A Christian Response to Mental Health

Mental health, two words which conjure strong views and emotions. Some believe it to be nonsense or a crutch, others are consumed by it, while others suffer with it in silence. During my lifetime, society has shifted from acting as though it was not real or ignoring it to embracing it and encouraging people to talk openly about it. One doctor told me a few years ago that half of his patients were on anxiety medication and the other half should be.

The Church tends to lag behind society but slowly take the same approach. We can see this with mental health as well; there is growing acceptance of the topic but at a slower pace than outside the Church. Many ungodly practices and beliefs have been accepted by the Church over time, is this just one more? Should the Church reject mental illnesses, accept it as defined by society, or something in the middle? What does Scripture say?

This is a hard article to write, because some Christians believe mental illness is just sinful thoughts while others have adopted our societies methods which are founded in a godless ideology. I recently heard a well-respected pastor and author say that there is no such thing as mental illness, it is all the result of sinful thoughts. If people would think on the right things, all their symptoms would go away.
Further to this, Scripture can be used to support different approaches.

• Philippians 4:6 “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
• Psalm 6:6-7 “I am weary with my sighing; every night I make my bed swim, I dissolve my couch with my tears. My eye has wasted away with grief; it has become old because of all my adversaries.”
• Psalm 34:4 “I sought the Lord, and He answered me, and delivered me from all my fears.”
• Psalm 19:1 “My God, my God, why have You forsaken me?”
• Psalm 56:3 “When I am afraid, I will put my trust in You. In God, whose word I praise, in God I have put my trust; I shall not be afraid. What can mere man do to me?”
• 1 Cor. 2:3 “I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling.”
•  1 Pet. 5:7 “Casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you.”
• John 14:27 “Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful.”
• 2 Cor. 1:8-10 “For we do not want you to be unaware, brethren, of our affliction which came to us in Asia, that we were burdened excessively, beyond our strength, so that we despaired even of life; indeed, we had the sentence of death within ourselves so that we would not trust in ourselves, but in God who raises the dead; who delivered us from so great a peril of death, and will deliver us, He on whom we have set our hope.”
  

This is also a difficult article to write because it is intensely personal. I am a planner, an organizer, a worrier and I internalize my stress. My frown lines confirm this. My brother is the opposite; he is easy-going, impulsive, a happy-go-lucky guy. I remember asking him fifteen years ago how he deals with anxiety and panic attacks and he said he doesn’t have anxiety. Great. I’m very glad for you, but that doesn’t help me.

From 2007-2010 I lived with very high levels of anxiety. Many days were bad enough that I was concerned that I was having a nervous breakdown. Concentration was difficult, my thoughts raced, I had regular panic attacks with nausea and shortness of breath, I hated to be alone, I prayed for the rapture or just for death and I didn’t know how to tell anyone. I confessed my sin; I begged God to take away my anxiety and give me His peace. I continued to read Scripture, but for the first time, the psalms came to life.  David was a warrior, but he also had deep emotions, and many psalms he wrote spoke what my heart felt. 

I clearly remember the day when I prayed and told God that I would stop praying for the anxiety to leave. I would begin to thank Him for my anxiety and the things causing it and would praise Him and pray for others. I discovered a strange thing; God gave me peace amid my anxiety. My symptoms continued, but they lessened in intensity. In the years since, I have had many days of anxiety and I have discovered some lasting consequences of that period. I cannot work as hard. I cannot handle the same level of stress. I must consciously limit my output to about 75% capacity, which is frustrating and humbling. This last winter was the hardest season I have had since 2010.

I believe there are a variety of causes of mental illnesses; genetics and personality types play a role as this seems to run in families; traumatic events, stress, and exhaustion all play a part, not unlike our physical bodies. 

After years of burning wood in an outdoor boiler to heat our house I have permanently damaged my back. I can try to ignore this but with very painful results. It is humbling to ask for help but it is foolish to pretend my back is strong.

Some people use mental health to gain attention or as an excuse for sinful choices. I am not condoning this behavior at all. My responsibility is to walk obediently before God, to cast my cares upon Him, to trust Him for each day and allow Him to use me as He sees fit. I do not wear my anxiety as a crutch, but I also know there is an ebb and a flow to life, and I must be thankful for my good days and trust God during my bad days. 

He has not chosen to remove this from me, so I will praise Him for His goodness regardless of my day today. 

Psalm 13 has become precious to me as David cries out for help but declares at the end, “I will sing to the Lord, because He has dealt bountifully with me.”

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Trevor Kirsch has been serving at Compass Immanuel church since 1998 and as senior pastor since 2019. He loves to teach. He and his wife, Twyilla, have three adult children and four grandchildren. ​