Saying a few prayers could be good for you according to Harvard study

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It turns out saying a few prayers could be good for you.

A new Harvard-based study has found people who attend religious services tend to live longer, smoke and drink less, have better mental health, fewer symptoms of depression and engage in more physical activity.

Researchers say the "community element" of being part of a religious or spiritual group is strongly linked with better health.

Psychiatrist Dr. Brendan Kelly says the link between religion and happiness is nothing new:

"At moments of crisis they pray to a God that at other times they claim does not exist. It's like someone once said to me: 'I don't believe in God but I still wouldn't like to make him angry'.

So we do reach for these things and we've done research about happiness and well-being in Ireland and religious belief consistently shows up as one of the predictors of happiness."