A new study suggests that fewer people going to church—especially among white, middle-aged Americans without college degrees—may be connected to the rise in “deaths of despair” across the United States.
These deaths include drug overdoses, suicides, and liver disease caused by alcohol.
The study found that states where church attendance dropped the most between 1985 and 2000 also saw bigger increases in these types of deaths. Researchers say this pattern started before the opioid crisis, which is often blamed for the rise in deaths of despair.
Tamar Oostrom, one of the authors and an assistant professor at The Ohio State University, said that people were already dying more often from despair-related causes before drugs like OxyContin became widely available in the late 1990s.
The study was conducted with Tyler Giles from Wellesley College and Daniel Hungerman from the University of Notre Dame. Their findings were recently published in the Journal of the European Economic Association.
To do the study, the researchers looked at data from national surveys about religious habits and government records on causes of death. They found that the drop in churchgoing was mostly happening among white, middle-aged adults without college degrees—the same group that saw rising death rates.
This trend was seen across both men and women, and in both city and rural areas.
To better understand the link, the researchers also studied the repeal of “blue laws”—laws that used to keep businesses closed on Sundays. These laws made Sunday a day when people were more likely to go to church. When these laws were removed, more people started working or shopping on Sundays instead of attending religious services.
The biggest changes to these laws happened in 1985, when Minnesota, South Carolina, and Texas repealed their blue laws. Afterward, those states saw a drop of 5 to 10 percentage points in weekly church attendance—and later, a rise in deaths of despair.
According to Oostrom, deaths of despair had been going down from the late 1970s until the early 1990s. But around the time church attendance began to fall, the decline in deaths also stopped. After 1996, when powerful opioids became more common, the number of deaths started rising quickly.
So, while opioids made things worse, the deeper issue may have started earlier with the loss of religious community.
Why does going to church matter? Oostrom says it’s not just about being social. While going to church does provide friendships and support, it also gives people a sense of meaning, purpose, and identity—things that are hard to find in other places. Interestingly, the study found that belief in God didn’t decline during this time—just participation in religious life.
That difference matters. It’s not enough to believe; being part of a religious group and attending services regularly seems to make the real difference in terms of mental health and well-being.
Could other social groups replace what religion once offered? The authors are not optimistic. So far, no other kind of community group has shown the same benefits. And with more people turning to social media instead of real-life community, it’s even harder to imagine a replacement.
Oostrom says this lack of a substitute could have long-term effects on health and survival. As fewer people attend church or take part in organized groups that offer support and meaning, deaths of despair may continue to rise.
If you care about mental health, please read studies about Middle-aged women with no kids may have this mental issue and findings of scientists find a cause of mental illnesses induced by childhood abuse.
If you care about mental health, please read studies about Frequent painkiller use linked to mental health risks in these people and findings of Common depression drugs may offer new treatment for bipolar disorder.
Copyright © 2025 Knowridge Science Report. All rights reserved.
