COVID-19 Epidemic and Spirituality: A Review of the Benefits of Religion in Times of Crisis

Abstract

Context: The current world crisis, COVID-19 disease, is different from any other world’s previous crises since it has killed thousands of people all around the world and made the medical science desperate. During the COVID-19 outbreak, spirituality can be one of the proper methods to create mental relaxation. Evidence Acquisition: The present study is a review of the literature from 1978 to 2019. The search was done in electronic databases and reputable websites including PubMed, Medline, Springer, Elsevier, Science Direct, Scopus, and SID for both English and non-English language articles using the following keywords: “spirituality”, “prayer”, “and “some religious advice were assessed in times of crisis”. A total of 11 articles were selected for review. Results: The results indicated that spirituality could aid people to have mental relaxation in times of crisis and dangerous diseases. Some of the religious solutions proposed against the COVID-19 prevalence could be helpful. Conclusions: Since a long time ago, religions have attempted to provide behavioral pieces of advice in times of crisis to help humankind spiritually. In the present study, some of these pieces of advice are mentioned. It has been suggested that medical staff in hospitals pay more attention to the spiritual and religious beliefs of COVID-19-infected patients to improve their calmness and well-being.