People searching for the source of "sustained happiness" and fulfilment need not look any farther than the church nearest their home.
NBC News shared a recent study that validated what many devoted Christians already knew: Sustained happiness lies in participation in church worship and other religious activities.
"The church appears to play a very important social role in keeping depression at bay and also as a coping mechanism during periods of illness in later life," said Mauricio Avendano, an epidemiologist at the London School of Economics (LSE) and an author of the study.
The study, published in the American Journal of Epidemiology, was conducted by researchers at the LSE and Erasmus University Medical Center in the Netherlands.
"It is not clear to us how much this is about religion per se, or whether it may be about the sense of belonging and not being socially isolated," Avendano said.
The study said people obtain a sense of belonging and purpose when they participate in religious organisations, and this can ultimately influence lifestyle choices and even help older people cope with illness and death.
The researchers analysed 9,000 Europeans who were older than 50 and looked at four specific areas—volunteering or working with a charity, taking educational courses, participating in religious organisations, and participating in a political or community organisation.
Out of all the four areas, researchers discovered that participating in a religious organisation was the only social activity associated with sustained happiness.
Earlier this month, another study found out that cancer patients who are deeply religious persons experience fewer physical and mental symptoms of the disease than those who are less spiritual. "Spiritual well-being was, unsurprisingly, associated with less anxiety, depression, or distress," Dr. John Salsman at Wake Forest School of Medicine said.
A report published in the British Journal of General Practice supported the findings of the two recent studies. The report said medical experts have proven in a study that religious faith is the best predictor of a long and healthy life.
That study showed that faith in God reduced the risk of a heart attack by two-thirds and also improved survival rates of stroke or cancer victims.
Researchers also found that people who deeply religious recover faster from illnesses. "Faith in God," said survey author Dr. Richard Scott, "is relevant to all diseases yet studied."
