There isn’t a ton of empirical data on mental illness and the Protestant church, but there are two important studies you should know about as a starting point. There is both encouraging and discouraging news in both.
One of the most discouraging results is that 76% of pastors and 74% of family members believe a Christian with mental illness can “thrive spiritually, even if their condition is not stable.”
I have no idea how someone who’s drenched in depression, anxiety, or even more significantly, a psychotic disorder, can “thrive spiritually.”
Yes, they can (except for in the case of a severe psychosis) obey Christ, but is rote obedience “thriving spiritually?”
That result says three things.
One, churches still aren’t getting the link between the physical disorder and spiritual walk.
Two, there’s still widespread ignorance about how mental illness affects the body.
Three, the age-old template of shaming is still in place. If someone can “thrive spiritually,” even while their mental condition is unstable, then of course the church won’t show much compassion to the mentally ill.
In this poll result, I suspect there might be a “with God, all things are possible” dynamic at work, where Christians are loathe to say that anything can prevent anyone from thriving spiritually. Yes, with God, all things are possible, but that does not mean all things are probable.
And it is very probable that an unstable mental illness that keeps the Christian from thriving in every other aspect of their life will keep them from thriving in their spiritual walk.
Perhaps this is why 18% say they’ve left a church because of the congregation’s response to their mental health.
One more thing — if you notice I italicized unstable. I don’t like that word, because it implies the individual is a few bad days away from doing something horrible. A better word for that is untreated.
So…yes, it’s completely possible for a Christian with a treated mental illness to thrive spiritually. The church and world is full of people who thrive despite mental disorders. However, it becomes much more difficult for anyone to thrive — in any capacity — with a disorder that is untreated.
Each of the statistics below is probably worthy of its own post, but here’s a laundry list.
These are highlights from Amy Simpson’s extensive survey on mental illness, published in her book on mental illness in the church.
-Only 12.5% of church leaders say mental illness is discussed openly and in a healthy way in their church.
-37% of leaders say someone in church has suffered from a psychotic disorder.
-38.7% of church leaders indicated they had suffered from a mood disorder such as depression or bipolar disorder. These say they feel more equipped to help congregants who are going through the same thing.
-23% of church leaders say they’ve suffered from an anxiety disorder.
-9% of church leaders say they’ve suffered from impulse control and addiction disorders.
-77% of church leaders are approached more than 2x/year for help with mental illness.
-37..9% of church leaders have never reached out to someone in their congregation with mental illness, despite being aware of it.
-30.5% of survey respondents said “mental illness is a reflection of a spiritual problem that must be treated spiritually.”
-29.4% of survey respondents said mental illness is a “behavioral problem caused by a person’s bad choices.
-19.7% said it’s “indicative of demon possession/demonic influence.”
-53.2% of survey respondents say they feel “somewhat equipped” to minister to people with mental illness, 16.1% feel “not equipped at all.”
Another big study comes from LifeWay Research study from 2014 (see pdf here).
-49% of senior Protestant pastors say they “rarely” or ‘never” speak about mental illness in their sermons. 16% say they do once per year. However 60% of those with mental illness in the church want the church to talk openly about it, and 65% of their families do, as well.
-Most pastors (76%) and family members (74%) think Christians with mental illness can “thrive spiritually, even if their condition is not stable.” Only 24% say they don’t know or disagree. Unbelievable.
-79% of those with mental illness had received therapy, and said it was effective.
-This survey has more hopeful results for medication than we’ve seen in the past — 87% of pastors and 54% of those with mental illness say medications should be used, when appropriate.
-18% of mentally ill people have broken ties with a church due to the response from the church; 53% say their church has been supportive.
-Only 56% of pastors “strongly agree” that “local churches have a responsibility to provide resources and support to individuals with mental illness and their families.”
