How Spirituality and Faith Help Well-Being in Blood Cancer

When facing a cancer diagnosis, finding ways to maintain emotional and psychological well-being is essential. Recent medical research highlights that spiritual beliefs, personal faith practices, and social connections can play a meaningful role in helping patients navigate a cancer diagnosis.

In a collaborative research initiative between the HealthTree Foundation, George Washington University, and Divine Mercy University, researchers examined how spirituality, faith, and religious activities influence psychological growth and overall flourishing in people living with blood cancers like multiple myeloma.

Finding peace after trauma 

Facing a life-altering illness can be traumatic, yet many people experience what psychologists call Post-traumatic growth (PTG). During post-traumatic growth, positive psychological changes, personal growth, and deeper resilience emerge after navigating a major life challenge. Researchers also looked at flourishing, which measures overall life satisfaction, purpose, and emotional well-being.

How spiritual practices help personal growth

Researchers from the study Religiosity and Post-traumatic Growth in Blood Cancer

Patients considered different forms of religious involvement, including attending church services (organizational activity), participating in religious social groups, and engaging in private practices such as prayer, meditation, or reading scriptures (non-organizational activity).

Religion can be a personal activity or a community activity. However, the study showed that private religious activities were linked with the most positive change. The study found:

• While all forms of religious involvement correlated with positive growth, private religious activities (like personal prayer or meditation) were the strongest predictor of post-traumatic growth.

• Personal, quiet spiritual habits provided the most significant support in helping patients process their illness and find deeper meaning.

Religious beliefs can shape how people process emotions

Most religions share a belief system. These are ideas about how the world works, ethics and morals that guide good behavior and how to treat others,  and rituals that consist of regular actions that bring a community together.

Using psychological attachment theory, the study Attachment to God, Post-Traumatic Growth, and Flourishing in People Living with Multiple Myeloma categorized how participants view their relationship with God into different styles: secure, anxious, avoidant, or atheist.

• Secure attachment: Patients who felt a secure, trusting relationship with a religious figure reported the highest levels of flourishing (76.86) and post-traumatic growth (30.38).

• Avoidant attachment: Patients who felt distant or avoidant toward a religious figure reported significantly lower flourishing (51.80) and post-traumatic growth (15.71) than other groups.

• Atheist perspective: Participants who identified as atheists reported high levels of overall flourishing (74.58), showing strong emotional resilience similar to the secure group, though they reported lower post-traumatic growth scores (22.74).

People experienced emotional growth as their disease progressed

The research also compared psychological growth across different stages of cancer, from precursor conditions like MGUS (Monoclonal Gammopathy of Undetermined Significance) to newly diagnosed, relapsed, and maintenance stages of multiple myeloma.

• Patients with MGUS reported significantly lower post-traumatic growth compared to patients actively navigating multiple myeloma treatment.

• As patients live through different treatment stages, the challenges of living with cancer often fosters greater resilience and personal transformation over time.

Dr. Marmarosh, lead investigator of these studies shared expert insights to HealthTree News, when we asked why patients with MGUS reported significantly lower post-traumatic growth compared to patients actively navigating multiple myeloma treatment.

"It takes time to develop post-traumatic growth; it comes from managing symptoms/side-effects, tolerating uncertainty, grieving losses, maintaining hope, relying on loved ones during times of fear, finding meaning/purpose, developing gratitude, and having faith.....I think most people develop post-traumatic growth after living alongside illness or a traumatic experience, and it makes sense that people early in the cancer journey, diagnosed with MGUS, could have less post-traumatic growth than those living with cancer longer. They have had less time with cancer and the effects of cancer treatment. That is my hypothesis, but we need more research to see what factors promote post-traumatic growth in people, especially people from diverse backgrounds. It is an important question as more and more people are living longer with Myeloma."

Dr. Cheri Marmarosh

Supporting your inner and outer self 

These findings remind us that quality of life involves feeling at peace with our inner selves as well as with our physical body. Addressing spiritual and emotional distress alongside physical symptoms can enhance meaning-making, resilience, and overall quality of life during treatment.

If spirituality or faith is a meaningful part of your life, consider discussing these aspects with your care team or an oncology social worker. Healthcare providers can also help connect you with resources that support your personal belief system and emotional health.