Effect of Ramadan fasting on self-esteem and mental health of students

Some reports declare that Ramadan fasting has positive effects on mental health. This study was carried out to clarify Ramadan fasting effects on self-esteem and mental health of students. This descriptive-comparative study was accomplished on 60 apparently healthy medical students of School of Medicine of Azad University, Mashhad Branch (38 female and 22 male) who had decided to have fasting in Ramadan in 2007. The samples fulfilled the demographic and Cooper-Smith self-esteem and Symptom Checklist -90 -Revised (SCL-90-R) questionnaires at the beginning of Ramadan month and after at least 21 days of fasting. Data were analyzed by using Wilcoxon and paired t test in SPSS version 17. In comparison with the beginning of Ramadan, students’ self-esteem increased after 21 days of fasting (P=0.001). Also some dimensions of SCL-90-R significantly diminished: depression (P=0.001), psychoticism (P=0.007), anxiety (P=0.001), obsession (P=0.001), interpersonal sensitivity (P=0.001), phobia (P=0.022), hostility (P=0.001), paranoid ideation (P=0.001) and global severity index (P=0.001). Ramadan fasting improves self-esteem and mental health of students.