|
By Peter Andres
Are people of faith with a mental illness different from those who have a physical illness? Much about mental illness still remains a mystery. That's one of the reasons people are tempted to spiritualize the problem. They hope that the person with mental illness would be able to gain spiritual strength and thus gain victory over the illness.
What remains hard for many to understand is that having a mental illness and being a strong person of faith is no different than having a serious physical illness and being a strong person of faith.
How can church leaders encourage support of people with a mental illness? What does a person with a mental illness need to help him or her feel accepted and part of the congregation? How does the Christian message and experience take on meaning under these circumstances? What exactly is mental illness, anyway?
Marja Bergen, in her book Riding the Roller Coaster (Northstone, 1999), describes her experiences living with bipolar disorder. She talks about the many important factors that helped make her life with this illness tolerable and manageable. Having a supportive husband, friends, and service systems were critical, but she also acknowledges the importance of a spiritual home.
Her church friends learned to understand her illness and provided spiritual nurture, especially during difficult times. She speaks about friendships which include a common belief as being the most valuable ones she'll have. But she also admits that she was fortunate in this regard.
Sadly, many people with mental illness who look for spiritual help during difficult times face ignorance, stigma, avoidance, and judgment. The spiritual counsel and prayer these people receive frankly do more harm than good.
Understanding mental illness, even from the professional, scientific perspective, is still very much a work in progress. Schizophrenia and its related disorders, bipolar disorder (also known as manic depression), major depression, panic and obsessive-compulsive disorders, are all considered mental illnesses. It is estimated that between 15 percent to 20 percent of North Americans will, at some time in their lives, experience a mental illness. Most of these will suffer debilitating depression.
Continue article >>
|
Evidence suggests there are probably organic (biochemical) reasons for the illness, or psycho-social origins -- or a combination of the two. Treatments that deal with the symptoms include medications, psychotherapy or a blend of both.
What is clear to people working in the field is that the experience of the illness goes far beyond living with the symptoms. While a person who has a physical illness -- even cancer -- suffers discomfort and anxiety related to the illness, those who have a mental illness suffer from a constellation of additional issues. These all affect their ability to return to wellness. One of them is stigma, both internally and externally imposed. There's also the loss of self-worth and self-efficacy that might come with a loss of job, friends, marriage and the feelings of being separated from God.
How can the church assist someone in a situation as devastating as this?
1. Church leaders and church members need to know that a mental illness is not the same as a spiritual crisis. Nor is the absence of healing, especially after fervent prayer, a sign of judgment or lack of faith.
2. There should be no judgment about the use of mood altering medications. Medications are commonly needed to treat the bio-chemical causes for the disorder and radically help many keep their symptoms under control.
3. Quality of life for a person suffering from mental illness does not depend on a complete remission from the illness.
What church members need to know is that many experience a recovery which allows them to return to an active and fulfilling life -- but still continue to experience times that are difficult. Recovery from mental illness means: the return of a positive sense of self, usually through meaningful endeavour (work, vocation), a circle of meaningful relationships, a place to live that the person can call his or her own, and a spiritual life that feels a reconnection with God.
The recovering person can be experiencing personal brokenness and limitations, yet have valuable gifts to offer to the church community.
Peter Andres is a regional director for MCC Supportive Care Services, a non-profit charitable organization which supports people with disabilities -- including people with mental health issues. He can be contacted at peter@mccscs.com.
August 9/2007
|
Are people of faith with a mental illness different from those who have a physical illness?
Insofar as people with physical illnesses differ from one another, people with mental illnesses do. Insofar as physical illnesses differ from one another, mental illnesses do. Insofar as people differ from one another, people with mental illnesses do.
How can the church assist someone in a situation as devastating as this?
Recognize these illnesses are not a "this," that one can make no such generalization. As illnesses vary broadly within themselves (only some are "devastating") and even more broadly from one another. People's reactions to illnesses vary from person to person.
Recognize as well that our reactions to illnesses, and person's with various illnesses, varies as well, some of us exhibit far more empathy than others. Perhaps our real goal is to expand that empathy.
Harold A. Maio
Advisory Board
American Journal of Psychiatric Rehabilitation
Board Member
Partners in Crisis
Former Consulting Editor
Psychiatric Rehabilitation Journal
Boston University
Language Consultant
UPENN Collaborative on Community Integration
of Individuals with Psychiatric Disabilities
Home:
8955 Forest St
Ft Myers FL 33907
khmaio@earthlink.net
Church response to the mentally ill
Are people of faith with a mental illness different from those who have a physical illness?
Your article written by Peter Andres and published 9th August 2007 is wonderfully refreshing for those who, like me, already suffer from mental illness and I would hope and pray that this article is enlightening for those of the Christian faith who do not understand mental illness and worse still, for those who do not want to understand mental illness. Your article opens up a new dimension to mental illness for the un-initiated in this field.
Since the early 1970's I have suffered from anxiety and panic attack disorders. Albeit over time this has been treated with medication prescribed by psychiatrists along with therapy by psychologists, my condition has progressively deteriorated into major depression in the last 5 years. It's been a long 35 year hard fought battle during which time I've tried to cope with this psychological warfare.
It was the general belief in the 14th, 15th, and 16th centuries that those who experienced mental illness were possessed by the devil. I had thought that 600 - 700 years down the track, since we're now into the 21st century, that such schools of thought and belief within the Christian community would have taken a back-seat and that men of the cloth would be far more enlightened today.
Hence, possibly in my naivety, I decided to bring myself out of my closet and I sought spiritual guidance through our church minister during a particularly difficult time in my life 3 years ago when I felt suicidal. But to my horror, instead of receiving the spiritual counsel and prayer that I was seeking in my endeavours to reconnect with God, I was left with the message that I had no faith and that the devil had infiltrated my thoughts. This was in my church denomination in which I had been baptised in the 1950's. I was badly disillusioned and last year I consequently changed church denominations. Again, in the new denomination, I was given the same message. I went back into my closet having felt broken and mis-judged with a misunderstood stigma hanging over my head and I have not been back to church since last year. I was left with the wish that I had never opened my mouth to our church minister and that I should have remained snugly in my closet.
I had not lost faith in God. I had not lost faith in Jesus Christ. I had lost faith though in my fellow-mankind.
I would urge you to PLEASE spread your message within your website http://www.canadianchristianity.com/christianliving/070809ill.html to all corners of our planet Earth, including to all men of the Christian cloth within my home country here in South Africa.
Daniel
Church response to the mentally ill
Are people of faith with a mental illness different from those who have a physical illness?
Your article written by Peter Andres and published 9th August 2007 is wonderfully refreshing for those who, like me, already suffer from mental illness and I would hope and pray that this article is enlightening for those of the Christian faith who do not understand mental illness and worse still, for those who do not want to understand mental illness. Your article opens up a new dimension to mental illness for the un-initiated in this field.
Since the early 1970's I have suffered from anxiety and panic attack disorders. Albeit over time this has been treated with medication prescribed by psychiatrists along with therapy by psychologists, my condition has progressively deteriorated into major depression in the last 5 years. It's been a long 35 year hard fought battle during which time I've tried to cope with this psychological warfare.
It was the general belief in the 14th, 15th, and 16th centuries that those who experienced mental illness were possessed by the devil. I had thought that 600 - 700 years down the track, since we're now into the 21st century, that such schools of thought and belief within the Christian community would have taken a back-seat and that men of the cloth would be far more enlightened today.
Hence, possibly in my naivety, I decided to bring myself out of my closet and I sought spiritual guidance through our church minister during a particularly difficult time in my life 3 years ago when I felt suicidal. But to my horror, instead of receiving the spiritual counsel and prayer that I was seeking in my endeavours to reconnect with God, I was left with the message that I had no faith and that the devil had infiltrated my thoughts. This was in my church denomination in which I had been baptised in the 1950's. I was badly disillusioned and last year I consequently changed church denominations. Again, in the new denomination, I was given the same message. I went back into my closet having felt broken and mis-judged with a misunderstood stigma hanging over my head and I have not been back to church since last year. I was left with the wish that I had never opened my mouth to our church minister and that I should have remained snugly in my closet.
I had not lost faith in God. I had not lost faith in Jesus Christ. I had lost faith though in my fellow-mankind.
I would urge you to PLEASE spread your message within your website http://www.canadianchristianity.com/christianliving/070809ill.html to all corners of our planet Earth, including to all men of the Christian cloth within my home country here in South Africa.
Daniel
The medical truths about the causes of mental illness should be taught at seminaries. There is far too much ignorance in the church surrounding these issues. This ignorance is extremely hurtful to a lot of people. Suffering people are either drawn away from the faith or they end up throwing away their pills and become sicker.
I believe that the stigma that exists within the church is more harmful than stigma existing in the rest of society. When a Christian is judged to be not right with God it can be devastating to him, especially when he does all he can to remain close to Him. The feelings of shame and guilt this causes can be worse than the symptoms of the illness itself.
Anonymous, (refer posting of 12th August 2007 @ 20h16 Canadian time) is correct with the 1st two sentences of the last paragraph, viz. quote: "I believe that the stigma that exists within the church is more harmful than stigma existing in the rest of society. When a Christian is judged to be not right with God it can be devastating to him, especially when he does all he can to remain close to Him." Unquote. This is why I query whether our Christian community has really progressed in it's beliefs in the last 600 - 700 years since the 14th, 15th, and 16th centuries. I would hope therefore that it's not going to be at glacial speed for another 600 - 700 years until the 27th or 28th century before we do progress into a new age of enlightenment. Let's trust and have faith that it's a LOT sooner than that.
Refer though to the 3rd sentence in the last paragraph by Anonymous (posting of 12th August 2007 @ 20h16), quote: "The feelings of shame and guilt this causes can be worse than the symptoms of the illness itself" unquote. I know that Anonymous means well in their empathy towards those with mental illnesses & for that I thank Anonymous, but I do need to pick up on that point a clarify a perception by some Christians about mental illness. An illness is an illness, irrespective of whether it is heart disease, cancer or a stroke or mental illness or any other, be it flu or whatever. Some illnesses are acute. Some illnesses are chronic. A close Christian friend of ours died a couple of years ago after suffering for 15 years with cancer. In that 15 year period, she did not suffer from feelings of "shame and guilt". The same applies to those of us with mental illness. I personally suffer from anxiety disorders, panic disorders, agoraphobia, major depression & a mild degree of schizophrenia., but whilst I have other types of feelings, I don't have feelings, simply because I'm ill, of "shame and guilt" within society or within our Christian community, inasmuch as other ill persons with heart disease, flu or cancer or other wouldn't suffer from "shame and guilt" because of their illness. There's no valid reason for it.
Daniel
Often people with mental illness will internalize the stigma or they live in fear of what it means to have mental illness. Many end up in denial.
Stigma has an evil and damaging effect on many. Too bad that it extends even in the church, by people who have been called to follow Christ, accepting and supporting each other with unconditional love.
I agree with you. We who suffer from mental illness should live courageously, knowing that our illness is an illness like any other and we have nothing to be ashamed about.