Hi and welcome to my blog! This semester I selected the Inquiry project, and the question I will be exploring is, what are the positive effects that Christianity can have on teen mental heath?
This question has been stuck in my brain for a few months now, being a teenager can be tough and a lot of the time mentally exhausting. There’s school pressure, social stress, and sometimes, just figuring out who you are. Many teens face anxiety, loneliness, and even depression. But for some people, Christianity can help with these challenges. Christianity and faith in general, provides support for mental health in multiple ways.
This question really grabbed my interest once I realized that all these feelings are extremely common and almost everyone experiences them, but not always with the extra help.
Teens often struggle with feelings of guilt or not being good enough, that can be in school, sports, or even at home. For a lot of people, religion can be a safety blanket from those thoughts. Christianity teaches that everyone makes mistakes, but you can always be forgiven. Instead of focusing on the mistakes, you learn to move past them and use them as lessons.
I’m eager to explore this question further and go into more detail in the future. Thanks for reading my first blog post!
Hi Rylie,
Your blog is off to a great start! I loved reading your blog and as a christian who often struggles to balance sports, my faith, school and so much more i would like to know more as well. I love how you are delving into the meaningful relationship between faith and mental health. As you go deeper, consider Philippians 4:6-7, which urges us not to be anxious but to find peace in God’s presence—this scripture may be useful in demonstrating how faith can give comfort and strength.
i look foward reading your future blog post!
– Dara C
Hello Rylie,
Your blog post is very intriguing, and refreshing to see! In the current scope of the world, there are a lot more atheists and a lot of people who try to bring up their own religion by invalidating other religions. People are beginning to forget the positive benefits of religion, how it gives us strength when there seems to have no hope. Although I am an atheist, but I do truly respect all of the religions of the world, and how it can bring people up from their worst. Moreover, as teenagers we often struggle with the weight of the world, and the uncertainty of the future, where religion can help people find meaning in life, and to go on and do better things for themselves and the world. Keep up the great work!
Here are some links that you might find helpful in your future researches:
https://www.nami.org/faith-community-leader/the-mental-health-benefits-of-religion-spirituality/
https://www.psychiatrictimes.com/view/religion-spirituality-and-mental-health
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8462234/
Hey Rylie,
Great start to the project. It’s always nice to present a solution for many searching for stuff that grounds people in their lives, and with religion being a great way for people to express this. I personally am a former muslim but I still believe that the lessons that religions teach are very important to help people grow so it would be great to show off more solutions for the people. Going along with this, for someone who may not be religious in any way or may be an atheist, it would be great for them as a reader to see deeper connections with them and the good book’s texts in a way thats not intrusive but relatable. It’s just something good to keep in mind that not everyone will understand initially so meeting on their level is an awesome way to reel the in. As always keep the good work up and I really respect what you’re doing, so keep going.
-Alex F