Do Patients with Chronic Pain Diseases Believe in Guardian Angels: Even in a Secular Society? A Cross-Sectional Study Among German Patients with Chronic Diseases

We intended to analyze whether patients with chronic diseases believe in guardian angels (GdA) as a coping resource. In a cross-sectional survey, we analyzed data from 576 German patients with chronic diseases (mean age 51.3 ± 15.4 years). We found that 56 % of the patients often or even regularly b...

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Bibliographic Details
Authors: Büssing, Arndt 1962- (Author) ; Reiser, Franz 1969- (Author) ; Michalsen, Andreas 1961- (Author) ; Zahn, Anne Katharina 1978- (Author) ; Baumann, Klaus 1963- (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Springer Science + Business Media B. V. [2015]
In: Journal of religion and health
Year: 2015, Volume: 54, Issue: 1, Pages: 76-86
Further subjects:B Spirituality
B Chronic diseases
B Coping
B Guardian Angel
B Hope
Online Access: Volltext (Verlag)
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Description
Summary:We intended to analyze whether patients with chronic diseases believe in guardian angels (GdA) as a coping resource. In a cross-sectional survey, we analyzed data from 576 German patients with chronic diseases (mean age 51.3 ± 15.4 years). We found that 56 % of the patients often or even regularly believed in GdA, with significantly more women than men believing. Particularly interesting was the fact that 38 % of patients who were identified as neither religious nor spiritual (R-S-) believed in GdAs. This belief may indicate that patients are interested in bridging the gap between the concrete struggle to manage illness and non-rational/transcendent realms.
ISSN:1573-6571
Contains:Enthalten in: Journal of religion and health
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1007/s10943-013-9735-9