Mercola.com

Researchers have found that people who are more involved with religious organizations seem to be able to cope with stress.

Why?

The healing power of prayer, of course. And even if conventional medicine doesn't get it, Americans certainly believe.

According to a joint poll conducted with ABC News and Stanford University, researchers found:

Prayer (90 percent) worked slightly better than drugs (89 percent) to control pain.

Such results are no surprise, to say the least, to preachers and doctors who have witnessed the impact personal faith has on a patient's reaction to different kinds of pain -- psychological or physical.

Spiritual Support

One doctor, and pastor of a Baptist church in Little Rock, explained that prayer enables people to grab their mind and put it in a new perspective.

Further, by focusing on prayer, believers are able to reduce stress and gain control over pain.

Conversely, advocates of conventional medicine find it difficult to assess the beneficial effects of prayer.

A Columbia University psychologist says prayer is no better or more useful than any other activity designed to distract a patient from his or her pain.

That opinion flies in the face of a recent study of sickle cell patients that found those who attended church weekly had the lowest pain scores.

USA Today May 10, 2005