Last week Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, was seen cycling around the emirate with friends before stopping to pray at the roadside in a residential area. Physical exercise is a great way to promote psychological well-being. The same can be said of prayer.
During the 20th century, psychologists generally ignored religion. It was seen as being too subjective, not something easily studied in the lab. In one survey of over a 1,000 members of the American Psychological Association, just 1.4 per cent expressed an interest in researching religion.
One explanation for this was the desire for psychology to be more closely identified with the physical and biological sciences – the "proper" sciences. Some of my psychology students still demand lab coats.
In recent decades, though, it has become impossible to ignore the massive impact of religion on behaviour, attitudes, choices and emotional states – all of which are of interest to psychologists and social scientists. Researchers today increasingly explore the interplay between religion and psychology. Their results are published in journals with titles like Mental Health, Religion and Culture and the American Psychological Association's Psychology of Religion and Spirituality.
One consistent finding that emerges from this growing body of work is an inverse relationship between religiosity and depression. A review of 147 independent studies, including a combined total 98,975 participants, confirms the link.
To further explore the religiosity-depression relationship, a study published in The American Journal of Psychiatry observed 114 adults for 10 years. Compared to their less religious counterparts, participants initially categorised as highly religious had a 90 per cent lower risk of experiencing a major depressive episode over the 10-year period.
Google searches for 'prayer' rose during March to the highest level since records began to be kept
Similar links have been observed across cultures and religious traditions. These findings, however, give rise to an important question: why? What is it about spiritual or religious practice that appears to make some people more resilient? What are the protective mechanisms at play?
One idea is that religious people turn to faith for solace in times of stress to find meaning in adversity. Such coping typically helps people look at the bigger picture and reframe the situation to remain hopeful about the future.
Studies have looked at mental health in the aftermath of terror attacks such as the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing in the US that killed 168 people and natural disasters such as Hurricane Katrina in 2005 that claimed more than 1,200 lives. The findings of these studies speak of links between religious coping and better mental health outcomes.
Religious coping has also been found to be associated with improved psychological well-being among terminally ill cancer patients, as well as a host of other studies that examine religious coping in people who face a range of other daunting life stressors such as substance addiction, domestic abuse and divorce. Religious coping seems to be one way to navigate adverse life experiences successfully.
This year has been full of adverse experiences; Covid-19 has stressed many of us in different ways. Perhaps unsurprisingly, global levels of religious coping seem to be on the rise this year. Jeanet Benzen, an associate professor of economics at the University of Copenhagen, used Google search data from 95 countries to look at the frequency of religion-related searches.
The term "prayer", for example, showed a pronounced spike in March, around the time the world started locking down. In fact, Google searches for "prayer" rose that month to the highest level since records began, surpassing all other significant religious occasions, such as Christmas, Easter and Ramadan. Similar patterns were also observed for other faith-related search terms: God, Allah, Bible, Quran, internet church.
Whatever helps us get through tough times is welcome, provided there are no side effects. Psychologists, psychotherapists and mental health professionals in general are waking up to the therapeutic wisdom in the world's great religious traditions. We now have religiously integrated cognitive therapy and spiritually sensitive social work practices. There are also new psychotherapeutic approaches that have integrated meditation, a practice found in many religious traditions, as an essential component of the intervention. Examples include mindfulness-based cognitive therapy, acceptance and commitment therapy and dialectical behaviour therapy.
There are, however, negative or maladaptive forms of religious coping, too – styles of religious coping that can make psychological problems worse. Religious coping, of course, is not for everyone, nor should it stop people, if needed, from seeking help or solace from other sources.
Several practices promote psychological well-being – exercise and a spiritual discipline being just two, as personified by Sheikh Mohammed. And while psychological well-being may not be the primary goal of all such practices, it is a bonus.
Justin Thomas is a professor of psychology at Zayed University
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
Zayed Sustainability Prize
KEY HIGHLIGHTS
Healthcare spending to double to $2.2 trillion rupees
Launched a 641billion-rupee federal health scheme
Allotted 200 billion rupees for the recapitalisation of state-run banks
Around 1.75 trillion rupees allotted for privatisation and stake sales in state-owned assets
ABU%20DHABI'S%20KEY%20TOURISM%20GOALS%3A%20BY%20THE%20NUMBERS
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2.30pm: Maiden (TB) Dh 60,000 (D) 1,200m
3pm: Conditions (TB) Dh 100,000 (D) 1.950m
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4pm: Maiden (TB) Dh 60,000 (D) 1,600m
4.30pm: Handicap (TB) Dh 68,000 (D) 1,000m
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
How being social media savvy can improve your well being
Next time when procastinating online remember that you can save thousands on paying for a personal trainer and a gym membership simply by watching YouTube videos and keeping up with the latest health tips and trends.
As social media apps are becoming more and more consumed by health experts and nutritionists who are using it to awareness and encourage patients to engage in physical activity.
Elizabeth Watson, a personal trainer from Stay Fit gym in Abu Dhabi suggests that “individuals can use social media as a means of keeping fit, there are a lot of great exercises you can do and train from experts at home just by watching videos on YouTube”.
Norlyn Torrena, a clinical nutritionist from Burjeel Hospital advises her clients to be more technologically active “most of my clients are so engaged with their phones that I advise them to download applications that offer health related services”.
Torrena said that “most people believe that dieting and keeping fit is boring”.
However, by using social media apps keeping fit means that people are “modern and are kept up to date with the latest heath tips and trends”.
“It can be a guide to a healthy lifestyle and exercise if used in the correct way, so I really encourage my clients to download health applications” said Mrs Torrena.
People can also connect with each other and exchange “tips and notes, it’s extremely healthy and fun”.
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MATCH INFO
Bayern Munich 2 Borussia Monchengladbach 1
Bayern: Zirkzee (26'), Goretzka (86')
Gladbach: Pavard (37' og)
Man of the Match: Breel Embolo (Borussia Monchengladbach)
Dust and sand storms compared
Sand storm
- Particle size: Larger, heavier sand grains
- Visibility: Often dramatic with thick "walls" of sand
- Duration: Short-lived, typically localised
- Travel distance: Limited
- Source: Open desert areas with strong winds
Dust storm
- Particle size: Much finer, lightweight particles
- Visibility: Hazy skies but less intense
- Duration: Can linger for days
- Travel distance: Long-range, up to thousands of kilometres
- Source: Can be carried from distant regions
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This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.
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Zayed Sustainability Prize
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
'Young girls thinking of big ideas'
Words come easy for aspiring writer Afra Al Muhairb. The business side of books, on the other hand, is entirely foreign to the 16-year-old Emirati. So, she followed her father’s advice and enroled in the Abu Dhabi Education Council’s summer entrepreneurship course at Abu Dhabi University hoping to pick up a few new skills.
“Most of us have this dream of opening a business,” said Afra, referring to her peers are “young girls thinking of big ideas.”
In the three-week class, pupils are challenged to come up with a business and develop an operational and marketing plan to support their idea. But, the learning goes far beyond sales and branding, said teacher Sonia Elhaj.
“It’s not only about starting up a business, it’s all the meta skills that goes with it -- building self confidence, communication,” said Ms Elhaj. “It’s a way to coach them and to harness ideas and to allow them to be creative. They are really hungry to do this and be heard. They are so happy to be actually doing something, to be engaged in creating something new, not only sitting and listening and getting new information and new knowledge. Now they are applying that knowledge.”
Afra’s team decided to focus their business idea on a restaurant modelled after the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Each level would have a different international cuisine and all the meat would be halal. The pupils thought of this after discussing a common problem they face when travelling abroad.
“Sometimes we find the struggle of finding halal food, so we just eat fish and cheese, so it’s hard for us to spend 20 days with fish and cheese,” said Afra. “So we made this tower so every person who comes – from Africa, from America – they will find the right food to eat.”
rpennington@thenational.ae
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
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The specs
- Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
- Power: 640hp
- Torque: 760nm
- On sale: 2026
- Price: Not announced yet
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UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
