RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN RELIGIOSITY, SPIRITUALITY AND STRESS MANAGEMENT

The feeling of stress is an unavoidable part of human existence and is occasioned by a broad variety of internal and external stressors. Stress often manifests as an innate adaptation to the difficult situations people encounter as they are obliged to address personal, social and work issues. There is considerable amount of research that has over the years been attending to the establishment of effective coping strategies that can be used to meet stress. A significant focus has been given to religion and spirituality due to the important role that they play regarding the mental and emotional resilience of people. Religion and spirituality can not only provide a structure of knowing how to view the events that happen in life, but also emotional support, meaning and community which can go to great length in helping to manage stress (Richard et al., 1984). Religion normally standardized beliefs and practices that a community or group could have and most of the time, religion focused on worship and morality. Spirituality is its concomitant, but it is more general and individual; it involves the search of the individual regarding his sense, meanings, his belonging to something higher than himself, whether connected with this or that religion or not. Despite being two different notions, they often overlap and form part of stress-management behavior of individuals (Koenig, 2012; Kenneth Pargament, 1997). A significant amount of evidence in the research literature indicates that religious and spiritual activities may alleviate stress because they promote good mood, constructive coping mechanisms, and socio-emotional aid. Such practices that have been proved to decrease psychological distress and give rise to increased health outcomes are religious community