Mental health

A Southern Baptist Pastor in Missouri ran 153 consecutive marathons to raise awareness for adoption, foster care, and youth mental health.

In 1935, Portuguese neuroscientist Dr. Egas Moniz pioneered a new procedure to treat symptoms of psychiatric illness. Using a thin instrument, a surgeon could sever the delicate neural connections between the frontal lobe and other parts of the brain. The procedure resulted in significant changes to the patient’s behavior. Despite a mixed reception by the medical community, Moniz received a Nobel Prize in 1949.

In the ensuing decades, the practice of transorbital lobotomies was championed by American psychiatrist Dr. Walter Freeman. He operated on over 4,000 patients and remained a fierce advocate for the procedure long after it fell into disrepute. While some patients seemed to be cured of their psychiatric distress, the main effect of lobotomies was the dismantling of the patient’s personality. According to Freeman’s own numbers, about 73% of his patients remained hospitalized for life or “in a state of idle dependency.” Another 5% died during the operation. Recently in The Washington Post, columnist Megan McArdle pointed to the history of lobotomies as a cautionary tale.

Have our spiritual enemy and our secularized culture been isolating your soul? Being identified with a denomination or even a local church is not enough. The question is: Are you engaged in intentional community within the body of Christ?

Seattle Public Schools is suing several social media companies on the claim that the technology applications are responsible for the mental health crisis among children and teenagers.

Gospel artist Kirk Franklin encouraged people to check in on their loved ones this holiday season following the suicide death of dancer, DJ and television host Stephen "tWitch" Boss.

Marvel actress Letitia Wright reveals in a new interview that her Christian faith rescued her during a time when she was depressed and was considering quitting the industry.

A new study found that nearly 70 percent of Generation Z say their mental health was challenged by the COVID-19 pandemic and a total of 42 percent of Gen Zers say they have been diagnosed with a mental illness.

“The flesh can bear only a certain number of wounds and no more, but the soul can bleed in ten thousand ways, and die over and over again each hour.” Those are words from the iconic 19th century pastor/theologian, Charles H. Spurgeon, who personally understood the silent, unnamed pains of depression.

Just as we are not immune to physical health problems, people of faith are not immune to mental and emotional suffering. The psalmist cried out, “Darkness is my only friend” (Ps. 88:18). Many people in our churches relate to this ongoing sense of loneliness and despair.

Spurgeon’s self-awareness and candor were ahead of his time, but we now know it is estimated that half of us will experience some form of mental illness in our lifetime. “Combining the child and adult populations, more than fifty million Americans today experience at least one diagnosable mental health disorder on any given day. And it’s reported that there are 123 suicides in the U.S. every single day.

As pastors and churches invite people to follow Jesus, we also invite them to bring all of their brokenness into our community of faith. Jesus reconciles people to God, but he will not restore all that sin has stolen until he returns again. So until then, we serve people in their suffering. We voluntarily walk with them through the maze of their emotional, physical, relational, and spiritual challenges. Rather than viewing them as new recruits to serve our church goals, we eagerly join God’s redeeming work in their lives.

The complexities of mental health issues, however, strain pastors and churches in some very practical ways. While we want to help, we are not always sure of our role in diagnosis and treatment of those who suffer in this way. So let’s consider these four guidelines for serving people facing mental health issues:

Photo courtesy: ©Getty Images/KatarzynaBialasiewicz

Captain Johnny Savage recently told CBN News' Prayerlink about how God saved his life after he became lost at sea during a fishing trip nearly 24 years ago.

A growing number of former Christians are struggling with what mental health professionals have called "rapture anxiety," a condition that stems from hearing teachings on the rapture while growing up in church.