The church and mental health issues

 According to some research, on any given Sunday one in four adults and one in five children sitting in our congregations are suffering from some form of mental illness. While you may question that for your congregation, remember that many of them are suffering silently. They are afraid to tell anyone of the challenges they have. They sit there week after week with smiles on their faces while dealing with struggles they dare not reveal. In some cases they have reason to fear.

Many churches do not handle persons with mental illness well. Some will insist that someone dealing with a mental illness must have unconfessed sin in their lives. Unless they are willing to confess that sin they cannot be helped. Other churches view mental illness as a sign of demon possession. Some denounce anyone who seeks medical treatment such as medication or counseling for their illness to lack faith. Sometimes churches will ignore the person with a mental illness hoping he or she will just go away, and in a few situations the church may even ask the person to leave the church. Obviously, none of these are acceptable responses for a church to take towards someone suffering from a mental illness.

Mental illness has been called the "no casserole" disease in churches. If someone has a physical disease the church family is often quick to respond. Visits to the hospital and home are made. Meals are prepared and taken to the family. Offers are made to take care of routine tasks such as mowing the lawn while the person recovers. But, if the problem is a mental illness churches are often at a loss to know what to do so many do nothing.

Martin Luther, Charles Spurgeon, J. B. Phillips all experienced depression during their lives. Many other well-known and not so well-known Christian leaders have battled depression and other mental illnesses. Countless others have been impacted by family members who have suffered. Rick Warren was very open about his son's battle with depression that ultimately led to the young man taking his life. Mental illness struggles are found in both Christians and non-Christians, and the church needs to learn better ways of addressing them.

Here are some things the church can do to offer healing to those dealing with mental illness.

1. Be careful with language. When we talk about mental health issues we need to avoid mocking or belittling those dealing with such issues. Pastors especially need to be careful here.
2. We need to become aware of the causes of mental illnesses. There are a number of causes, including genetic, that we need to know about. If nothing else, this can help eliminate some of the stigma sometimes associated with mental illnesses.
3. We do not want to diagnose and counsel those with mental illnesses unless we are trained to do so. If we see someone showing symptoms it is appropriate to offer pastoral care, express our concerns about the person's well being and offer to refer them to a trained counselor.
4. It will be helpful to develop relationships with mental health practitioners in the area so you can offer good referrals. One of the things to find out about these individuals is their view towards the Christian faith. Some may actually believe that such faith is the cause of the mental illness.
5. It is always appropriate to pray for the individual.
6. Make your church a safe place for people to talk about mental illness.
7. Do not neglect the family. The person with mental health challenges is not the only one who needs pastoral care. No doubt the family has gone through much and needs the support of the church.

These are just some things the church can do to minister to those dealing with mental health challenges. What we don't want to do is to make their situation worse by ignoring them or blaming them for their problems. Let us pray that God will help us become more sensitive to those struggling with mental health challenges and give us the insight to help them find the healing they need.