When Caring Becomes Suffering: Spirituality and Religiosity as Psychosocial Support for Cancer Caregivers—A Narrative Review

Cancer caregiving is increasingly recognized as a major psychosocial challenge, yet the mental health needs of caregivers remain insufficiently addressed in oncology research and practice. This narrative review examines the experiences of cancer caregivers within the context of rising cancer incidence and prolonged survival, conditions frequently accompanied by sustained psychological burden and anticipatory grief, with particular attention to depressive symptoms. Relevant qualitative and quantitative studies were identified through targeted searches of major databases (PubMed, Scopus, PsycINFO, and Google Scholar), including studies published up to January 2026. Study selection was guided by conceptual relevance and applied significance to the intersection between religiosity, spirituality, caregiving, and mental health outcomes. The reviewed literature highlights substantial psychological burden among caregivers, with depression affecting approximately 20-40% of cancer caregivers and identifies religiosity and spirituality as potentially supportive resources. Across studies, recurrent themes include meaning-making, hope maintenance, emotional regulation, moral orientation, and perceived social support as mechanisms through which these dimensions are associated with lower levels of depression and improved psychological adjustment. Evidence suggests that both religiosity, understood as the lived engagement with religious values, and spirituality, defined as a broader existential orientation toward meaning and purpose, contribute to coping in caregiving contexts; however, findings remain heterogeneous and largely based on cross-sectional analyses. Notable gaps persist, including limited caregiver-specific research, conceptual imprecision, and a lack of longitudinal designs. By integrating conceptual clarification with empirical synthesis, this review outlines potential psychological pathways linking religiosity and spirituality to caregiver mental health outcomes. In summary, religiosity and spirituality are considered adjunctive, non-exclusive resources that complement conventional psychological and psychiatric care within comprehensive models of caregiver support.