Picture these two scenarios:
- You are on an airplane, and over the loudspeaker a flight attendant says,“If there are doctors or nurses on board, could they please identify themselves as a passenger is experiencing severe chest pains and needs medical attention.” A doctor and two nurses respond immediately, and the passenger with the chest pains is given appropriate help.
- You are in a coffee shop. A customer sitting at the table next to you begins to shake, then gets up and starts stammering uncontrollably. The manager goes over to the shaking customer and says, “I’m sorry, we’re going to have to ask you to leave, as you are disturbing the other customers,” and leads the stammering customer out the door.
Our society knows how to deal with physical ailments. When someone is experiencing chest pain, we get him medical attention. When someone is diagnosed with breast cancer, she has surgery and chemo treatments, and we visit her in the hospital. When an elderly member of the church falls and breaks her hip, we pray for her and send her cards.
Our society doesn’t know what to do with mental health problems. When someone with schizophrenia walks passed us on the street, talking vehemently to the air, we avoid eye contact. When an autistic boy comes up to us, showing us his most recent artwork, we smile awkwardly. When someone is severely depressed, we talk in hushed whispers about her.
Why do we respond in these ways? As a psychology major I’ve been forced to think about this for the last four years. And although I’ve been blessed not to have to deal personally with chronic mental health problems, I’ve developed relationships with numerous people who have. Through my experiences, I’ve come to the conclusion that we respond badly to mental disorders because we can’t wrap our heads around them. If someone has a tumour, they have surgery and get it removed—this is easy to understand. And since cancer has become such an epidemic in our world, when someone is diagnosed we can empathize because we know it could be us next. We don’t have the same understanding for mental disorders.
Yet we should have that understanding. Bipolar disorder generally presents itself between the ages of 17 and 21. Most people with schizophrenia first show signs of it in their twenties. Contracting a mental illness is like contracting any other disease: something goes wrong biologically. More and more studies are proving that mental disorders result from malfunctioning receptors in the brain, or too much serotonin production, or other imbalanced neurotransmitters. Like diabetes or cancer, mental disorders are simply internal biological problems.
This is, of course, a strong statement. And perhaps there is more to mental problems than a chemical imbalance. The issue becomes confusing because many things get lumped into the pile that we call “mental health.” What about the mother who suddenly loses her young son? Her grief and depression are a mental problem brought on by circumstances, not a biological mix up. Often mental disorders are a result of horrific childhood abuse or tragic life events. But even in situations such as these, studies continually show that there are biological roots to mental disorders.
Within Christianity, this idea seems to be particularly foreign. Rather than treating those who have mental disorders with love and grace, the Christian response to poor mental health is often judgmental and close-minded. The response to the young woman with clinical depression is: “Put your trust in God and find joy in the Lord.” The response to the middle aged man with schizophrenia is: “Your relationship with God must be suffering, because demonic forces have a strong grip on you.”
This is not the general response to physical ailments. If someone has a heart disease, perhaps he might be judged because of poor eating and exercise habits, but his spirituality is not questioned. So why should we question the spirituality of someone with a mental disorder?
If we understand that mental health is as much physical as any other disease, we are able to respond to it in ways that are beneficial and empathetic. If we begin to view it as a physical problem, rather than something that is simply “mental” and therefore controllable, we are better able to do something about it. Even if it is only that the next time we encounter someone dealing with a mental disorder, we respond in love rather than fear.
