Mental health and the church

Recent studies by charity Together have found that six out of ten people in Great Britain have had at least one time in their life when they have found it difficult to cope mentally. In any one year 8-12% of British adults experience at least one diagnosable mental health problem. This means possibly one in every extended family, a few of your friends and maybe even several people in your own church community.

As the stigma of mental problems starts to wear off we are realising what the professionals have known for years: depression and anxiety are not a weakness or a perspective, they are an illness. Mental illness affects people of all backgrounds, socio-economic groups, nationalities and faiths. The World Health Organisation reports that depression alone is one of the leading global causes of disabilities, affecting around 121 million people worldwide.

Dr Rob Waller is a consultant psychiatrist for the NHS. He helped to start Mind & Soul, initially a network of Christian mental health support groups running throughout the country. Now Mind & Soul run successful conferences, training and a resource website for those who work in mental health or have some contact with it personally. He said the website was started to improve awareness and care of mental illness in Christian circles.

“Some people have been told that they ought to pray more, to snap out of it or that they just need more faith. But what they actually need is a healing and accepting community. I was shocked how little the church talked about these problems. The church needs to foster a culture that means that this topic can be discussed if it needs to be. They need to be clear that they are mental health friendly,” he said.

Dr Waller explained there are two groups of mental illness - those with severe and enduring mental illnesses such as schizophrenia, bipolar, severe autism or Alzheimer’s; people who are often recognisably ill.

The other group includes more easily hidden mental illnesses such as anxiety, depression, eating disorders, obsessive-compulsive disorder and self harm. Sufferers can often appear to be the same as everyone else. Although these illnesses are much more common than the more severe mental health issues, they are equally as stigmatised. Many people do not know what to say to people with mental health problems, which only enforces the silence surrounding the topic and the sufferer’s isolation.

Dr Waller says the best way to find out if someone you know is struggling is to simply ask them.

“We often don’t ask because we don’t know what to say. But you don’t have to acquire the skills of a psychotherapist but just the support of a friend,” he said.

Support is so vital because isolation is often both the impulse and enemy of those with these issues. Matthew Hyndman, spokesperson for mental health charity Together, said that isolating himself made his condition worse.

“I was bullied at University and it put me into a downward spiral to the point where most of my days were spent in the house staring at the television. I now realise this is the worst thing you can do, because the more isolated you become, the harder and more unimaginable it seems that you will ever have the courage to enter ‘normal’ life again. It was like a vicious circle, but one I broke in the end,” he said.

So creating caring, accepting communities could be the first step for Christians and churches to help those with mental health issues. But is there any way to avoid these problems? Dr Waller believes that in some cases, mental illness can be prevented.

He said: “If you ask the average man on the street what they are doing to maintain their physical health he will tell you he is going to the gym and cutting down certain types of food etc. But if you asked what they are doing for their emotional health you probably would not get a response even though it is just as important. To maintain our mental health we need to monitor our work and life balance. Setting aside time to worship and reflect is vital.”

Recommended resources
I'm Not Supposed to Feel Like This: A Christian Approach to Depression and Anxiety by Christopher Williams, Paul Richards, Ingrid Whitton (Hodder Christian Books)
Overcoming series e.g. Overcoming Depression: a Self-help Guide Using Cognitive Behavioural Techniques by Paul Gilbert (Constable & Robinson Publishing)
Mind Over Mood: Change How You Feel By Changing the Way You Think by Christine A Padesky and Dennis Greenberger (Guilford Press)
Online Cognitive Behavioural Therapy course www.livinglifetothefull.com
Mind & Soul articles and training details www.mindandsoul.com