Spiritual health is a concept proposed and developed due to psychologists’ widespread attention and interest. Spiritual health is a set of adaptations between mental capacities based on immaterial and transcendent aspects, especially those that depend on personal existence, personal meaning, transcendence, and extended states of spirituality (1, 2). Spiritual health refers to a set of abilities, capacities, and spiritual resources whose use increases the adaptability and, consequently, the mental health of persons (3). This concept has recently led the World Health Organization (WHO) to define humans as having physical, psychosocial, and spiritual characteristics (4). The researchers stress that increasing the meaning and spirituality of life helps overcome inconsistencies and increases life satisfaction (5). Spirituality is often considered a constructive coping strategy in improving individuals’ mental health, and psychologists and experts have emphasized its importance in the past few decades. In defining human existence, the dimension of spirituality, which is in the direction of human growth and development, has also been mentioned as the fourth dimension by WHO. Spiritual health is one of the basic concepts regarding how to deal with the problems and stress caused by the disease, and as one of the dimensions of health, it leads to the integration of other dimensions. One of the ways that spirituality can promote people’s health is by improving people’s self-efficacy. If people are spiritually healthy, their self-efficacy scores would be higher. In terms of behavioral science, self-efficacy is the most critical condition to perform the behavior in stressful stages and situations of life (6). One way to promote mental health and quality of life is to look at spiritual health. Spiritual health is one of the crucial dimensions of human health that coordinates and integrates the relationship between internal forces and is defined by characteristics such as stability of life, peace, symmetry and harmony, emotions, and having a close relationship with God (7, 8). Spiritual health harmonizes the dimensions of a person’s health, which enhances their adaptability and mental function. This dimension of health is made up of two dimensions of spiritual health and existential health. Spiritual health reflects a relationship with God or infinite power, and existential health reflects a person’s relationship with himself/herself, others, and the environment, which can be seen as the ability to integrate different dimensions of existence and to have different choices (9). Depression and anxiety are among the factors that harm patients’ performance status, quality of life, length of hospital stay, and even the outcome of treatment, and the evaluation and treatment of these two disorders are crucial in these patients. The results have shown that the frequency of anxiety and depression is relatively high in cancer patients, and specialists must pay close attention to the diagnosis and treatment of these comorbid disorders (10). Depression and death anxiety are common problems in cancer patients and can affect the mental health of these patients.
On the other hand, spiritual health is a factor affecting other aspects of health, which researchers have recently considered. The findings showed that when spiritual health increases, death anxiety decreases in cancer patients. It appears that a comprehensive care program that includes spiritual health is effective in reducing the mental problems among these patients (11). Hospitalization continues to cause significant stress and anxiety among the patient’s relatives. Having faith in God is one of the most critical factors in calming people and preventing mental illness. Trusting in God reduces the worries of severe illnesses and leads to patience in suffering, accepting the divine will, accepting long-term complications and disabilities, and avoiding the factors that cause and aggravate mental disorders and other consequences. Religious beliefs and seeking God’s help may reduce depression and anxiety in patients’ families. Strengthening beliefs can effectively reduce the symptoms and consequences of depression such as suicide, addiction, delinquency, personality disorders, and sexual health (12). Death anxiety has a significant negative relationship with secure attachment to God. With increasing secure attachment to God, the level of anxiety about death decreases, and conversely, there is a significant positive relationship between avoidant-ambivalent attachment to God and anxiety of death. Thus, it can be argued that secure attachment to God is effective in controlling psychological problems such as death anxiety and related illnesses (13).
This study compares the relationship between spiritual health and the levels of anxiety and depression in cancer patients. If the positive effect of spiritual health on anxiety and depression in cancer patients is determined, it is possible to reduce the anxiety and depression of these patients by increasing their spiritual health of these patients, and in this way, we can take a practical step in the treatment of these patients.