Unknown userMember
Christian faith and mental illness
Hey @perseverer @Smc
I started a new discussion as I posted and got off topic in "Things not to say to a carer" thread.
As mentioned there, there is a lot of misunderstanding and misconception in the church in relation to mental health.
From what I understand there are a few strands of thought that have contributed to the attitudes that dominated in the past but still persist in some. These include but are not limited to:
- Sufferers of mental health and disorders such as epilepsy were thought to be overtaken by evil spirits when they had hallucinations, catatonia or suffered fits (hence the need for exorcism).
- The belief that mental illness is spiritual deficiency causing mental and emotional strain.
- The belief that if you are not healed following prayer, that you do not have adequate faith or have unrepented sin.
Fortunately as they did with epilepsy, the church is catching up with the science of mental health, and things are changing.
Faith has been linked to being a protective factor in mental health and in the christian faith reasons for this include but are not limited to:
- God gives strength to endure difficulties.
- God give hope and a reason for living.
- God gives strength to help us grow, demonstrated by putting aside anger, practicing self control, letting go of burdens etc. In some ways, a sermon on these topics are equivalent to therapy and are particularly helpful in those disorders where learned behaviours diminish symptoms.
- Excessive alcohol consumption is discouraged, some churches discourage drinking any alcohol at all.
- In some cases the listening ear of a pastoral care worker is enough "talk therapy" to get a patient through a depressive or anxious period.
Despite the history of misconceptions in mental health, the church has been prominent in support of those who are not well both physically and mentally - this is demonstrated by the support services and charities that churches run.
Hope this helps
Darcy
