mental health

This Kind Can Come Out Only With Prayer… And Drugs

Frank

I had a conversation with a woman at a conference a few years ago who was shunned within her church because she suffered from depression and required medication. She was told that her faith was not strong enough and that there must have been some hidden sin that she was refusing to repent of. She was in near-tears as she described how hard it was to even continue in a church fellowship.

Photo credit: Alaina Abplanalp Photography

Although I couldn’t specifically relate, I did know from experience that some things require more than just prayer and fasting to overcome. When I was in campus ministry, there was a brother who was bi-polar (oh how that word means so much more to me now than it did then). He was joyful, serving, and although socially awkward he wasn’t unpleasant to be around… so long as he was on his medications. When he’d go off he would typically disappear for a couple of weeks only to turn up again as if nothing happened. Except one time.

I lived only a couple of blocks away from our campus minister on a fairly busy street. Late one night I was working on homework when I heard outside my window someone cussing and cursing and threatening to kill our campus minister. He called him out by name. I was scared, worried he thought our house was his. Because it was dark outside we couldn’t see who it was or tell from where it was coming from. Turns out it was this brother, off his medication. Thank God nothing happened, but it just goes to show how quickly these conditions can lead to violence.

Another, more tragic incident, occurred when someone chose to stop taking their medications because of how it made this person feel. When off, this person was more outgoing and more joyful, but was almost amped up too much. One Sunday morning we were waiting for this person to show up to help usher, but this person never did. This person passed away in their sleep. (And there is much, much more to tell of this story- but it hits too close to home still, so many years later)

And if those personal anecdotes don’t drive home the point, I strongly encourage you to read this post from Wendy Murray over at Patheos. She has similar stories, similar experiences, but they are her own- a pastor’s wife who relies on medications to get through the day.

Ed Setzer in his terrific post on CNN, notes that churches need to embrace that medications are ok. In fact, I like how he puts is: “we should not be afraid of medicine.” Mental illness is not solely a spiritual affliction and taking medication is not a sign someone is weak. I do believe there are spiritual components to it, but that does not negate the genetic, biological, chemical, and neurological imperfections that measurably exist. “This demon can only be driven out by prayer [and fasting].” (Mark 9:29, HCB) I believe if Jesus were alive today he might add “and strong psychotropic drugs”.

But drugs are not the only answer. A lot of research has gone into the effects of food additives and the body’s positive reaction to natural vitamins and stimulants like vitamin B, omega 3s, and caffeine. (A sampling from my family’s bookshelf: What’s Eating Your Child and Potatoes not Prozac)

Besides nutrition faith, hope and love are also necessary to provide a supportive environment to those suffering from mental illnesses. Talk to any parent having to deal with their child coming down from their ADHD medication at the end of the day and imagine them persevering without love. Relate to any parent fighting their local school districts for accommodations for their child with ASD and wonder how they can do so without faith. And for those suffering, it is impossible for me to understand how anyone can survive these maladies without hope.

Yet despite healthy doses of faith, hope, and love plus counseling, medications, and changes to diet there are still casualties like Matthew Warren. I cannot minimize his loss with a hand-wave of “if Pastor Rick had only done such and such or so and so…” So again I bang my drum: mental illness is real; so how can the church help the many of us who are affected?

Suicide, Mental Illness and the Church

Frank

My wife read the headline to me from across the living room. “That can’t be right,” I thought, “it is probably some hoax on Facebook or something.” But as I walked over to the computer to look I saw it was not some random link on social media, but was in fact a real headline.

I don’t know the Warrens. I don’t have any personal contacts at Saddleback Church. Yet the headline made my knees go weak, forcing me to sit down.

Suicide has that effect on me. A few months ago a childhood friend of mine that I hadn’t talked to in many years committed suicide and it put me in a funk for over a week. (Chalk suicide up as news you don’t want to hear about on Facebook) When my uncle committed suicide a couple of years ago, it affected me for months. I’m not sure why this hits me so personally, but it does. My heart and prayers go out to the Warren family.

When Adam Lanza opened fire at an elementary school in Connecticut, there was a brief, strong push to bring mental illness more into the limelight. Unfortunately those voices were drowned out by the movement for stricter gun control. (for the record, this is not a political statement, rather a lament that we are missing the forest for the trees) Maybe this time those of us calling for our country, and now specifically our churches, to acknowledge this growing epidemic will finally be heard.

I thought attention might have been grabbed when just a few months ago a landmark study linked autism, ADHD and depression. One headline from Yahoo read “The Surprising Link Between Depression and ADHD”. Another from the Raw Story went further: “Autism, ADHD, bipolar disorder, depression and schizophrenia share common gene problem”. (two of the top links from a Google search) But for those of us affected by these “categories” of mental illness, this news did not come as a surprise. (And I have more to say about in a future post later this week)

April is Autism Awareness Month. I don’t know if Matthew Warren was diagnosed to be on the Autism Spectrum, but the news does state that he had a history of mental illness and depression. Regardless, this is an issue that our society and our churches need to learn to deal with. Ed Setzer wrote a great article over at CNN that covers many of the bases I planned to so I encourage you to read that whole post. A highlight:

Matthew had the best medical care available, a loving church that cared for him and his family, and parents who loved and prayed for him. Yet, that could not keep Matthew with us.

I’m going to talk more about mental illness and the church this week. My prayer, besides comfort and healing for the Warrens and the community at Saddleback, is for those of you dealing with depression, ASD, or other mental illnesses, personally or relationally, to know that you are not alone. And although headlines such as this may make it feel like there is no hope, there is.