Religious or spiritual activities can also protect your mental and physical health as you age

RELIGIOUS OR SPIRITUAL ACTIVITY

A large volume of research shows that religion and spirituality in general are beneficial to mental health. These mental health benefits positively impact physical health and decrease the risk of disease by improving immune function and lowering the stress response.

When becoming ill, many use their religious beliefs to cope with illness, which is important since poor coping skills can lengthen hospital stays and increase patient mortality. Accordingly, some evidence suggests that religious people tend to have better recovery when ill or having undergone surgery.

Attending religious services is associated with long life and better brain health, as well as increased resilience against depression – even for high-risk people.

No matter what activity you choose, all of them have three behavioural principles in common that we have written about before, known as Act-Belong-Commit.

Getting active, getting social, and getting involved can help you maintain good mental and physical health in general and as you age.

Ziggi Ivan Santini is a Postdoctoral Associate at the University of Southern Denmark; Paul E. Jose is a Professor of Psychology, Te Herenga Waka - Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand; and Vibeke Jenny Koushede is Head of the Department of Psychology, University of Copenhagen. This article first appeared on The Conversation.