Is there a Balance between an
Awesome God and Mental Health?
Each of
these issues in there own right could cause serious life problems for the
individual. They cause arguments,
miscommunication, frustration, anger, resentment, and who knows how long this
list could be. Family members want the
individuals to just do what is right, get over it, pull themselves up and move
on, don’t sit around an mope all day.
The individual has a sense of confusion, why am I this way? But the despair and inability to kick these
feeling just keeps looming overhead, and frustration and confusion are the norm
of the day.
I talk with family
members that believe that I along with others in the health care community are
the miracle worker of the century, that we can tell them it’s OK and it will
change. If a family member enters
treatment for a few weeks, and goes to a few meetings they will all get
better. The sad part is that at one time
I believed this too. I have spent over
20 years in pastoral ministry serving from the children’s pastor, youth pastor,
to the pastorate. I visited church
member at the psychiatric wards, and had no clue why they were there. The doctor would describe symptoms and
diagnosis such as Bi-Polar, schizophrenia, anxiety disorder, even something
called depression. I remember visiting
the psychiatric ward of Children’s hospital, and them describing Attention Deficit
Disorder, depression, and separation anxiety disorder.
I would leave confused, because in my mind I serve
an Awesome God, who could and would
heal if these people would just pray and believe. Twenty years ago I entered the Chemical
Dependency field as a counselor. I began
to develop and understanding of addiction and the mental health of
individuals. As my counter parts within
the faith-based community I continued to struggle with mental health issues. Then one day I sat with a very special individual
that taught me the power of God. He
shared the story of the Apostle Paul praying three times for God to remove the
thorn from his life. God’s reply was “My
Grace is Sufficient for you.” As he
continued, he shared a very interesting point, Paul never states what the thorn
is, therefore, we can place our thorns or burden there and remember “Gods Grace
is Sufficient for me.” He took me back
many years ago at the age 19 when my personal family Doctor diagnosed me with
arthritis, and I have been on medication for years, does that make my faith any
less? God grace continues to be
sufficient for me to continue to walk and function in a normal manner even when
it hurts.
That individual has been one of my dearest friend,
and remains one my mentors for in the field of counseling. I’m learning that “God Grace is sufficient”
to help individuals that suffer from any mental health issue. I now have the privilege to serve as Assistant
Minister and as a Substance Abuse Counselor, working with a number of patients
in my counseling position that bring this long list of dual-diagnosis with them
to treatment. The ironic thing is as
pastor’s we work with individuals that may have mental health issues, without
knowing it. We sit sorting through the
emotional baggage that has taken them on a ride of destruction. Today, I still believe without reservation
that “God is an Awesome God.” However, now I look at the mental health
profession with the same respect and admiration as I do the medical
professional. I have seen first hand the
effects of medication for treating anxiety disorder, depression, and post-traumatic
stress disorder.
Research has
shown that some mental health issues are a result of chemical imbalance within
the brain. Some within the faith-community
would like to debate this issue, and place all issues of mental health within
the spiritual realm. If they would only
pray and trust God. However, we have
seen from brain scans, and research done by both the medical community and
mental health community that there are some biological causes that can
contribute to mental health issues.
I have seen people sit and communicate with a
therapist of their choice and begin the process of making sense of what is
happening in their life. I personally
feel that most mental health issues a person address is the result of events
that have happen in the past and the individuals current inability to sort
thorough them without help. The
individual that struggles with depression and loneliness, as a result of a
father leaving the home at young age.
They function normally most of the times, but events happen and they
become depressed due to their concept of loss.
Or the individual that have what is called Anti-social personality and
can’t get along with anyone because, as a child mom passed away, and everyone
else helped dad raise the child, and boundaries are not a word he likes to
hear. The feeling that society gave him a raw deal is now reason to make
everyone else’s life miserable.
What do we do?
If I had that answer, I would write a book, do the talk show circuit,
and become famous. But honestly don’t
see that all happening. What I see is
individuals within the professional community of mental health, and the
faith-community coming together to help people to find solutions and skills to
cope with these major issues in their life.
Mental health is not about individuals being crazy, it about individuals
that need a loving and awesome touch from God, and a helping caring hand from
family and friends. With the additional
help of whatever resource weather it is a medical doctor with medication,
professional psychologist with years of training in mental health issues, or a
pastor that just loves them where they are.
Together we can and will make the difference.
