The Role of the Church
As I embark on the blogging challenge this month a recurring theme is the stigma in different social settings. Today I will be discussing the role of the church in treatment and recovery from bipolar disorder and mental illness. Stigma is a far reaching arm that reaches every part of our society, though I believe the roots are firmly planted with the church.
This is not a spiritual issue
Traditionally the church is a place that individuals will go when they are experiencing personal conflict, marital distress, or financial hardship. In these types of personal issues the pastor will represent the church and give the individual or the couple some guidance or counseling on what their next steps should be. In a 2008 study done by Baylor University it was discovered that 32% of family members were told by a pastor that their loved one did not really have mental illness and that it was actually a spiritual issue – like an unresolved sin. Though, it is estimated that anywhere from 18% to 25% of American Pastors suffer with mental illness at some point. It makes me wonder though how accurate that statistic is considering the rampant mental health stigma that runs among the pastoral circles.
What can be done?
It will take a lot of time, understanding, and education to eliminate the education in the church. I was raised in the church and up until very recently I was also under the impression that mental illness was a spiritual issue that was treated with medication.
1) Pastoral Care Education Every pastor should undergo intense and continual education when it comes to shepherding their congregation. This should also include education on mental health issues in the congregation and when medical/professional help is needed.
2) Support Groups Consider starting a support group led by a medical professional, but sponsored by your church or a group of churches in your region. Attendance may be low initially, though as word gets around attendance may increase. Consider keeping this open to the public – you might be surprised the portion of the community that a church could reach that would otherwise have been unreached without this support group.
3) Ongoing Secular Education Offer classes or resources to your congregation to learn about mental illness. The responsibility does start with the pastor, though it doesn’t end there. Educating your congregation can do nothing but help arm them with the knowledge to understand the illnesses better. As a result, they might be able to better relate to other congregation members who are suffering from mental illness.
How is your church supporting those in your congregation suffering from Bipolar Disorder or other mental illness?
Blogging Challenge!
I hope that you are enjoying these daily posts for the month of May in honor of Mental Health Awareness Month! I am doing my part to help end the stigma associated with mental health, in particular Bipolar Disorder, by getting information out there in order to increase awareness for those who want to learn more about mental illnesses, also to provide encouragement for those already living with the illness.
I will also be participating in the 2011 Mental Health Blog Day that will be on May 18th. I am already working on an awesome post for release on May 18th to bring light to the stigma around mental health.
Contact us!
If this is your first visit to our website – welcome! It is my desire that you are able to find hope and encouragement from this blog especially if your spouse suffers from mental illness. We try to take it day by day, though this journey is especially challenging. You should not have to go on this journey alone!
Please comment on this blog – we would truly appreciate your feedback! Are you finding this helpful and encouraging? Is there a particular topic you are needing resources or advice on? Let me know how I can improve the blog and make it more resourceful for you!
You can also follow me on twitter. I love to engage with others dealing with mental illness there and would be honored if you followed me. I try to share resources and articles on twitter as much as possible. Please also feel free to send an e-mail to feedback@thebipolarmarriage.com with any feedback that you don’t feel comfortable leaving it in the comments section on the blog.
You’ve touched on my soapbox here! I have not had overall good experiences with the church in regards to my husband’s illness. I will be honest in saying that the biggest mistake I made early on in our marriage and during those early struggles was to go to the church for help. I had been conditioned to view the mental health professional community with a certain level of distrust, after all, they are not “spiritual”. But if I had it to do over again, I would have utilized the mental health community to my advantage. Not just psychiatrists, but therapists and psychologists as well. Later in our journey, I’ve had some wonderful encounters what the last two. I will never, EVER go to a pastor again for any kind of counsel concerning my hubby’s, or any other, mental health issues, unless that pastor is a trained psychologist or licensed therapist. My opinion is that there is nothing they learned in seminary or Bible college that will prepare them for dealing with serious mental health issues in their church. I will go to someone who is TRAINED, with degrees and specializations, in mental health issues. Christian or not! I’ll take the degrees and training over the faith persuasion any day!
Did I mention this was my soapbox? LOL!
One thing I did receive from one particular pastor was amazing prayer support, and that was the best gift they could give me. Beyond that, they didn’t have a clue, lol!
Treating these kinds of illnesses is very tricky because they go to the core of the person’s very being. Their identity, their perception of the world, their place in the world…all of that is affected, and sometimes even distorted. I was sharing with someone the other day that mental illness affects behavior, and having the “right” BEHAVIOR is SO important in church, that if you don’t conform, then you are written off as difficult at best, and at worst some kind of demon possessed freak. While I DO believe there is warfare involved…in fact, I KNOW there is…it’s also more complex than praying the person free or things like that.
I like your ideas of support groups and education. I don’t see it as being successfully implemented at the “institutional” level, but more at the “grass roots” level, if that makes sense.
I couldn’t agree with you more. There is a spiritual warfare present withanyone with mental illness, though where he church misses the boat is when they think that is the stopping point for the illness ad its not – its only part of the formula. Mental Illness is not JUST a spiritual issue. I think that so much of the time (in christian circles or not) that it is an internal or spiritual issue, so I have a tendency to say that it is not a spiritual issue. While I still agree with this statement, I think that it is a spiritual issue just as much as someone who faces a chronic illness needs extra prayer and support to manage the illness – make sense? This prevents us from separating mental illness from other medical illnesses. I think the church is a breeding ground for stigma associated with mental illness and this finds its way into the rest of society.
Thanks as always for your feedback! You’re keeping me on my toes
Blessings,
Sara
“I think that it is a spiritual issue just as much as someone who faces a chronic illness needs extra prayer and support to manage the illness – make sense?”
Yes, this is true! I never thought of it that way, but that is a great way to put it.
We found your blog on twitter and had to browse. Marriage and Bipolar is such a neglected issues and as the church’s lack of understanding with mental illness as well. Great job in addressing both.
Thank you so much for the feedback. I’m glad that you are enjoying the content. Unfortunately stigma is RAMPANT in the church and it has gotten to the point that when mental illness plagues a family many times the church doesn’t even know about the struggle due to the stigma. Hopefully we can do something to change that. I plan on checking out your site!
Blessings,
Sara
What a special gift you have – a heavy burden, yet still a gift, Sara.
My very best female friend in the whole world is living with mental illness (depression & anxiety & so much more) She can’t be the person I knew years ago, but my sister-love for her remains. Her husband remains faithful in being her spouse, her advocate, her support, eventhough he misses the wife he married.
Both of our families are in ministry. My husband is a minister, and my friend’s husband has let go of his active ministry because it’s too much for the family right now. I believe every minister should go through training on mental health issues. Every minister and their spouse. (I LOVE NAMI – and recommend it all the time!)
Mental health IS a spiritual issue. It must be supported in the church community. When one part of the ‘body of Christ’ hurts – we ALL hurt.
Lori, thank you so much for leaving this very encouraging comment. I checked out your site and love your mission! I haven’t touched on this topic quite yet, but I firmly believe learning how and when to encourage my spouse was a key ingredient to turning our marriage around. Thank you for sharing your personal experience with your friend who suffers from mental illness. Your story is one that is told many times over when the illness can change the loved one so drastically that we don’t even recognize them any longer. This is where unconditional love becomes very important. Churches are very inadequately informed and prepared to handle mental illness, though this is not an excuse. Next to helping other couples facing mental illness in their marriage helping churches be more prepared and equipped to handle and address mental illness in their congregation is a huge passion of mine. Don’t get me wrong mental health is a spiritual issue in that those struggling from mental illness need to feel as though they can be embraced by the church through this struggle. However, I believe that mental health IS NOT a spiritual issue in that it isn’t a direct result of unresolved sin or previous life choices. Thanks for reading and for leaving the feedback!
Blessings,
Sara
This is a great discussion. You know, at the very least I think that if pastors knew the people in their congregation who deal with this issue and have experienced victories and are daily overcoming, they could send folks that are struggling to people like us. But…either people don’t share that part of their lives (stigma) or they’ve simply left the church completely. It’s sadly only one of many “taboo” topics that the church doesn’t effectively address. I agree, Lori, it would be great if pastors could go through mental health training…but then they’d have to go through all kinds of other training too…autism training, domestic violence training, sexual abuse training, addiction training…it would never end. It would be, I think, better for them to delegate those needs to 1)folks in the congregation for support, and/or 2)the community resources available, and work with them. I think what hurt me is that instead of working together with the mental health community, I was given a subtle, but powerful, message of not to trust them, that the answers were “only God” or “only in the Bible” and the “horrible secular mental health” people would only lead me away from God. And perhaps that was also my own thinking as well, out of my desire to truly seek God in all things. We grow and learn. Bless you, Sara! You are providing a valuable service. And bless you Lori for being a good friend.
I want to become equipped to lead a mental health support group for Christians. Any suggestions for the type of training I should pursue? It seems like the “secular mental health” people mentioned above are not able to show us how to find help in God or in the Scriptures. Pastors definitely need at least an overview of mental illness. It is not just spiritual. My husband is one of the godliest people I have ever met! He doesn’t complain, he helps everyone,he never looks at other women with lust, he never feels like he’s better than anyone else, and all of his faith is in the Lord for everything!! He’s almost perfect, in fact, when he isn’t having symptoms of his mental illness. So it is NOT a matter of an active sin in his life! However, there is healing and hope in the Lord in spite of the stigma in the church, and I am not ready to give up on God yet!! And I’m sure you all aren’t either. But I think digging out the answers to the questions I have about the issue may take some digging into the Bible and prayerfully reading a lot of books. I’m reading a book right now called *What Demons Can Do to Saints* by Merrill F. Unger (Moody, 1991.) Anyway, I hope things are going well now for all of you sisters who have posted comments here. Much love to you all!