Is HIV A Spiritual Disease

Unlike most previous research, the study attempted to separate spirituality/religiousness as a variable from associated psychological components such as social support and optimism by controlling for a variety of these and similar variables, such as church attendance. 1 It is because of this element of the study that the findings are so intriguing and relevant.

When controlling for health behaviors (adherence, risky sex, use of alcohol, and use of cocaine), emotion (optimism, despair, or hopelessness), coping (avoidant, proactive), and social support, religiousness/spirituality remained a significant predictor of CD4 and VL over 4 years.

1 As a result, the authors conclude that none of the above variables could explain for the link between religiousness/spirituality and slower illness progression. 1

However, the authors recognize that one weakness of their study is that the measure of religiousness/spirituality was a single item with five possibilities, which is unlikely to effectively capture the concept's complexity.

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Some spirituality definitions are so broad that the interesting variable may be what it says about you if you refuse to associate with the term. ‘The spiritual dimension aspires to be in harmony with the cosmos, and strives for answers concerning the infinite, and comes into focus when the person encounters emotional hardship, physical illness, or death,' Murray and Zentner3 write.

Studying persons who reject the more generic description of'spiritual' (as opposed to religious) in terms of understanding what this indicates about them is likely to be the next step forward in the area. For example, a recent review4 of religious/spiritual coping in relation to cancer found that while the American studies tended to produce more significant findings (both negative and positive), none of the four European studies found religious coping to be significant, and one found it to be counterproductive.

This review4 also highlighted the enormous differences in general population attitudes toward religion between Europe and the United States, citing surveys that revealed that 83 percent of Americans believe God is important in their lives, compared to 49 percent of Europeans. In the United States, 47 percent of people regularly attend a place of worship, compared to only 12 percent in the United Kingdom.

How does HIV affect you spiritually?

People living with HIV (PLWH) place a high value on spirituality and religion. Spirituality is defined as the internal, personal, and emotional manifestation of the sacred, and it is frequently measured in terms of spiritual well-being, peace/comfort gained via faith, and spiritual coping. Religion has been characterized as the formal, institutional, and outward representation of the sacred, and its importance has been assessed by religious importance, believing in God, religious attendance, and prayer/meditation. There is a growing corpus of research on the links between spirituality/religion and PLWH outcomes. Spirituality/religion was observed to rise after HIV diagnosis and predict slower disease progression (reduction in CD4 counts or viral load) in a seminal longitudinal research. Spirituality/religion has also been linked to less psychological suffering, less discomfort, increased energy and will to live, enhanced cognitive and social functioning, and a sense that life has improved since HIV diagnosis. Spirituality/religion, on the other hand, can worsen results due to a possible reliance on God and rejection of antiretroviral therapy, as well as views of HIV as a punishment from God for living a wicked lifestyle. Higher levels of sadness, loneliness, and poorer medical adherence have been linked to HIV-related stigma beliefs and spiritual struggle (anger, alienation from God) among PLWH.

Medicine and other health disciplines have struggled to come up with effective spirituality/religion-based therapies for PLWH. Patients and physicians aren't always on board with such interventions. To identify HIV-infected groups who would benefit from and embrace these treatments, more research is needed. Because it is uncertain how spirituality/religion affects biopsychosocial outcomes in HIV, the nature of therapies is also unknown.

The goal of this research is to assess the current state of knowledge in HIV spirituality and religion. First, we'll define and clarify concepts and definitions connected to spirituality and religion. The review will then look at: 1) the meaning and impact of spirituality/religion in specific HIV populations and sociocultural contexts; 2) psychosocial mechanisms through which spirituality/religion affects PLWH outcomes; 3) spirituality/religion measurement in PLWH; and, 4) the development of spiritual and community interventions to meet the needs of PLWH.

What is the correlation between religion and HIV?

Attendance or participation in religious services (n = 17), the importance of religion in participants' lives (n = 8), how religious they considered themselves to be (n = 6), the influence of religion on their behavior (n = 6), and the role of religion in their upbringing (n = 2) were all used to determine religiosity. Other factors were explored in many studies (n = 15), and 17 included more than one measure of religiosity. Five of the measures were based on those employed by other researchers.

Condom use (n = 13), sexual initiation (n = 10), having many or extra partners (n = 8), a general sexual risk indicator (n = 4), or another indicator (n = 13) were all evaluated in these research. Thirteen of the studies contained several indicators.

The majority of the studies in this group (n = 31) reported findings relating to religiosity, while 10 additionally showed variations based on religious affiliation. In 22 research, religion was found to be related with reduced levels of sexual HIV risk, three studies found it to be associated with greater risk, one study showed it to be associated with both increased and decreased risk, and five studies found it to be not significant. Religious affiliation had a mixed effect on sexual risk, with Catholics (n = 2), non-Catholics (n = 2), Christians or Orthodox Christians (n = 2), Muslims (n = 1), and non-Muslims (n = 1) all reporting lower levels of sexual risk. In one study, switching Christian religions was linked to increased risk, while in another, having a ‘traditional' Jewish family background was linked to both risk and protection when compared to a secular upbringing (see Table 3).

Differences Across Study Categories

There were differences between the three religious conceptualizations tested (affiliation only, religiosity only, both affiliation and religiosity). The research region mostly determined whether religious affiliation or religiosity was taken into account. Studies conducted outside the United States looked at disparities in sexual HIV risk outcomes based on religious affiliation, with nearly three-quarters of African studies focusing solely on religious affiliation, compared to less than 5% of studies in the United States. Alternatively, a substantial number of studies (n = 48), the most of which were done in the United States, looked at religiosity without specifying the religious affiliation of the participants.

Findings varied according to research region, participant age group, and the risk outcome addressed in all 80 studies that looked at religion (n = 80). Around two-thirds of research in Africa (n = 18) and the Americas (n = 46), as well as all studies in the Western Pacific (n = 7) and the Middle East (n = 2), revealed that increased religiosity was exclusively related with lower sexual risk. Only one of the five European studies that looked at religion revealed a link between increased religiosity and lower risk.

When compared to research with mixed or adult only samples, studies with youth were more likely to measure religiosity solely and to be conducted in the United States. Furthermore, studies tended to employ different sexual risk outcomes depending on the age of the participants. When compared to mixed age or adult only samples (14.3 percent, 12 out of 84, p=0.01), sexual initiation was more likely to be included as a measure of sexual risk among adolescent and young adult samples (32.1 percent, 17 out of 53 studies).

Over half of the research with condom use as an endpoint found religiosity to be related with reduced levels of sexual risk (57.6%, or 19 out of 33), whereas 71.1 percent of studies without condom use found religiosity to be protective (32 out of 45). This change was not statistically significant (p =.154). Condom usage was assessed as an outcome in the majority of research that found religiosity to be related only with greater sexual risk (77.8%, or 7 out of 9), with six of these studies finding a connection between religiosity and reduced condom use, or thoughts that condoms are useless.

Mechanisms of Sexual HIV Risk

The processes that link religiosity or religious affiliation to sexual risk were described in half of the research (n = 68). Mechanisms were just briefly outlined, with little theoretical backing. Religion and religiosity were frequently stated as impacting sexual HIV risk via behavior norms or belief systems connected to sexuality and risk (see Table 4). Behavioral norms were found to influence sexual risk in 35 research. For example, research have linked reduced rates of sexual risk to a focus on premarital virginity or abstinence, alcohol limits, monogamous standards, or a lack of tolerance for sexual freedom. A few studies that did not find a protective effect of religion on risk identified behavioral norms as explaining associations, such as attributing no association between religion and risk to the promotion of condom use at similar levels across affiliations and citing deterioration in sexual sanctions due to the influx of Christianity (in rural Thailand).

What is spirituality vs religion?

Religion is a collection of organized ideas and behaviors that are usually shared by a community or group of people.

Spirituality: This is a more personal discipline that involves feeling at ease and having a sense of purpose. It also refers to the process of forming views about the meaning of life and one's connection to others in the absence of any predetermined spiritual principles.

Imagine a football game as a metaphor for the link between spirituality and religion. The rules, officials, other players, and field markings all serve as guides as you play the game, much like religion can help you uncover your spirituality.

Kicking a ball around a park, without needing to play on a field or follow all of the rules and regulations, can still provide fulfillment and fun while expressing the core of the game, comparable to spirituality in life.

You can identify as religious or spiritual in any combination, but being religious does not inherently make you spiritual, and vice versa.

What the Bible says about spirituality?

Biblical spirituality entails being born of God (John 1:12–13; John 3:5–8; 1 John 4:7), being transformed by the grace of Jesus Christ (Rom 12:1–2), surrendered and obedient to the Spirit, living according to the Spirit (Rom 8:4–11), and being empowered by the Spirit to draw others to find life in the Spirit.

Who is a spiritual person?

Being spiritual entails prioritizing self- and other-love as a top priority. Spiritual individuals are concerned about people, animals, and the environment. A spiritual person recognizes that we are all One and makes conscious efforts to honor that unity. A spiritual person is kind.

What is the best religion in the world?

Around 85 percent of the world's population claims to be religious. Christianity is the most widely practiced religion, with an estimated 2.38 billion followers worldwide. The second most popular religion is Islam, which is followed by more than 1.91 billion people. According to population experts, Islam will have nearly caught up to Christianity by 2050.

Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, and two umbrella groups are among the other religions measured and projected. The first is “folk religions,” which includes traditional African religions, Chinese folk religions, and aboriginal faiths from both North America and Australia. The second category is “other religions,” which includes lesser religions including Shintoism, Taoism, Sikhism, and Jainism.

Finally, a large number of people—nearly 1.2 billion people worldwide—are either nonreligious or hold Atheist ideas.

Which religion is the oldest?

While Hinduism has been termed the world's oldest religion, many adherents refer to it as Santana Dharma (Sanskrit:, lit. “the Eternal Dharma,” which relates to the concept that its origins lie beyond human history, as revealed in Hindu writings.