Dr. Brian Briscoe is the Co-Chair of the National Psychiatry Section of the Christian Medical and Dental Association, has a gratis faculty appointment at the University of Louisville’s Department of Psychiatry, and is the author of numerous scholarly articles on psychiatry.
But he’s also a practicing psychiatrist who treats patients around the clock, and runs Next Step 2 Mental Health in Louisville, Kentucky, where he and his team work to provide care and treatment to patients in the greater Louisville area.
Oh, and he’s just about as nice a person as you’ll meet.
I recently chatted with Dr. Briscoe about a few common objections Christians have to psychiatric treatment.
Our conversation has been edited for brevity and clarity.
HEINZE: There are a lot of Christians who suffer from punishing depression, but are worried about taking the antidepressants that their doctor prescribed.
Christians say things like, “I’ve struggle with depression my whole life. I’ve tried Bible study groups, I’ve tried praying, but I’m still depressed. My doctor says I should go on antidepressants, but I’m worried about two things.
First, that I’m giving up on Christ as my rock.
After all, I’ve been taught to rely on him in times of trouble, and some churches say using antidepressants is giving up on God.
And second, I’m worried it’s going to fundamentally change who God has made me to be.”
What would you say to someone with those two worries?
BRISCOE: I think it’s good to process those worries. They shouldn’t be discarded. They’re worries to be respected and listened to.
I would encourage them to think that God gives us things in this world that are intended to be helpful, and the more I’ve been around, the more I see he gives us agents of mercy.
I sometimes see medication as an agent of mercy.
There’s the story of the man who’s stuck in his house, and there’s a hurricane, and the waters are coming up. He says, “God, please help me,” and someone comes to him in a truck and says, “Get in the truck.” And the other man says, “No, God’s going to help me.”
Then someone else comes in a boat and says, “Get in the boat,” and he says, “No, God’s going to help me.”
Then the helicopter comes and he turns it down and says, “No, God’s gonna help me.”
Then he drowns and asks Jesus at the gate, “Why didn’t you help me?” And Jesus says, “I was there to help you!”
I’ve seen these medicines be a big blessing to people and really, really help in time of need.
I’ve worked with a lot of people with severe, clinical depression.
To say that we’re intended to be someone who’s severely depressed and unable to get out of bed?
That’s a state of illness. There’s something wrong, and it’s okay to seek out a medical treatment.
You don’t take a medication unless you’re sick.
But if you’re clinically depressed and you’re not functioning well, the medication can make it so you can go about life, functioning. And of course, you’re going to feel better at engaging in life.
There’s also an aspect of depression that involves “anhedonia,” which is an inability or diminished ability to experience joy or pleasure.
That’s a biological process.
Let’s say you’d normally enjoy going to a movie or throwing your grandchild in the air.
If you’re clinically depressed, that joy or pleasure is diminished.
Likewise, in your relationships, when you see someone you love, your ability to experience that joy or pleasure is diminished.
That happens in your horizontal relationships.
It also happens in your vertical relationship.
When you’re clinically depressed, your ability to experience joy and pleasure towards God is affected.
God is still with you, but your internal experience of that is diminished.
And when people are depressed, they will often feel that God is distant.
Many times — assuming the medication is right and improves the underlying anhedonia — your spiritual experience improves, your connection in your horizontal relationships improves, your joy and sense of pleasure is restored.
HEINZE: Yes, when you’re depressed, you’re pessimistic about everything and that extends to your relationship with God.
When I started taking the right combination of medications, suddenly my negativity towards everything in life, including God, was eased. Once my doctor finally found the proper mix of medications, my perspective of God’s love changed. Intellectually, it didn’t change. But experientially, it did.
Now let me ask you about clinical anxiety.
Some Christians bash others over the head with Christ’s words in Matthew, “Don’t worry about tomorrow.”
Worry is a symptom of clinical anxiety. How do you view that verse, in light of clinical anxiety?
BRISCOE: The older I get, the more wisdom I see in Christ’s words about not worrying about tomorrow. About living one day at a time.
The more I read in other wisdom literature — whether its Stoic philosophies or Eastern philosophies — everybody is saying the same thing. “Live one day at a time. Distance yourself from the worry.”
There’s something to that and, incidentally, that’s what our modern psychotherapy teaches.
There’s wisdom in that.
What we fail to understand is that it is extremely hard for some people – either because of how they’re wired or because of past experiences or traumas they’ve had.
We’ve turned into judgment to condemn what Christ was probably intending as advice for life.
Focusing on living for today is a very healthy way for me to live.
But for me to look at another individual and judge them for not doing that, that’s a sin on my part.
If you have PTSD, you’re perceiving threats around every corner because that’s what your brain has been wired to do. I don’t think that’s sinful.
If you’re having panic attacks out of the blue because your body is firing adrenaline, that’s not a sinful kind of thing. That’s what your body is doing.
Anxiety is a physiological phenomenon, and it can be a psychological phenomenon, and we have to be careful about applying any kind of dogma to it to try to oversimplify it.
It’s a lot more nuanced.
There are situations that are purely physiological, and there are other situations that are mostly psychological.
We have to be very thoughtful about calling something a sin that probably in most cases isn’t.
HEINZE: I think about it this way. When Jesus says, “Don’t worry about tomorrow,” he’s saying, “You don’t have to worry about tomorrow.”
My six year old son is freaked out by dogs, and I tell him, “Don’t worry about that dog, buddy, I gotcha.” I’m not issuing a moral imperative. I’m not giving him a “don’t” like I if I tell him, “Don’t hit someone.”
I’m telling him that I love him and will protect him because I’m his dad. I certainly don’t think he’s doing anything wrong if he’s still worried about that dog! The verse seems more about the nature of God than any moral command.
Okay, switching gears.
A lot of Christians are skeptical of antidepressants because of “Big Pharma.”
They say “Big Pharma” is just trying to monetize “feeling blue,” that antidepressants are just a giant scam.
You’re a psychiatrist.
Talk about that.
BRISCOE: Well, like with any human endeavor, there’s a mix of sin and goodwill.
There’s no question the pharmaceutical companies are making a lot of money, but that doesn’t mean that depression doesn’t exist and that antidepressants don’t work.
Medications do work, and depression is a very real thing.
The pharmaceutical companies also have to invest a lot of money in research. It takes a ton to do all this research.
I couldn’t tell you how much they profit off it, but most good physicians – if you have a good psychiatrist – they’re going to prescribe what’s going to be most effective.
They’re going to see through the smoke.
HEINZE: Thanks so much for your time, Dr. Briscoe!
*****************************************************************************************************************************
I want to add one comment.
If you’re a patient, struggling with depression, anxiety, OCD, or any other battle like myself, please get in touch with a psychiatrist.
Whenever our family moves to a new place, the first thing I do is look for a psychiatrist because I know that’s the most critical piece of my medical care. Of course, find a primary care doctor, as well, but I Yelp psychiatrists before anyone else.
So if you’re struggling and on the fence about looking for care, at least make a call and see if you can find a fit…
Find a psychiatrist here.
Find a therapist here.
And first and foremost, if you’re having thoughts of harming yourself or others, please call the National Suicide Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255.
