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  hristians who believe that mental illnesses or disabilities are merely matters of the will that can be overcome
by the strength of our spirits have a fundamental misunderstanding of our dual nature. Our spirits and our bodies are not
independent (as the Buddhists teach) but are intimately linked until they are finally separated at death. Some mental illness
is the result of physical problems in physical brains, and can be no more overcome by willpower or therapy than can be diabetes.
When therapy is the best possible treatment for a mental illness, then I've got
no doubt that such therapy should be Biblical in nature, but it should also be informed by medical expertise. When drugs are
required to treat a physical problem in the brain, then they should not be rejected any more than a diabetic would reject
insulin. It's unnerving to accept that physical changes in our
brains can affect our mental processes, but they can. Does this undermine the concept of free will? No, but it qualifies our
free will. A man with a broken leg may want to run a marathon, but his failure to do so isn't the result of a lack of willpower.
His free will may desire to, but his body simply cannot. A man with schizophrenia, or mania, or depression may want
to act normally, but his brain will not cooperate. Therapy
is an important part of treatment for these diseases, but therapy alone will often not mitigate their symptoms enough to allow
the normal exercise of free will. A man with diabetes receives therapy and instruction on how to
manage his disease, what he should eat, and what sorts of activities he needs to limit, but even with the best therapy and
willpower a diabetic may require insulin injections. A man with depression may require drugs to enable his body/brain to act
on the instructions he is given in therapy and that his free will wants to carry out. As with many issues, consideration of mental health issues requires a great deal of discernment on the part of Christians.
It's true that many people are simply looking for ways to escape responsibility for their decisions and are quick to claim
that some force outside of their control compelled them to act badly. Sometimes that's true and sometimes
it's not, but Christians who dismiss all such claims will end up ignoring some of the most hurting people in the world who
are in desperate need of God's love.* In Heaven there will be no mental illness just as there is no physical illness. As Christians we live with an expectation
for that future, but we haven't reached it yet. Christians need to properly understand the nature of mental illness and mental
disability if we hope to share God's love with people who are suffering. ******* * NOTE FROM PAT: While I do believe some physical illness
can compell a person to act "badly," where they have no self-control, there are many physical illnesses that do,
indeed, compell us to act badly when we can control ourselves, and sometimes it takes a great effort to do so. As an example,
when we feel "nervous" it is so easy to "snap" at someone, but we can control it and if we lose control
we can apologize quickly. Either way, we all need love and understanding from others because whether we know what we're doing
or not, it hurts.
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There is
so much in psychology and neuropsychology that I am ignorant of and the actual physical working of the brain is very complex,
as well as the emotional and biological components of learned behavior. I can only talk about this from a spiritual standpoint
and what we all can do to help ourselves in what ability we have to do so. You as an individual must examine yourself honestly
and decide what you can do to help yourself and what you must accept and learn to live with in the best possible manner. I
am in no way giving out medical advice so please consult with your medical doctor and/or your therapist and continue to take
whatever medications have been prescribed to you. My only purpose on this page is to encourage you to persevere in spirit
in the light of God's word. No matter what negative situation we grew up in or find ourselves in at the present time, God's
word will help us have a better life. Also, if your mental illness is a disorder of the brain or caused by disease or brain
injury God's word will help give you hope and a more positive outlook on life even if depression is a constant companion.
This is my goal: To help all of us to keep Truth, Love, and Hope forefront in our mind. --Pat
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WHAT WE WISH EVERYONE KNEW ABOUT LIVING WITH MENTAL ILLNESS
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My husband has a personality disorder and I understand it
is quite different than bi-polar. The struggle we have is the same. I do my utmost to be the wife and mother God would have
me be, sometimes with fierce opposition. I don't always succeed in pleasing God because I get discouraged and tired; not
knowing what to expect day to day. I rely on the passage that says, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens
me." Not some things but all things.
Those outside my immediate family do not see what I live with "behind
closed doors" so my problems are not evident. I have much conflict in my heart because on one hand I want to scream,
"If you only knew the way he acted, the language he uses, etc.". Bringing these things to the open in the past have
been so horrible on me that I found myself depressed to the point of thinking that I would be better off if I were dead. Someone
said the right thing to me at the right time from God's word and I found hope and understanding. I have a Godly
blessing in a devoted friend who helps me.
I may walk among you laughing when I am manic, with
tears when I am depressed but when I’m psychotic, please understand if I ask you not to laugh at me behind my back.
-from one who suffers from schizophrenia
What I wish others knew about having a child with "hyperactivity":
It's hard. You are alone. So many people have "normal" children, and cannot comprehend that no matter
what you do, even prayer doesn't always avail much for this child with his powerful disabilities, which seem to hide faith
and trust in God from him. You can't do what everyone else does and get happy, easy results. I wish they could
understand that I don't want to turn him into a zombie by putting him on drugs. I wish others could read Dr. Dobson's
Strong Willed-Child Book and understand just a little.
I keep hearing
psychologists put down by Christians but my brothers and sisters don't believe my bipolar disorder is "real"
and they are confident I can control the bad feelings that come. I wish others knew how lonely I am and how difficult it is
not to be able to talk to my spiritual family.
I need to not be judged on days I literally cannot smile
or talk. When you meet a Christian that does not smile or talk (all of the time or just sometimes), smile and say hi anyway,
"assume" that it is something that is real, and pray to God for them that medical science can find a cure. Dealing
with physical and mental illness is hard enough without others judging by appearance that you are either ignoring them or
are just unfriendly.
10 plus years of caring for elderly parents w/Alzheimers and
my own family's financial stress caused me to become clinically depressed. For a long time I felt guilty about this because
a Christian should not be depressed. If you know someone who is struggling, support them and try to smooth some of life's
road for them, if you can. But above all, do not suggest that anyone lacks faith because their load has become too heavy to
bear without antidepressants. This was never said to me personally, but it was an opinion I'd heard expressed enough that
in my darkest hours I would believe it to be true, and my downward spiral grew ever deeper. I am alive today and still married
precisely because of my faith during those dark days. And, yes, I still take antidepressants. Unrelenting stress changes the
chemical pathways of the brain, sometimes they go back to the normal levels and sometimes they do not. I hope and pray to
be off of this medication some blessed day. Until then, I take it one day at a time.
No one who is/has been depressed cannot
understand ANYTHING. The STRESS I feel when people try to help, they think just coming in and digging in doing ANYTHING
is help, it is not. If it were just dusting and vacuuming that's one thing, but there's papers scattered all over the
house, I sort of know what is where but they don't know why I can't just let them in and in a sense take over. I
don't know how to explain, I don't think it can be?
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That by being Bipolar, manic-depressive, I can't make
myself well but need encouragment that medication is a blessing from God. When I am stable and all appears "normal",
that I should be able to get off my meds. That I struggle daily keeping track of how I'm doing and it wears me out. That
I get very discouraged when I am in a down, depressed cycle and sometimes I feel like it will never end. Sometimes, if you
don't talk to me, I think you really don't like me (paranoia). When I am feeling really great and I am outgoing and
appear to be happy that I may crash the next day, or the next hour because of some trigger that I can't control. When
I am talking really fast I need you to tell me I am talking a little too fast and you can't understand me, because I am
unaware of it. Be kind when I have overcommitted myself (thinking I can do it all!) and realize I really can't do it.
I've learned to say I didn't realize I had overcommitted. I will not tell you when I see "Shadows and cars streaking by," things that aren't there to you but are a reality to me. Don't
tell me "whatever" when I become obstinate because I believe something to be true when you know it is not. Ask me
if something is bothering me and be comfortable if I cry.
I feel guilty because others are extremely ill, or handicapped
so I belittle my illness. I hate this illness, it is hard on my family and they need you to do things with them, especially
my husband. It helps me when my family has a strong support system, someone to take them out for coffee or dessert and 'spoil'
because it is so difficult to be around someone who is not stable all the time. I feel guilty for being a burden to them,
they walk on a tightrope so they don't upset me and I fall apart. It's really special to me when you include me in
a lunch date, every kindness is a treasure to me, I don't feel like I deserve it.
And last, once I tell you about my illness, don't avoid me, try to fix me, believe any of the stereotypes
of sex-crazed, horrible violent things you read in the paper or on the news about people with my illness. I'm one of the
fortunate ones, I have good doctors, my meds help me, I'm still a Christian, first and foremost, and I hang on to my faith
because I know, not feel, because I can't trust my feelings, that God keeps His promises and never changes no matter how
messed up I appear to be. By the way, how come no one wants to spend time reading the Bible and talking about it, but rather,
wants to know more about "me". Gossip is always a temptation, reading the Bible and praying together is the best
thing in the world to encourage and comfort me or anyone else.
"I think one of the things that distresses me the most
in recent times is the fact that each one of us with these mental illnesses do not experience it the same way as other sufferers
do. It leads to misunderstandings and hurtful judgments. (i.e. "So and so has bipolar illness and he manages
it better than you do.") There are several classifications for being bipolar. The schizophrenic patients
I've known have all been different in how their illness manifests itself, presenting different challenges both in behaviour
and medication."
I believe that to a certain extent you can block out the negative,
manic, schizophrenic thoughts or delusions. But the more ill you become, the more difficult it is and there comes a
point that you cannot be rational. It's not something sane people can "understand." Just be sympathetic.
That can be difficut for the sane person to do, because he cannot truly relate to the problems involved. But "I
cannot feel the cancer patient's pain," neither can I feel the depressed, bipolar, or schtzophenic's pain or
delusions. I just have to trust their honesty, and be patient with the manifestations of their illness. It
is important for a mentally ill patient to be honest about his condition and do what he can when he can, so that he will be
believed when he says he is ill. That way the burden of taking care of him, when necessary, can be born by the sane
without resentment. And after you are back to normal, it never hurts to say "I'm sorry" when you have
hurt someone in your pain.
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SERIES
ARCHIVES . Finding Self: (1) From physical perspective, My Search for Self (2)Study of Ecclesiastes (3) In Christ
ARCHIVES BY YEAR
2006/2007
- Discouragement
- Majoring in Minors
- Life
is So Daily (poem)
- Our Purpose in Life
- Loneliness (Moving to a new place)
- Is it a sin for a Christian to take antidepressants and be involved
in psychotherapy? Treatment of Depression: Biology and Behavior Beyond Bias
- It's not "Just Psychological" Traumatic stress' physical effects on brain
- Why is it Christians who believe psychology is wrong recommend
Christian therapists to couples with marital problems?
- The Other Half - Spouses of Bipolar Sufferers
- Living with a Family Member Who Suffers From Bipolar Disorder
- The Struggle Between Submission and Responsibilities When Your Husband is Bipolar
- Why Aren't We Studying With Our Sisters Who Are Suffering?
2008
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- Pain, Pain Go Away by Bubba Garner
- Response to reader concerning her co-dependency and depression: 1st response: Rational Thinking
- 2nd response: "You Can't Love Others Until You Love Yourself" (Is this a true
statement?)
- Pleasing Everyone
- If I gained the world (poem)
- Was
king Nebuchadnezzar mentally ill?
- Question and
response in regards to whether a person diagnosed with a mental disorder is responsible for wrong decision and whether he/she
is accountable to God. How does a spouse know which directions to follow when her/his mate has a mental disorder?
- God
is For Me
- There's No Such Thing As A Migraine
- How Can I Keep Singing? (poem)
- The God
Shall Supply All Ours Need
- More Than We Ask or Imagine
- The 90/10 principle
- Psalm
73
- Dr. Caprio's list
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