Christians are divided about the concept of mental illness. They are also divided about how any apparent distress should be treated.
In this
post, I look at divine healing of people with diagnosed mental disorders. I also consider other ways
Christians view mental disorders and how they might go about helping people in
distress.This is the third post in a series looking at psychology and divine
healing, which is also called supernatural healing and faith healing.
In the
first post, I identified five types of divine healing. Essentially, there is a miraculous
type where the healing is attributed to God and there is no obvious human
intervention. The other types are variations on a theme in which God is involved
by a person with an identified condition from which they desire to be healed.
In addition to petitioning God for healing, they also seek professional help or
use other resources like medications and products considered natural. The
inclusion of God is usually through prayer with or without additional practices
like anointing with oil and laying on of hands but these practices need not be
the only way people include God.
I have studied
the divine healing literature over many years. Recently, I reviewed new
findings when I wrote Counseling and Psychotherapy with
Pentecostal and Charismatic Christian (2020). This post offers a summary and considerations
of how Christians connect divine healing to mental illness.
What does healing mean
when applied to mental illness?
Healing typically
refers to the process of being healed from an identified condition. A person is
healed when they are free from an injury, disease, or impairment. We also use
healing to mean a restoration to health. Most of our cuts heal naturally. A
broken bone takes time to heal. When people regain function following a stroke,
we may use the word recovered but we mean they are healed unless their recovery
is incomplete.
Mental
health professionals refer to mental illnesses as mental disorders. The nature
of the disorders vary. Researchers find biological bases for conditions like
depression and anxiety. Psychoactive medications and psychotherapies help many
people with mental disorders. But mental disorders include personality
disorders, substance use disorders, learning disorders, and intellectual
disabilities, which are different from depression and anxiety. What does it
mean to be healed of a personality disorder, alcohol dependence, a learning disorder,
or an intellectual disability[i]? Is
the concept of healing even applicable? We may reasonably assume that these and
similar disorders involve the brain. Psychotherapies or educational
interventions can help reduce the difficulties caused by problematic
personality traits or difficulties in learning.
Treatment
programs using multiple modalities help people break free from substance
dependence. By the term break free we mean they no longer feel compelled
to take a substance. Substance dependence has been called a disease. The discussion
about substance dependence as a disease can take many pages to sort out;
however, if substance dependence is viewed as a disease then healing makes
sense if the person previously diagnosed with substance dependence no longer has
the disease.
In some
perspectives, people say “I am an alcoholic” even if they are no longer using
alcohol. This usage can make sense when people struggle to recover from a
relapse and realize they need help to maintain abstinence to avoid a relapse.
In this way, substance dependence is not like a cut or broken bone but it might
be like a cancer that was thought to be cured but returns, or a medical
condition that requires continuous treatment by diet or medicine for the rest
of one’s life. The discussion about the nature of substance dependence is
complicated. From a pragmatic perspective, I suggest we should always look for
effective treatments supported by evidence. I suppose to be healed from
substance dependence means the person no longer uses the substance and no
longer desires the substance.
A healed
personality might
mean functioning without any interfering behavior patterns but there are many
variations in personality so healing seems to be a metaphor. Some people appear
to change dramatically following conversion but that does not always happen.
You’ve probably met Christians with annoying personality traits. In many cases,
these personality characteristics persist into late life.
What about being healed of a
learning disorder, memory impairment, or intellectual disability?
Often,
people are born with these and similar conditions. The ability to learn,
remember, and solve problems varies widely from little to no ability to
incredible abilities that are far beyond what average people can do. So how would
anyone know that healing occurred? Does healing mean an improvement from severe
limitations to average abilities? Is healing even an appropriate concept?
Consider that problems of learning, memory, and intellectual capacity to solve
problems all involve the brain. Sometimes these cognitive problems follow
injuries to the brain and sometimes people enter life with these limitations,
which persist for their entire life.
In many
cases, the diagnosis of a learning disorder is a relative concept, which refers
to difficulty in learning due to psychological processes. Most of us have
difficulty learning some things. Some people excel at learning. What would it
mean to be healed of a learning disorder?
Memory is a
complex concept. We remember some things better than others. Poor memory is a
common complaint. Memory can become impaired due to disease or injury. Some
people enter life with the capacity to remember things far below or far above
others. What would it mean to be healed of a memory disorder? Does it mean to
be able to remember as well as one’s age peers?
Intelligence
generally refers to the ability to solve problems. Some argue for multiple
intelligences. The debate about intelligences need not concern us here. Most of
us recognize that some people have a high level of intelligence meaning they
quickly solve difficult problems. They may have been in classes for gifted
students in school. In contrast, some people have difficulty understanding and
solving problems that most people can do without much difficulty. In extreme
cases, they were likely provided with special education services designed to
maximize their ability to learn practical life skills. Their parents likely
worried if their children would be able to survive without adult caregivers.
What would it mean to be healed? Would it mean to be average? Why not better
than average?
Healing
and Relationships
People talk
about broken relationships. Breakups hurt. We generally use the terms broken
and hurt as metaphors. Though clearly, the sense of heartache
involves the emotional centers of our brains. Hurts can be healed in the sense
that we stop hurting. The emotional pain can lessen with time. But
relationships involve more than one person. In cases where there is reconciliation,
we may speak of a healed relationship. In the case of a reconciled
relationship, healing is a metaphor. I suppose it is reasonable for Christians to
speak about divine healing of a relationship when reconciliation is complete.
But again, this is more of a metaphorical sense of healing and not at all like
the healing of a broken bone or the absence of a previously identified cancer.
Some Christians, for example evangelicals, speak of a relationship with God. Research indicates depression interferes with that relationship.
Depressed persons were more likely to indicate that they felt unloved by Godor angry at God, indicators of relational disruptions similar to patterns seenin interpersonal relationships of those with depression. (Klukow, 2012, p. iv)
Mental
Illness and Personal Responsibility
Some
Christians reject the concept of mental illness. They may say a person’s
condition is “all in their mind” and the “cure” of what ails them is to “get
over it.” I recall a preacher telling hundreds of people in the audience to
“get a ladder and get over it.” For those who cannot seem to pull themselves
out of a condition, the solution is to ask God for help. Thus, the remedy
is prayer and getting close to God through spiritual practices like Bible
study. In short, they are not ill and they don’t need psychological care. Using
a medical term like healing doesn’t fit well in the framework of conditions due
to personal responsibility.
Mental
Illness and Sin
Some
Christians reject the concept of mental illness and attribute the observable symptoms
or condition to personal sin. The remedy is theological. Sin must be identified
and confessed. The truly repentant get on with life and “sin no more.” For
example, a person who is living in a sinful relationship needs to confess the
sin and end the relationship in order to get well. This belief in mental
illness as sin does not preclude seeing a Christian clinician but the person
may be more comfortable with pastoral counseling or a form of counseling called
biblical counseling, which relies on biblical texts and prayer as
interventions. Using a medical term like healing doesn’t fit well in the
framework of sinful conditions.
Mental
Illness and the Devil
According to Gary Tyra (2020), references mentioning spiritual opponentsto the Christian life occur 238 times in the New Testament.To be more specific, he includes the following high-frequency references:demons or demonic (92), Satan (37), the devil (35), and the evil one (34).(Sutton, 2021, p. 275)
“Gary, I told you at the very beginning of this ordeal that it was purposeful,that I wanted to teach you lessons about dealing with the devil,and that the key to your victory was in your hands:your willingness to engage in the spiritual warfare movesI’ve already made you aware of.”
(Gary Tyra p. 13 in Sutton, 2021, p. 278)
A young man[ii] screamed and writhed on the floor. He was surrounded by Christians praying for his deliverance for hours. The next day, he was taken to a Christian counselor who diagnosed him as having an intellectual disability and did not think the man understood the concept of demon or demonic in the sense of supernatural beings causing his behavior.
As I wrote
about in Counseling and psychotherapy with Pentecostal and
Charismatic Christians (2021), many Christians believe that various
conditions called mental disorders are caused by, or influenced by, the Devil
or demons.[iii] In
the Christian tradition, the Devil or Satan is an invisible and powerful
supernatural being and the demons are like evil angels.
This belief in demonic causes of mental illness does not
just apply to Pentecostals but is widespread among Christians throughout the
world. In some cases, Catholics request exorcism to gain freedom from demon
possession. Protestants generally the term deliverance and involve
mature Christians in praying for deliverance. Catholic and Protestant clergy interview
the distressed person and seek to discern whether the person’s condition is due
to demonic activity or another source such as a mental disorder.
There are variations in the beliefs about the role of the
devil or demons in peoples’ lives. Some refer to demon possession and mean that
in some sense, a demon has taken control of a person causing distress,
vocalizations (including speech), and uncontrolled behavior. Others refer to demonic
oppression and mean a type of spiritual harassment that causes considerable
distress. Still others talk about spiritual warfare in which the devil or
demons causes personal difficulties including illness or problems in their
business as well as problems in their relationships.[iv]
Many clinicians take Christians seriously when they speak of
problems with supernatural evil. In such cases, they often involve clergy. Some
clinicians share similar beliefs with their patients whereas others do not
believe in the devil or demons. Some Christian clinicians who do not believe in
a literal devil or demons view the biblical stories as true accounts of the way
people understood mental illness thousands of years ago. Some clinicians and laypeople
use the word devil or demon in a metaphorical sense.
Here are some data about devils and demons from research studies.
A few years earlier (Jagel, 2013), a YouGov survey asked Americans about demonic possession. The results for belief in a devil are close to the Gallup results (57% believed in the existence of the devil). When asked if they believed “someone can be possessed by the devil or some other evil spirit,” more than half or 51% responded “yes,” 28% said “No,” and the “Don’t Know” response was 20%. For the most part, the participants rarely thought people were possessed (45%), but 29% did endorse the possibility of possession “occasionally.” What about exorcism? Nearly half believed in the power of exorcism (46%) to drive out the devil or evil spirits—only 19% did not believe in exorcism, and 36% reported they “don’t know.” (Sutton, 2021, p. 280)
In general, if a condition is understood as primarily caused
by the devil or demonic activity and the intervention is spiritual such as
exorcism or deliverance, then it seems the concepts of healing or divine
dealing do not apply.
Psychotherapy
and Divine Healing
This review showed, in almost every study, that religion in general,religious training, spirituality, faith, prayer, religious community andworship were associated with reduced anxiety (stress).These effects were observed in both healthy individuals and invarious patient populations. In addition, a number of studiesdemonstrated that religious based treatment intervention was helpfulin the treatment of anxiety. (Stewart et al., 2019)
I’m a psychologist. I provided counseling and psychotherapy for decades. I have also evaluated various dimensions of human functioning to help with the selection of treatment or making decisions about education, vocational rehabilitation, or eligibility for support services. Many people identified as Christian and prayed about their concerns.
Psychotherapy
has often been referred to as healing. In some venues, psychologists are
considered physicians. Some prescribe medicine. As mentioned before, healing of
some mental disorders is like healing of nonmental disorders because there are
identified biological changes associated with an improved mental state.
However, in other cases, healing is used as a metaphor for recovery from
distress. The title of a well-known psychotherapy handbook includes both
psychological and theological language, The Heart and Soul of Change (
Duncan et al., 2010).
It is
common among Christian clinicians to refer to their work as a ministry,
themselves as healers, and their work as healing. Often the language of healing
is metaphorical. In holistic models, clinicians may refer to healing of the
soul along with gaining relief from emotional distress. In cases where the
patient and clinician include God in the healing process, then they may view
recovery as divine healing.
Reflections and Summary of Divine Healing and
Mental Health
Christians
are divided in their understanding of mental disorders. Some do not agree that
the concept of mental illness or mental disorder exists. Instead, they prefer
to address phenomena that scientists call mental disorders as conditions that
require personal corrective action, the removal of sin, a spiritual problem
caused by supernatural evil beings, or perhaps some combination of the above.
The concept
of healing is a commonly used metaphor for recovery from various mental health
conditions like depression and anxiety. But healing may not always be a
metaphor because mental disorders involve our brains and affect other aspects
of our bodies. Medications directly target biochemistry. And changes can occur
in the brain as a result of psychotherapy. Thus, when there is an identifiable change
in a patient’s physiology, healing of mental disorders is used in the same way
as healing from other medical conditions. In cases where the patient has
included God in the process they may speak of divine healing in the same way as
recovery from cancer, blindness, or another more obvious physical condition,
The concept
of healing makes sense when talking about being free of distressing symptoms
like depressive or anxious thoughts, panic attacks, and hallucinations. But the
term healing is vague when it comes to personality disorders and learning,
memory, or intellectual disorders.
Divine
healing may be aptly applied to situations when people who have prayed no
longer experience previously reported mental health symptoms. Christian
patients along with Christian clinicians often pray for divine assistance
during a course of counseling or psychotherapy with or without medication. When
the patients have recovered, they may also thank God for healing and report
they have received divine healing.
When it
comes to some mental disorders, healing appears to be a metaphor and is not
like healing from cancer or bodily injury. In addition, concepts like disease,
illness, soul, and demonic are also used as metaphors by some Christians. It is
not always clear if the person using these terms thinks of the concepts in a
literal or metaphorical manner.
Christians
appear to respond differently to different conditions within the Diagnostic
Manual of Mental Disorders.[v]
Mental disorders like depression are different from personality disorders,
substance dependence, and intellectual disorders.
People in
distress need assistance. How they understand their condition and the causes of
their condition can make a significant difference in the kinds of treatment
they accept or reject.
The
concepts of healing and divine healing are not used in consistent ways when it
comes to the diagnosis and treatment of mental disorders. From a pragmatic
perspective it may not matter because effective clinicians are skilled at
understanding a patient’s worldview and integrating the patient’s beliefs with
evidence-based interventions.
From a
scientific perspective, the varied use of concepts and the lack of precise
language about conditions, treatments, and spiritual interventions makes it
difficult to understand what patients and clinicians mean by the concepts of healing
or divine healing. As with many cases of healing from general medical
conditions, reports of healing from mental disorders often lack evidence of diagnostic
evaluations and precise descriptions of interventions.
When it
comes to mental health and treatment, skepticism works both ways. Some
Christians are skeptical of psychological scientists and licensed mental health
professionals who rely on evidence-based practices. Likewise, scientists and
mental health professionals may be skeptical when people report undocumented
accounts of divine healing. Skepticism can also be appropriate when the terms
healing or divine healing are used as vague metaphors for recovery due to
treatment by specialists. The division is worsened when people with a mental
disorder refuse evidence-based treatment and pursue alternatives that do not
result in wellness or may actually make matters worse.
Series
posts about Divine Healing
Part 1 Observations and research
Part 3 Mental
Illness & Psychotherapy
Part 4 “Healing”of Sexual or Gender Disorders
References
A
Notes
[i] Intellectual disability is the current term for what
had been called mental retardation.
[ii] The story has been changed to protect the identity of
the person and situation.
[iii] I refer to research in Chapter 14 of Counseling and psychotherapy with Pentecostal and
Charismatic Christians (2021),
[iv] In he process of writing this post, RNS reported the
story of pastor Greg Locke who obtained information about witches in his church
when casting out a demon.
[v] The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental
Disorders is periodically revised. The current edition is 5 and referred to
as DSM-5.
Please check out my website www.suttong.com
and see my books on AMAZON or GOOGLE
STORE
Also,
consider connecting with me on FACEBOOK Geoff W. Sutton
TWITTER @Geoff.W.Sutton
You can read many published articles at no charge:
Academia Geoff W Sutton ResearchGate
Geoffrey
W Sutton
Comments
Post a Comment