Hope in the Darkness

by Matt Stanford

Since its very beginning, the Church at large has been a key player in social justice movements to serve and comfort the “least of these.” It’s always stepped up to be the hands and feet of Jesus here on earth, whether the need was with orphans, widows, slavery, poverty, or disease.

Many of these causes grew popular within the Church through broad movements, begun out of necessity because a particular need was so great. Hundreds of millions of people have been served through these movements within faith communities, and even more importantly, hundreds of millions around the world have been exposed to the gospel.

Current, active social justice movements within the faith community include homelessness, human trafficking, poverty, access to clean water, and hunger. These are all important and significant issues, but I’ve often wondered why we’ve never seen a movement within the Church that’s focused on mental illness.

Be aware of the need

The statistics are truly overwhelming. The World Health Organization estimates that worldwide 450 million individuals struggle with mental health problems. In the United States, one out of every five adults (18.6 percent) struggles with a mental disorder in a given year, according to the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH). It also reports an even greater annual prevalence of mental illness among adolescents 13 to 18 years old, at 21.4 percent.

Even more disturbing, NIMH reports that 60 percent of adults and 50 percent of children and adolescents diagnosed with a mental disorder receive no treatment. This statistic is perhaps the most significant evidence of our broken mental health care system.

For those who struggle with a mental health difficulty or disorder—even in one of the world’s richest and most-developed countries—a wide range of difficult and oftentimes impossible barriers hinder people from obtaining proper care. Too few mental health care professionals, a shortage of psychiatric facilities, no transportation, limited financial resources, a lack of knowledge and education, stigma and shame, and misguided cultural beliefs all serve as significant barriers to individuals trying to access care. This inability to access proper care leaves the afflicted and their families confused, frustrated, and hopeless.

Problems with getting mental health care make people in psychological distress more likely to seek out a clergy member or other faith-based organization before any other professional group because they’re easy to access and don’t charge for their services. Psychologists have long viewed faith communities as “mental health gatekeepers”— meaning that churches, missions, and like-minded ministries serve as first responders and a front door to the mental health care system.

Even more disturbing, NIMH reports that 60 percent of adults and 50 percent of children and adolescents diagnosed with a mental disorder receive no treatment. This statistic is perhaps the most significant evidence of our broken mental health care system.

Be the hands and feet of Jesus

Viewed through the eyes of faith, we can understand that this is not an accident, but a heavenly orchestrated, divine opportunity for the church. Unfortunately, few faith leaders have the training necessary to recognize a mental health problem in someone, and even fewer have relationships with mental health care providers in their community to which they could make a referral.

So when a mentally ill person comes to them, faith leaders provide temporary comfort and spiritual guidance but often fail to recognize the more significant underlying mental health issues. As a result, treatment is often delayed, perpetuating suffering and shame both for the individual and his or her family.

Because of Christ’s power within His people, our ministries can be sanctuaries for the suffering. First Peter 3:8 says, “Finally, all of you, be like-minded, be sympathetic, love one another, be compassionate and humble.” God is sending us people broken by mental illness so they may receive hope and healing.

Mental health is the great mission field of the 21st century, and it’s time that ministries recognize their role. The Church’s involvement in mental health is the missing piece that’s necessary to transform our broken system, making it accessible and more effective.

Faith communities offer the mental health care system four things it currently lacks:

A hope that transcends circumstances.
A holistic perspective.
An ease of accessibility.
A healing community.

Hope is the fuel that drives the engine of mental health recovery. As long as one has hope, the motivation and opportunity for change exists.

Hopeless people give up. Historically, severe mental illness has been conceptualized as a chronic medical condition in which stability is the best possible outcome of treatment. The mental health care system offers hope in the form of symptom reduction and illness management. The Church, however, understands that hope is more than a feel.ing; hope is a person—Jesus Christ. Hope in Christ transcends circumstances and sustains us when the world around us sees the situation as hopeless.

Secondly, the person struggling with a mental health problem needs a holistic approach to “treatment” that takes into account all aspects of his or her being: physical, mental, spiritual, and relational. Treatments and interventions that focus solely on a single aspect bring limited relief at best. A holistic mental health approach, however, is comprehensive. It addresses the whole individual.

Physical needs—sleeping well, medication, relaxation, nutrition, exercise.
Mental needs—healthy thinking, coping with problems/stress, mindfulness, cycles and triggers, mental activities.
Spiritual needs—hope, knowing your identity, finding purpose, spiritual growth, living in community.
Relational needs—family and friends, resolving conflict, overcoming stigma, opportunities to serve, forgiveness.

The Church’s holistic view of man offers those struggling with mental health problems a more complete framework for recovery.

Ministries offer an ideal setting for implementing basic helpful interventions. …Services such as these, led by non.professionals, have been shown to be effective in managing symptoms and maintaining stability, and have the added benefits of minimal cost and maximum accessibility.

Thirdly, accessibility is perhaps the biggest problem with our mental health care system, but imagine what could happen if faith communities were equipped to effectively serve in the gatekeeper role that the system expects of them! People in psychological distress who seek out assistance from ministries would be quickly identified and referred for professional care.

In rethinking mental health care, what if ministries were equipped to not only be effective gatekeepers but also places where peer-led mental health services were available on-site? These serv.ices would not replace professional mental health care, but instead, they would serve as an adjunct to those resources.

The mental health care system offers hope in the form of symptom reduction and illness management. The Church, however, understands that hope is more than a feeling; hope is a person—Jesus Christ. Hope in Christ transcends circumstances and sustains us when the world around us sees the situation as hopeless.

Ministries offer an ideal setting for implementing basic helpful interventions such as psycho- education, mental health coaching, and support groups. Services such as these, led by non.professionals, are effective in managing symptoms and maintaining stability, and have the added ben.efits of minimal cost and maximum accessibility.

Finally, a supportive community is necessary for successful mental health recovery. Missions, churches, and like-minded ministries can offer individuals and their families an accepting and supportive environment to pursue healing and wholeness. The call of the church is to “bear one another’s burdens” and to “love one another”; this makes for a community of care and respite from the struggles associated with mental health problems available to the afflicted and their families.

Be the change

Every ministry is different; each has a specific set of needs and available resources. Not every ministry needs to be involved at the same level to transform the mental health care system; it’s only necessary that each congregation become involved in some way. The first step toward developing an environment that promotes hope and healing in those living with mental illness is to break the silence. Here are some simple steps to begin:

As a faith community, pray in a general way each week for anyone who is struggling with a mental or emotional disorder.
Invite those staying with you who live with mental illness to write down their particular spiritual and emotional needs. Read these (anonymously) during prayer times.
Prepare chapel messages that acknowledge the struggles that people with mental illness experience.
Invite a resident or staff member who has struggled with mental illness to share his or her story.
Place brochures and other sources of information about mental illness and available resources somewhere in your mission.
Invite a mental health professional to speak at chapel, or offer a seminar to teach attendees that mental illnesses are brain-based disorders.

If all churches and similar ministries would simply train their staff to recognize mental illness and build relationships with local mental health care providers, they would become effective mental health gatekeepers and increase access to the system. Many organizations offer mental health training that ministry staff can easily access. In addition, a greater level of commitment might include:

Support Groups—Allow organizations that offer mental health support groups—such as National Alliance for the Mentally Ill, Depression/Bipolar Support Alliance, or Alcoholics Anonymous—to use your facility to hold regular weekly meetings. If you’re interested in being more directly involved with support groups, partner with faith-based organizations such as Hope and Healing Center & Institute or Celebrate Recovery to have staff or volunteers trained in leading groups.

Mental Health Coaches—Missions and similar ministries could train a group of people as mental health coaches. Mental health coaches help individuals find ways to obtain and maintain stability, manage difficult symptoms, rebuild relationships, and find purpose for living. Mental health coaches also help to connect people with local professional mental health resources. These individuals would serve in a volunteer capacity, available to receive referrals for mental health issues from your staff.

The ultimate goal is to implement a system of holistic recovery and supportive services in churches using non-professionals working in collaboration with professional mental health care providers.

The fact that individuals living with mental illness seek assistance and counsel from the church should prompt us to rise up and be the hands and feet of Christ to suffering people. A biblical response to mental illness relieves physical and psychological suffering while revealing the unconditional love and limitless grace offered through a personal relationship with Christ. This is done through applying both biblical truth and mental health resources. God is leading His hurting children to us, so let’s start leading them.

Matt is CEO of the Hope and Healing Center & Institute in Houston, Texas, and adjunct professor of psychiatry at Baylor College of Medicine and Houston Methodist Hospital Institute for Academic Medicine. His research on the interplay between psychology and issues of faith has been featured in The New York Times, USA Today, Christianity Today, and U.S. News & World Report.

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