[tptacek]

This makes sense, but none of it supports an argument that religious observance is a reasonable alternative to acute mental health care. Religious people are healthier than non-religious people, but when their appendices burst, they still need a doctor, not a deacon.

[rayiner]

I didn’t say it was an alternative to acute mental health care. But like physical health, mental health has a large component that’s just about supporting people in their daily lives. My parents are aging secular humanists. They’re now dealing with friends and siblings dying off. They’re handling it normally, and they don’t need acute medical intervention. But they’d probably be happier if they had set foot in a mosque every once in awhile and had a faith community to lean on through these completely normal live events that happen to everyone.