Since biblical times, mental disease has existed and been documented. (Matthew 4:23-24, among other biblical sources of mental diseases, not to be confused with demonic possession). But mental disease as told through the eyes of the person suffering has been a recent phenomenon.
From the book Behind the Wall: The True Story of Mental Illness as Told by Parents, I learned the story of Clifford Whittington Beers, a Yale graduate in 1897, who wrote of his own struggles in a book titled A Mind that Found Itself.
Beers’ family had extensive mental illness. When mental illness spans multiple generations within a family, the disease is almost certainly the result of genetic defects. In recent decades the 5-HTT allele (different versions of the same gene contributed by each parent) and the MTHFR gene have been confirmed as two of the sources of genetic defects and mutations that commonly cause behavioral symptoms like depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder and other mental illness.
Beers’ book and the work of other mental disease pioneers led to improved conditions within mental institutions as well as advances in early detection and treatment. But as ‘Behind the Wall…’ sadly reports, “What hasn’t changed is the lack of doctors who know how to treat severe and persistent mental illness, particularly such illness in the young….something else that has not changed is the stigmatization of mental illness.” The struggle faced by many people with mental health issues is overwhelming, due to the disease complexity, lack of understanding by the public and lack of medical practitioners knowledgeable enough to help.
In spite of such daunting challenges, science is gaining rapid understanding of the interaction of nutrition, enzymes and genetic defects. The insight and understanding of mental disease and the application and delivery of solutions to those suffering is at a crossroads.
This is a golden opportunity for the Church to love the most marginalized people in our culture.
How can you help? Stop the stigma of mental disease. Educate yourself so you don’t cause more harm. Be especially patient and kind. The young woman you know with mental disease has extraordinary gifts and abilities that you can bring to flower with your love and support.
None of this is easy; that’s why Jesus said certain conditions and afflictions can only be healed by ‘prayer and fasting.’ It takes great spiritual maturity to reach out to help someone with a mental disease. And spiritual maturity is in short supply, but needed more than ever.
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