Serious...Mental Health Conditions and Religion

Hey there!~ This is my rant for the night hence its only on my profile!

Today, mental health awareness is really important to me. Honestly, prior to 2021, I never paid much attention to mental health. Not because I thought it wasn't important, and not because I looked down on people who were struggling... I just kept it at a distance. Basically, it was taboo.

I was super religious (Christian) and had an unhealthy perspective of emotions. I was always happy! Any emotion outside of happiness and joy was categorized as demonic. I was taught that if you were anything other than happy and joyful, i.e., sad, angry, hopeless, or depressed, you were influenced by Satan himself. You were a lazy Christian, and if you gave more and did more, you wouldn't feel that way, and so on.

Ironically, I had no problem showing compassion to my Christian sisters and brothers who were struggling with their mental health. I believed it was okay for them to go through difficult seasons because we are human. In fact, I was often the person people in the church came to for support. I even got reprimanded because of how loving and compassionate I was toward them.

But I never gave myself that same grace. Instead, I unconsciously turned those beliefs inward. So, when I was sad, and yes, Christians get sad, I condemned myself, beat myself up, and overworked myself trying to be the "good Christian" who never had any problems.

On top of that, I lived my life not really distinguishing between a serious mental health condition, like schizophrenia, and a less severe condition, like anxiety. To me, all mental health conditions were created equal. Well, let me clarify... I believe every mental health condition should be taken seriously, and every individual should be treated with the utmost care, respect, love and dedication.

I also want to add something that has really been on my heart which is the point of the post!

I've been hearing a lot of conversations about "serious" versus "not so serious" mental illnesses, and I find it disheartening when individuals simply tell someone to "pray it away," "pray it out of them," or say, "You must have generational sins."

For an individual with Bipolar I or Bipolar II Disorder, they were born with a chemical brain disorder, period. Not a demon. Not Satan. Not laziness. A chemical imbalance.

A child who grows into an adult after being raised in an abusive or neglectful home and as a result develops Complex PTSD is not possessed by demons. They didn't choose their parents. They didn't choose the environment they were raised in.

What did the children at St. Jude do to deserve their suffering?

I believe we've reached a point where we are over-spiritualizing physical and psychological conditions, and it's getting out of hand. We're dismissing trauma, abuse, neglect, bad parenting, poverty, and other very real life experiences by slapping a spiritual Band-Aid on legitimate problems.

As someone working in behavioral health, and as someone who once identified as a Christian, I believe we have to do better. We should absolutely pray for people if they desire prayer, but we should also acknowledge that God created medicine, science, psychology, and people with the knowledge and compassion to help others heal. Faith and treatment do not have to be enemies.