study has revealed, with weekly attendence being better than monthly.
The Trinity College Dublin (TCD) study found there are increasing rates of both loneliness and suicidal thoughts among older adults in Ireland, but that attending Mass can “protect against these negative thoughts about one’s own life”.
The research, which involved more than 8,000 older people, also indicated that the more a person attended a religious service – weekly rather than monthly – the less likely they were to have a ‘wish to die’.
The study was published in the peer-reviewed journal Frontiers in Public Health. It explored social disconnection and its link to a ‘wish to die’ among older adults.
People who reported a wish to die reported less social participation, never volunteer, and did not regularly attend religious services. The older adults with or without a religion who never attended church reported the highest prevalence of a wish to die at 8.7%, 2.4 times the overall proportion of 3.6%. Overall, 88.6% of participants were Catholic with Anglican being the next largest group at 3.4%.
Regarding The Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing (TILDA) research, TCD said: “A key finding of the study is the protective effect of attending religious services. The research indicates that regular participation in such activities can significantly reduce death ideation among older adults in Ireland.”
Focusing on religion, the report stated: “Firstly, religion is associated with lower loneliness and depression. This is most likely due to the opportunity for social connection associated with attending religious services and also the spiritual support from other church members.
“Secondly, the comfort received from religion has been identified as an adaptive response that protects against death ideation. Additionally, the Catholic church, in its teaching and practice of Canon law in Ireland contributed greatly to a heightened level of taboo and stigma associated with suicide… This heightened stigma means that older Catholics may be less likely to consider suicidal thoughts or at least less likely to report experiencing these feelings.”
Responding to the report, Psychiatrist Prof. Patricia Casey told The Irish Catholic: “It’s been known for a long time that religious practise and religious belief have a preventive role in suicide. What’s interesting is that it’s the first time it’s come out in an Irish study. But there are a lot of international studies comparing the suicide rates in religious groups and non-religious groups and showing that religious beliefs do have a preventive role partly because of religious injunctions against suicide, but not exclusively. There is a sense of hope that religion gives.”
She added that there there is a social side of religion “which is what secularists mostly focus on”, but that is not necessarily “the principal thing”.
“In the study that we did on depression in UCD when I was there, we found that the social element actually had a very little role to play when you control for other factors,” she said, adding: “Going to church may have additional benefits that maybe joining a knitting group wouldn’t have. You can’t hope to supplant one with the other. So I think the spiritual end of things is hugely important.”
Responding to the results of the study Seán Moynihan CEO of Alone, a charity that supports older people, called on families and neighbours to support those who would like to go to church but might need help, but also for elderly people to reach out.
Speaking to The Irish Catholic he said: “I would call on older people who are their own best resources, if they have a support infrastructure, to reach out to those people in their world to try and help them. And if going to religious services, going to church and Mass is part of that absolutely I would call for that.
“I would also call on everybody to realise what a scourge loneliness is and if they can find a way of entering the conversation, with families, relatives or friends to even refer older people to us and or to discuss with them how to support them to combat that loneliness,” he said.
Mr Moynihan added: “I think the big thing we’re trying to get across is that it is that emotional need, and what the Catholic Church has done traditionally has always met that emotional comfort need, especially post bereavement or when people are facing illness, suffering or pain. Maybe that has been undervalued, or underutilised, or maybe just taken for granted.”