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S.R. Ahmadi

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is Stress correlated to to the level of believing and loving God?

Stress is mother of diseases and many problems is derived from stress.
but what is the root of stress?
I could see this saying:
"Unquestionably, [for] the allies of Allah there will be no fear concerning them, nor will they grieve"
http://tanzil.net/#trans/en.sahih/10:62

Koran says who are friends of God have no stress.
is this experimented yet that if atheist people have stress or not
can we consider the level of relation to God as the factor influencing stress?

at Arrival of Khomeini on 1 February 1979. When asked about his feelings of returning from exile in the plane that was threaten to be shot down, he replied "I feel nothing".
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruhollah_Khomeini
I think not having any stress in him was for his high level of believe and love in God.

is there any experimental results confirming or denying this?

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Topics: God atheism psychology stress
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  • Tony Fu

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    Jun 20 2011: Sorry to answer your question, I think that stress is correlated to one's belief in God. However, it is not a simple linear relationship. If you believe in God through words, it will probably be difficult to reconcile your experience of the world with the words of God. I think many people experience this when they cannot relate their personal experience with the word. I have personally had experience with this, where I felt that my reality and the bible's reality could not be compatible. This can lead to a lot of stress because there is an struggle within you between what you believe in words and what you can feel. On the other hand, I know there are people who see God through their experiences. Rather than strictly following the words of a religion, they choose to focus on their experiences with God to strengthen their faith. In this way, I still think they experience stress when people question them about their faith, but they can also find comfort by reliving their memories of spiritual experiences

  • Tony Fu

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    Jun 20 2011: Hey, I think that what is so hard for a religious belief to provide complete comfort for humans is that religion is centered around words. Even those of us who think we have strong faith may be unconsciously uncertain because we cannot observe God intuitively, that is through sight, hearing and the other senses, which are our primary tools to observe the world around us. Experience is the ultimate way in which we interact with our environment. Most of us know intuitively that we can learn much more about a person by meeting them face to face than simply reading about them in a book. By meeting them, even if they do not say a word, we can gather much information about their personalities. I believe that the authority people place on words of the bible and other holy books to tell them about their world, over their own experience, is what makes religion so hard to have faith in. Language is an abstract construct which we humans have created. Although words can take on more meaning than their definition by relating to personal experiences, they are still an incomplete representation of reality. The world is so complex and so interconnected, that words are simply not comprehensive enough for us to understand the world through. I know most of us have probably have had experiences that makes us speechless, unable to describe the event through words. In fact, the most meaningful communication I have had with some friends were times when we rarely spoke, but when we felt an almost telepathic connection between us. I hope this was good for you =)
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    Jim Moonan 30+

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    Jun 19 2011: No it's not. It is just one of many reasons why people look for a fictional identity to explain their frustrations, fears, etc.

    Think the main reason for people believing in and loving a god is that they were brought up from birth to think that way. Imagine for a moment not being indoctrinated into any religion from birth. What would be your belief in god look like?

    But as we get older and more fixed in our ways, god/religion becomes primarily therapy/drugs for fending off natural human weaknesses.
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    Holli West

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    Jun 12 2011: When I was young my mother had a rule for my sister and myself that there was no "whining" allowed...she added to this by saying to us, when we would enter a self-pity process (aka: whining) ,"how about you offer your suffering up for someone who suffers more than you." When I became a teen this used to frustrate me...in my self-centered paradigm of adolescence who could possibly be suffering more than me....and "why should i care any way!?" Point being, stress is the result of specific paradigms of thinking. I think the role of belief in God does indeed have an impact on ones experience of stress relative to the construct of "God". for example, a design that creates more judgement in expectation could lead to more stress conversely a belief in something beyond the "self" I think does increae a person's ability to"let go" of fears that may contribute to increased stress. Perhaps, because belief allows the individual to find meaning in suffering...otherwise whats' the point? nothing? well...thats just boring.
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    David Smith

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    May 23 2011: This is relatively simple. Stress is directly correlated to survival instincts. If we did not stress about having enough food, shelter, water and other things; we would not survive as well as we do. This has been developed out of necessity, as the world is a very harsh place.

    As for it's connection to loving God, it could be a symptom of being Religious, but non-religious people also feel stress; I would think that prayer works as a type of meditation to help alleviate stress. This is a very internal thing.
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      S.R. Ahmadi 20+

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      May 23 2011: you mean prayer is a drug for stress?
      can we pray with no believe in God?

  • Nidal Prasovic

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    May 19 2011: Stress is correlated to the
    level of believing and loving.
    Among other things.

    That's what I think.
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      S.R. Ahmadi 20+

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      May 23 2011: for example who loves money have no stress about death?
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    Cory Martin

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    May 3 2011: There have been some researchers that have found correlations between religion and higher self-esteem, sense of community and lower stress. These were found generally by using subjective measures like subjective wellbeing scale. However, these studies do note that it is not all encompassing. For some religion is associated with guilt and shame. Those who are homosexual and catholic for example.

    Most research on the whole has found mixed evidence. Most religions encourage gratitude, and provide a sense of purpose and community but for some hinders them with guilt and anxiety by forcing people to follow rules that may be damaging to their wellbeing.

    Overall results are inconclusive. Stress and subjective well-being is really a personal thing depending on worldview and perceptions of the good life. It is a difficult yet very interesting subject. I think the most important thing to remember is that all people deal with stress. I am an athiest and am a generally unstressed person. I know of people who are religious and are highly stressed and vica versa. Measures of stress cannot be pinpointed onto a spesific characteristic such as a belief in got but rather a myriad of things such as income, poverty, genetics, environment etc.

    So to sum up yes, having a religious may effect the manner in which people experience stress but it is a fact that everyone experiences stress in some shape or form and it is inconclusive whether the level of relationship a person has to god has an effect of physical or percieved stress. My hypothesis would be that no it does not have a causal effect but probably helps some (not all) people manage stress.
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      S.R. Ahmadi 20+

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      May 3 2011: Dear Cory Martin,
      thanks for your explain.
      "Measures of stress cannot be pinpointed onto a spesific characteristic"
      what about think of death.
      can thinking about death make stress.
      is not there any probability for Hell? does not it make stress?
      I think if some one has at least 0.00001% probability for hell to be true and not care about it, it makes stress.
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        Cory Martin

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        May 4 2011: This is a subject that has been thoroughly researched, it is called 'Terror Management Theory" and has been associated with stress anxiety. Yes I am saying that when people thinking about the possibility of damnation they have some form of stress reaction; however, they have the same reaction to thinking about being hit with a bat, or going to war, or going to have surgery. What I'm saying is people stress about a lot of things. Thinking of bad things happening to ones self does elicit a stress reaction.
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    S.R. Ahmadi 20+

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    Apr 27 2011: Khomeini had refused to return to Iran until the Shah left. On 17 January 1979, the Shah did leave the country (ostensibly "on vacation"), never to return. Two weeks later, on Thursday, 1 February 1979, Khomeini returned in triumph to Iran, welcomed by a joyous crowd of up to five million people,[58] estimated in at least six million by ABC News reporter Peter Jennings, who was reporting the event from Tehran.[citation needed]

    On the Air France flight threaten to be shot down, on his way to Iran, Khomeini was asked by Jennings: "What do you feel in returning to Iran?" Khomeini answered in a cynical tone: "Hichi!" (Nothing!).[59] This statement was considered reflective of his mystical or puritanical belief that Dar al-Islam, rather than the motherland, was what mattered, and also a warning to Iranians who hoped he would be a "mainstream nationalist leader" that they were in for disappointment.[60] To others, it was a reflection of a unfeeling leader incapable or unconcerned with understanding the thoughts, beliefs, or the needs of the Iranian populace.[61][62]
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruhollah_Khomeini
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