People who are religious have 'thicker' brains to protect against depression

[Holac]

 

They say religion is a matter of the heart – but it seems the shape of our brains could also have a role to play. Believers or those with a spiritual side have ‘thicker’ sections of brain tissue than other people, a study suggests. And in welcome news for the faithful, the researchers think that this thickening could also help to stave off depression.

 

‘Our beliefs and our moods are reflected in our brain and with new imaging techniques we can begin to see this,’ Dr Myrna Weissman, a professor of psychiatry and epidemiology at Columbia University, told Reuters Health. ‘The brain is an extraordinary organ. It not only controls, but is controlled by our moods.’ While the new study suggests a link between brain thickness and spirituality, it cannot say that thicker brain regions cause people to be religious or spiritual, Dr Weissman and her colleagues noted in the journal JAMA Psychiatry.

 

It might hint, however, that being religious can enhance the brain's resilience against depression in a physical way, they wrote. Previously, the researchers had found that people who said they were religious or spiritual were at lower risk of depression. They also found that people at higher risk of depression had thinning cortices, compared to those with lower depression risk. The finding suggests that being religious can change the brain in a physical way and this change could be protective against depression

 

The finding suggests that being religious can change the brain in a physical way and this change could be protective against depression. For the new study, the researchers twice asked 103 adults between the ages of 18 and 54 how important religion or spirituality was to them and how often they attended religious services over a five year period.

 

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2531622/People-religious-spiritual-thicker-brains-Those-believe-god-deeper-outer-layer.html

[Holac]

This explains the erratic behavior of some ungodly douches I met.

[Khayr]

^Ah, I see that you met xabad and allyourbase.

[Allyourbase]

Having a 'thick' brain is not something to brag about sxb

 

(ta dum tish!)

[Miyir]

what! scientist joke? thicker you are less you will worry and be depressed isn't that obvious? insulting religious folks not on scientist lol

[Mooge]

xabad's brain is paper thin. loool.

[xabad]

tbh, i do occasionally suffer from depression and i agree religious people are less prone to it.

[Miskiin-Macruuf-Aqiyaar]

So they unwittingly 'discovered' these aayado, right?

 

When Allah desires to guide someone, He expands his breast to Islam. When He desires to misguide someone, He makes his breast narrow and constricted as if he were climbing up into the sky. That is how Allah defiles those who disbelieve. (Quraanka kariimka 6:125)

 

[A]ll those who follow My guidance will not go astray and will not be miserable. But if anyone turns away from My reminder, his life will be a dark and narrow one … (Suurada Ta Ha: 123-124)

 

This is exactly why cibaadanimada is extremely stressed in Quraankeena suuban. It saves one's soul. It connects one's soul to its Source, its Mighty Creator.

 

Human beings' souls/spirits are more like a computer software. The soul constantly needs software updates (cibaado) to ward off vice temptations (viruses). These vice temptations -- be it drugs, alcohols, guilty pleasures and such -- diminishes one's soul's to the point of no return. These temporal vice pleasures also bring what the human soul cannot handle properly without a Divine connection and guidance: Depression, anxiety, restlessness, misery, gloominess, stress, panic attacks and ultimately always being a pessimist. You name them.

 

Humans cannot stop feeling 'guilty' even if they don't believe in a true Creator who created them. Why does one need to feel 'guilty' if one doesn't believe its Creator? To whom is one feeling guilty to? To the government? To the parents? To their spouses? To their 'morality'? and what 'morality' and whose 'morality'? They don't even know, yet they are still feeling guilty. Atheists are a prime example. They can't rid of this -- the feeling of guiltiness about all those vice temptations, including drugs and alcohol. That is why they have those secular rehabilitation centres. It is not enough since because it is purely secular, only saving the body and not the soul itself, which they don't believe to exist. That is why most are in relapse or in very restlessness, always worrying about something.

 

The soul constantly needs undisturbed and direct connection to its Creator. Otherwise it gets thirsty and emptiness, which will eventually cause suicide or suicidal tendencies.

 

Eebbe ha naga haayo. Gaal lama yaabi oo daroogo iyo qamri isku daldalaayo laakiin waxaa la yaabaa Soomaali qaangaaray asagoo maankiisa saafi yahay daroogo iyo qamri inuu isticmaalo bilaabo. Qamri waa biloow. It won't be enough with shaydhaan whispering. Xashiish is next. Won't be enough, the unseen whispering says. Then comes the heavy ones. Still not enough. Nothing will be enough for the whispering shaydaan until one's soul is destroyed in no point of return. No much of money, no material possessions unimaginable will save one's soul. Nothing since the soul itself is empty vessel.

[Holac]

<cite>

@xabad

said:</cite>

tbh, i do occasionally suffer from depression and i agree religious people are less prone to it.

 

Sorry to hear that. Ilaahay caafimaad wanaagsan hakusiiyo.

[xabad]

<cite>

@Holac

said:</cite>

Sorry to hear that. Ilaahay caafimaad wanaagsan hakusiiyo.

 

thanks holac.

[Khayr]

 

 

وَيَقُولُ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا لَوْلَا أُنزِلَ عَلَيْهِ آيَةٌ مِّن رَّبِّهِ قُلْ إِنَّ اللَّهَ يُضِلُّ مَن يَشَاءُ وَيَهْدِي إِلَيْهِ مَنْ أَنَابَ

 

The Unbelievers say: "Why is not a sign sent down to him from his Lord?" Say: "Truly Allah leaveth, to stray, whom He will; But He guideth to Himself those who turn to Him in penitence,

 

الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا وَتَطْمَئِنُّ قُلُوبُهُم بِذِكْرِ اللَّهِ أَلَا بِذِكْرِ اللَّهِ تَطْمَئِنُّ الْقُلُوبُ

 

"Those who believe, and whose hearts find satisfaction in the remembrance of Allah: for without doubt in the remembrance of Allah do hearts find satisfaction.