All Christians

Barna Group, a Christian-based research group started by David Kinnaman, recently conducted a study on how marriage and parenting impact an individual’s understanding of forgiveness. Per the description of the product, this report covers:

• New data and infographics about prevailing attitudes and practices of mercy and justice in the Church
• An overview of how people define, offer and accept forgiveness in their daily lives
• Gaps between practicing Christians’ and pastors’ perceptions of how churches facilitate hope and healing
• Details about how life stage, generation and political ideology factor into expressions of compassion 

Through personal experience and hearing shared experiences of other people, I have concluded that in most cases of any mental illness, people, and more specifically Christians, don’t know what to say. This comes down to a lot of stigma surrounding overall mental health, in the Church and out, but I’ll save that for another post. I’ll just say that what you do or don’t say to someone can really change their life; the Bible isn’t kidding when it says that the power of death and life are in the tongue.

Below I have compiled a few lists of things that you should and shouldn’t say to someone who has just shared with you their struggle.

I’ve been on a search for a great book that addresses not only Christian faith, but how it intersects with mental health. We know there is way too much stigma within the church on mental health. Some books have been advertised as addressing this, but it missed the mark. Troubled Minds is by far the best book I have come across so far that fully and fairly addresses the issue of mental health in the church.

Money is a huge issue with regards to an individual. For some, it’s their ticket to freedom or barrier to success. It’s what shatters dreams of college, causes significant anxiety and grief with bankruptcy, and yet we can end up turning into gods instead of our focus on God the Father.

For others, money is an issue. My wife and I took the Prepare & Enrich Marriage Assessment and our biggest need for growth? Money. Dave Ramsey has a research company and last year reported this:

According to a new survey by Ramsey Solutions, money fights are the second leading cause of divorce, behind infidelity. Results show that both high levels of debt and a lack of communication are major causes for the stress and anxiety surrounding household finances.

For those of you who do not have a lot of experience or understanding of mental health symptoms and do not know what to look for or if you are a pastor at your church and want to do a quick five minute training for your volunteers on the warning signs of mental health, this is for you.

Mental health is a disease that has a silent and strong grasp on our culture. We don’t want to talk about it which is why we have to do events like May being Mental Health Awareness Month. There is a renewal in pop culture on removing the stigma, yet the church has more it could do.

As a Christian with mental health, it can be isolating and frustrating. Whether you are a missionary with depression, a pastor with bipolar, or someone wanting to attend church with social anxiety or ADHD, there are many barriers to attending Christian events and developing your own spiritual formation.

I don’t normally break the fourth wall and talk personally about experiences as I want this website to be a resource for mental health professions and churches to begin a dialogue on how we can unite together more. But this is one of those intersections where my personal experience can be an example, where my church is helping break the stigma of mental health.

Brian Johnson is the founder of Bethel Music and WorshipU, and integral in the production of over fifteen albums that have influenced the culture of worship across the global church. Brian has written or co-wrote Christian songs to include Undone, No Longer Slaves, Love Came Down, Forever, and One Thing Remains. The book When God Becomes Real is a look at his life and how anxiety impacted his formulation of all of these things he accomplished.

Of course, I didn’t know who Brian Johnson was before I read this book, so I came into this book not knowing anything about him and completely different expectations.

For those who may struggle with their relationship with their significant other, whether married, engaged, or dating, loving them can sometimes be a bit difficult. The reasons can be many, money, sex, parenting, and hobbies tend to be the highest identified reasons.

But the Gottman Institute, a research-based relationship model, talks about how none of these things are actually causing conflict. In fact, conflict doesn’t have to mean you love your spouse less.

So what is the biggest reason? They say it’s all about how you invest in your relationship and if you are fighting, you haven’t been investing in your relationship.

Previously, we shared statistics on substance abuse and overdose impacting America and today wanted to couple it with mental health statistics. The following mental health statistics are for adults and you.

Why share these? One of the most beneficial things anyone can do with treatment is to talk about it. First, it brings awareness to people. Secondly, it normalizes the situation by bringing to light how many people struggle with it. Finally, it provides support to those who struggle with mental health because now it is okay to talk about and ask questions for help and understanding.

We will include a couple of stats for pastors, but there is a whole study we covered on the blog about mental health statistics in the church which is pretty alarming. Even more so, there is a more recent study talking about how churches do, or do not, support families and those who struggle with suicidal ideation.

[Read more…] about Mental Health Statistics