Is the Church too Hands-Off about Mental Illness?

[phkrause]

I now this is not an Adventist article per say, but we too have this problem!

 

Mental illness is subject that is rarely mentioned on Sunday mornings, but Pastor Rick and Kay Warren of Saddleback Church hope this will change. The couple’s son committed suicide in 2013, and have been big advocates for removing the stigma associated with mental illness such as eating disorders, depression, personality disorder and other illnesses hidden by the congregation. The Warren’s are encouraging the church to get more involved to help support these individuals affected by launching a mental health ministry.
Read more at http://www.beliefnet.com/Faiths/Galleries/Is-the-Church-too-Hands-Off-about-Mental-Illness.aspx#6d7CwoECLfliGHBE.99

[JoeMo]

Personal experience is that for physical problems, the church is there for you big-time with visitation, flowers, making food for the family etc.  For spiritual, mental or emotional problems, however, it's like you are disfellowshipped until you "get better".

[Woody]

The church is not around for any chronic diseases whether they be physical or mental.
Acute difficulties yes. But most expect you to 'get over it' or suck it up.

[Anthony!]

^{I feel like saying shame on Club Adventist participants for not making this a hot topic. That only a meager response is shown thus far is a true indicator of the attitude and answer toward the original question. I am bipolar with anxiety disorder. In my early 20s I am sure I had psychotic episodes. I became a member of the Seventh-day Adventist Church when I turned 21 years old. I was not diagnosed with depression/bipolar until I was 42 years of age.}

 

^{There was a time when many church members in the conservative area I lived (southern Oregon) believed that mental illness was and still is 'demon possession'. How very sad and ignorant. In the early 1980s I distinctly remember the warning I read by an Adventist Review editorial staff member who basically wrote that the SDA church does well to not quickly adopt "pop psychology" but to wait and examine the validity for a period of 5 years in its own universities before implementing such.}

 

^{I believe that this conclusion, put forth by journalists, pastors and church leaders, rather than mental health professionals in the church, did not help church members such as myself and only prolonged the stigma of mental illness. There was and is a lot of discomfort and fear regarding this issue. I remember when I 'came out' regarding my depression and bipolar to my church friends, I perceived a shift in the attitude of most of them toward me. I felt that I was kept at 'arm's length' and could tell people were wary of being in my presence.}

 

^{How ironic it is then that I was originally diagnosed in 1999 by a Seventh-day Adventist physician who specialized in depression. Counseling with a Seventh-day Adventist psychologist in 1995 was not as helpful, as I pointedly asked the psychologist "Am I a depressed person" to which the reply was "No".}

 

^{Now that I am a former Christian and former Seventh-day Adventist, I can see that the SDA church leadership and members in general are 'miles apart' from the SDA medical community on this issue. I have read in some places that for decades, the SDA medical community has treated mental illness for what it is - a medical problem, while the leadership in general has regarded it as a 'spiritual problem', thus causing the former to act in an 'underground' fashion to save affected members from judgment and stigma.}

 

^{Perhaps most offensive to me was the program started by Dr. Nedley which stated at its inception that depression is a result of lifestyle choices regarding diet and other factors. I believe that people can become chronically depressed by lifestyle choices, and that Dr. Nedley does acknowledge the existence of clinical depression. However, the program which is largely based upon the SDA health message can give general membership reason to believe that 'if you only live right' you would be well. Such is not my case, as is with many others. I lived the health message of the SDA church for many years and to no avail regarding my bipolar disorder.}

 

^{So here I am, having to make new friends in life for various reasons, and the transition is very difficult when you are no longer a member of a faith community. It is true I am now agnostic and quickly heading toward atheism. Did you know? That loss of faith is as negatively stressful as a death, divorce, loss of health and loss of employment? Thus I am not terribly concerned that the SDA church accepts mental illness and its affected members, but enough so to voice this opinion. There is always the option of a science-based belief regarding your mental illness as opposed to the ignorance of religious dogma and the stigma thereof.}

[Tom Wetmore]

Anthony,

I appreciate that you have shared your story with us. My undergraduate degree from an Adventist school is in psych and I had every intention at one point to become a clinical psychologist. I worked for a time in one of our hospitals in the psychiatric unit and can confirm that the approach there was indeed a clinical/medical one. I studied under Dr. Cannon who had a great burden to bring Church thinking out of the dark ages on these matters. Bridging that gap for Adventists, he compiled a several volume set of EGW statements supporting the need for addressing mental health issues. Yes, it was obviously an Adventist thing, but it was with the intent to open the door to and support modern practice of psychology. I think most of our colleges and universities take a scientific/medical approach in educating future mental health professionals.

Edited March 16, 2015 by Tom Wetmore
typo correction...

[LifeHiscost]

 

^{So here I am, having to make new friends in life for various reasons, and the transition is very difficult when you are no longer a member of a faith community. It is true I am now agnostic and quickly heading toward atheism. Did you know? That loss of faith is as negatively stressful as a death, divorce, loss of health and loss of employment? Thus I am not terribly concerned that the SDA church accepts mental illness and its affected members, but enough so to voice this opinion. There is always the option of a science-based belief regarding your mental illness as opposed to the ignorance of religious dogma and the stigma thereof.}

As a non-professional lay person, I can't help but sympathize with your circumstances. My personal solution for solving both my physical as well as spiritual problems is to get as close as I can to the God, Who is Love, and claim the promises He has obligated Himself to fulfill for me if I put my trust in Him. As to the physical promises I claim this one below because I don't think He would do any less for me than anyone else He favored.

 

26And He said, "If you will give earnest heed to the voice of the LORD your God, and do what is right in His sight, and give ear to His commandments, and keep all His statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you which I have put on the Egyptians; for I, the LORD, am your healer." ....Exodus 15

 

As a result of falling far short of deserving any of those promises I have accepted the reality of this tidbit of information below, that healing is not in the hands of man without the enabling power of the Creator.

 

5....apart from Me you can do nothing....John 15

 

Accepting that I also accepted His method of mutual willingness to see His will be accomplished.

 

…31"Cast away from you all your transgressions which you have committed and make yourselves a new heart and a new spirit! For why will you die, O house of Israel? 32"For I have no pleasure in the death of anyone who dies," declares the Lord GOD. "Therefore, repent and live."....Ezek 18

 

The most compelling evidence I have of the success of following those principles is 80 years of life without any chronic illness, including absolute freedom from any chronic pain. One other promise that is telling, is this promise.

 

      165Those who love Your law have great peace,

            And nothing causes them to stumble....Psalms 119

 

Of course during this time there are multitudinous ups and downs in emotional welfare needing to be addressed, but by the grace of God it promises to be successfully culminated in this promise below.

 

29"Even so, you too, when you see these things happening, recognize that He is near, right at the door. 30"Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place.…Mark 13

 

15For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.…1 Thess 4

 

Keep looking up brother. None of us can solve everyone elses' problems let alone our own, and I'm of the opinion they're all going to be satisfied in the near future by the Lord of glory Who remains the same, yesterday, today and forever.

 

God is Love!  Jesus saves! 

[rudywoofs (Pam)]

I didn't post a response on this thread for a number of reasons.  But I will now.

 

In 1979 I was a patient in the MH unit at Portland Adventist Med Ctr, and was a patient of the unit's Director, a psychiatrist.  Over the next 4 years, I was given quite a number of various diagnoses, all of which were wrong:  major depressive disorder, borderline personality, anxiety disorder, and on and on and on.  I was medicated with everything from Quaaludes and Ritalin to lithium and just about every major antipsychotic med on the market.  Nothing made me feel better - and I was basically a walking zombie.

 

I was given books to read, and told that I was *choosing* to feel miserable.  Over those four years, I tried a number of times to commit suicide, and was in and out of that MH unit.  Nobody, not even my parents or brother, came to visit me.  Nobody.  Nobody.  Nobody.  I was told a number of years later that, despite the assurances of confidentiality, my case was a cause célèbre amongst the WWC nursing students who did their practicums at PAMC.  [Oh, great.]

 

My final experience with Adventists and mental health came in 1983 when I was once again a patient at PAMC.  One night I was sexually molested by one of the male therapists on duty.  When the day crew came on at 7AM, the therapist who was assigned to me knew somehow that something was wrong and I finally told her what had happened.  My psychiatrist was informed, and sat me down, telling me that it was now MY fault that the guy lost his job; it was MY fault that the guy's marriage would probably fall apart; that it was MY fault that the icident had occurred, and that if I informed anyone else of what had happened, that he [the psychiatrist] would "drag my name through the mud," and that his concern was not with me, but with the reputation of the hospital.  He then told me to "go to hell."

 

If it hadn't been for a co-team of an LDS psychologist and an agnostic psychiatrist, both of whom believed in me, I'd probably be dead right now.  The Adventist church / mental health programs were more than just useless to me... they were utterly mentally and emotionally damaging... and led me directly into my 15+ years of witchcraft...

 

I honestly cannot recommend Neil Nedley's program on depression or any other SDA version of mental health...

 

**gives me the creeps just to recount all of that...**  

 

[Gregory Matthews]

Anthony:  It has certainly taken some bravery on your part to share your story.  I do not challenge it in any way.  It is your experience and your life that you have shared.

 

In my experience in the mental health field, I can say that all to often SDA clergy are not qualified to provide good care in the area of mental health.  But, that is changing on some levels.  As one who has worked closely with non-SDA clergy for almost 40 years, I can say that non-SDA clergy may not be well qualified.  Some are and some are not.  It was this background that led me to not go to a Seminary for my graduate work in psychology.

 

As far as congregational members are concerned, I find a lot of poor understandings of mental health issues across all denominations.

 

There have been times when I have been in a place to advise family members as to their need to obtain mental health services.  I will simply say that it can be hard to  find good qualified advisors to recommend.   Just because one is licensed it does not mean that they are qualified to give good advice.   

 

I do not have an answer to the issues that you bring up.  I am sorry.

[debbym]

Demonizing mental illness is not a thinking exclusive to the SDA church, exorcisms have gone on endlessly for the mentally ill in most every Christian denomination.  And the stigma of mental illness is pervasive throughout society.

 

Sadly the SDA Church reflects the times, and the common views, and common abuses of society in general.  

 

The interplay of vulnerability and abuse of power just takes on lots of unusual textures  even when there is  training and ethics and a measure of protections in place for the mentally ill.  And like child abuse, and wife battering,  or racism it is something that persists in society even in the presence of education.  It is a problem of the human condition.

 

The  eighties and nineties were terrible decades in the USA for people dealing with any trauma based mental health issues.  Awful experiments were going on, and ignorance was rife.  The damage done to whole population groups that entered treatment have often been life long.

 

I was deeply harmed by 4 clinicians, and sued one successfully.  Two  of them were doctors.  It was a rotten season of my life that i survived, but it was highly educational.

[LifeHiscost]

 

**gives me the creeps just to recount all of that...**  

 

 

 

 

35Jesus wept. 36......"See how He loved him!"…John 11    Thank God for

 

…11"AND THEY SHALL NOT TEACH EVERYONE HIS FELLOW CITIZEN, AND EVERYONE HIS BROTHER, SAYING, 'KNOW THE LORD,' FOR ALL WILL KNOW ME, FROM THE LEAST TO THE GREATEST OF THEM. 12"FOR I WILL BE MERCIFUL TO THEIR INIQUITIES, AND I WILL REMEMBER THEIR SINS NO MORE." 13When He said, "A new covenant," He has made the first obsolete. But whatever is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to disappear....Heb 8

Emphasis theirs' LHC

 

God is Love!  Jesus saves!