All Christians

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

Anxiety at it’s best is something that can help motivate someone, but in reality, we tend to overdo it. When anxiety hits, we find ourselves fixated on things we cannot control. At it’s worse, it becomes a disorder that physically alters the brain chemistry of the individual, directly impacting their life with significant problems, failed relationships, and a barrier for someone with their faith.

In the spectrum of Anxious For Nothing, this book definitely leans on talking about the “we overdo it” side and not the clinical diagnosis spectrum. Within the intersections of church and mental health, this book looks to take a subset of anxiety and see how our faith can impact it for the better.

With February right around the corner, conversations of a romantic date are in the air. Reservations are being made, roses are being purchased, and babysitters are starting to come in short supply. But the conversation of date nights for couples who are married and engaged is bigger than this one day. The concerning question is, are Christian’s missing out on date night?

I want to start off this article understanding that there are different seasons for people. Having contracted with the military, I understand it can actually be impossible for people to date at times in their life. Newborns become the most important thing for a moment, big events hit life that can take the immediate focus, and sometimes our own mental health can cause barriers. If dates are not an option, I encourage you to check out our post on improving communication in your marriage. But I want to speak for every other day, the other 40 or 45 weeks of the year.

Not dating is a problem.

On April 5, 2019, we will be in Cleveland, OH attending
Inclusion Fusion Live!, a conference hosted by Key Ministry. We will be present at the “Mental Health Inclusion Ministry” and “Starting A Special Needs Ministry” Intensive workshop.

If you are curious about what it is, here is their “Values” video from last year:

Trauma can happen in any number of forms. Being caught up in a wildfire or flooding, being in, near, or closely linked to a shooting, being the victim or witness of rape, domestic violence, or a car accident all can cause trauma symptoms. This doesn’t even include the every day pains of emotional abuse that can impact us to our core or betrayal and hatred that appear in our daily lives and online.

Why does God allow this to happen?