Psychological benefits of fasting

Psychological benefits of fasting
Fasting is one of the religious pillars of Islam. Every year during the holy month of Ramadan, millions of Muslims around the world participate in this divine feast. In Islamic fasting, great importance is given to various aspects of health, especially mental health, self-cultivation, and self-improvement, so this research was conducted in order to investigate the effect of fasting on the state of mental health in Muslims.
A fasting person sees himself in a world that has an accurate record of himself and is governed by a force that does not have perishability or nothingness. Psychologists believe that fasting is beneficial for mental health and increases self-confidence, self-confidence and willpower, and increases people's strength and resistance against life's problems and adversities. It may be difficult to say no in many situations in life, but if we get used to agreeing to our own or others' wishes, a day will come when we will no longer be able to say no to our own mental disturbances and the worrying demands of friends and family. But in the blessed days of Ramadan, we practice to postpone our wishes to our special time with reason and logic.
According to psychologists and other mental health experts, fasting as one of the religious rituals, besides the positive effects it has on physical health, is also beneficial for mental health. They believe that as a result of fasting, trust and peace of mind arise for a person, because a person realizes that by fasting he has a relationship with the God of the world and his creator, and in this way he can achieve peace and pleasant satisfaction. The researches that have been conducted on the relationship between mental health and fasting in Iran show a decrease in psycho-social disorders, anxiety, depression and suicide in this month. In a study carried out in Iran, by the researchers of the Ministry of Health in 2004, with the aim of studying the effect of fasting on the mental health of students, the effect of fasting on mental health and reducing the level of depression of fasting people was investigated. The findings of this research showed that the average depression scores of the fasting samples, after the holy month of Ramadan, had a statistically significant decrease, and thus the results of this research confirmed the positive effects of fasting on increasing mental health and also reducing the level of depression of fasting people. The rate of mental disorders before fasting was 17.5%, which decreased to 12% after fasting, and the Chi-Square test shows a significant difference. Also, fasting reduces the symptoms of anxiety and depression and improves people's social performance
The findings of this research show that performing religious acts such as prayer, fasting and other Islamic acts of worship at repeated intervals, all of them by directing people towards God, creates a kind of mental and spiritual peace in humans, which can be used in self-improvement and The methods of coping with stress and as a result reducing mental disorders are effective.

Translator: F.eb