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Writer's pictureFibro Diva

Pacing Strategies: Religion and Spirituality pt 4


By Sabrina Dudley-Johnson

June 28, 2017





Conclusion

The potential effect of positive religious and/or spiritual coping techniques knows no denominational boundaries. It appears that spirituality and religion offer the coping technique of diversion to the person with Fibromyalgia. As a diversional coping mechanism, spirituality and religion provide the opportunity to think about something other than the pain and other symptoms.


Research is illustrating the importance of hope, religion, and spirituality. As Dedeli and Kaptan stated,


“there is a positive relationship between spirituality and well-being, life satisfaction and the quality of life.” [i]


Many researchers point out that spiritual or religious coping strategies that allow for retaining a high level of self-efficacy give people with Fibromyalgia the foundation to believe that they can survive and take back control of their pain management. Spiritual and religious coping techniques that allow for high self-efficacy are valuable tools a person with Fibromyalgia can have in their personal Fibromyalgia management tool kit. [ii]


There is an advocacy niche for the very religious person who wants to spread awareness of Fibromyalgia. That niche is religious people with Fibromyalgia. Look to local houses of worship within your religious denomination. Many denominations have health ministries. Many houses of worship host health fairs. This author believes that the two issues should remain separate. As I stated earlier, if I’m attending a Fibromyalgia or chronic pain event, I want to learn about Fibromyalgia or chronic pain conditions. I don’t want to feel pressured to discuss my religious beliefs, or accept those of the event host or any other attendee. One well known Fibromyalgia researcher and treating physician advises, “Many people with Fibromyalgia respond well to speaking the language of religion, many others do not.” A religious Fibromyalgia coach says, “My support group members know that I am Christian and I have a separate group for them outside our main group.” So, for the very religious person who wants to spread Fibromyalgia patient education and public awareness, a possible compromise might be to host Fibro events with a break out session on Religion and Spirituality as coping strategies. If an event host or support group leaders want to pray before or after their event, they could publicize this fact along with marketing materials and provide potential attendees with the informed decision opportunity to arrive after the prayer session or leave early before the prayer begins … depending on when the prayer session is held.




Footnotes [i] Dedeli, Ozden, and Gulten Kaptan. “Spirituality and Religion in Pain and Pain Management.” Health psychology research vol. 1,3 e29. 23 Sep. 2013, doi:10.4081/hpr.2013.e29 [ii] Hengameh Boloorsaz Mashhadi, Maryam Aghaei, Mohyedin Mohammadkhani, Abed Mahdavi. “Examining the Effect of Teaching Islamic-based Coping Strategies on Indicators of Chronic Pain and Quality of Life among Women with Fibromyalgia”. Journal of Research on Religion and Health (2017) 3:4 http://journals.sbmu.ac.ir/en-jrrh/article/view/18910/0

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