The Relationship Between Spiritual Practices, Mental Health, and Psychosocial Functioning: Narrative Review

Abstract Throughout history, behaviors now recognized as symptoms of mental disorders were often interpreted through spiritual or supernatural frameworks. In recent decades, there has been a growing interest in spiritual practices outside conventional religious institutions. This review examines the evolving connection between spirituality and mental health in contemporary contexts. To analyze recent scientific literature on the relationships among religiosity, spirituality, spiritual practices, and indicators of mental health and psychosocial functioning. A structured narrative review was conducted to synthesize recent research on the relationship between religiosity, spirituality, and mental health. PubMed and the Cochrane Library were searched for peer-reviewed articles published between 2005 and 2025 using combinations of the terms “spirituality/religion” and “mental health,” “depression,” “anxiety,” “suicide,” “obsessive–compulsive symptoms,” and “psychosis.” Studies in English were included, while duplicates, non–open-access papers and reviews were excluded. From 2126 records identified, 110 studies met the inclusion criteria and were analyzed narratively to identify thematic patterns and methodological trends. Findings from the reviewed literature indicate that spirituality and mental health are multidimensionally related. Higher spirituality and adaptive religious engagement are generally linked with lower depressive and anxiety symptom severity, while negative religious coping and guilt are associated with increased distress. The impact of religiosity on obsessive–compulsive, psychotic, and suicidal phenomena appears culturally and contextually dependent. Overall, spirituality and religion can function as both protective and risk factors for mental health. Growing trends toward individualized, non-institutional spirituality reflect broader socio-cultural transformations and conceptual ambiguities within this research area. Future work should clarify definitions, apply standardized measures, and adopt culturally sensitive approaches to better understand how spiritual engagement interacts with psychological well-being.