On Clergy and Mental Illness

Mental Illness Often Dismissed By Local Church
see http://www.baylormag.com/story.php?story=006239

Has this happened to you?

With research consistently showing that clergy–not psychologists or other mental health experts–are the most common source of help sought in times of psychological distress, a Baylor University study has found that clergy often deny or dismiss the existence of mental illness.

This is believed to be one of only a few studies to look at the experiences which mentally ill people have when approaching their local church for assistance with their troubles.

In the recent Baylor study of 293 Christians who approached their local church for assistance in response to a personal or family member's diagnosed mental illness, Baylor researchers found that more than 32 percent of these church members were told by their church pastor that they or their loved one did not really have a mental illness. The study found these church members were told the cause of their problem was solely spiritual in nature, such as a personal sin, lack of faith or demonic involvement. Baylor researchers also found that women were more likely than men to have their mental disorders dismissed by the church.

In a subsequent survey, Baylor researchers found the dismissal or denial of the existence of mental illness happened more often in conservative churches, rather than more liberal ones.

All of the participants in both studies were previously diagnosed by a licensed mental health provider as having a serious mental illness, like bipolar disorder and schizophrenia, prior to approaching their local church for assistance.

"The results are troubling because it suggests individuals in the local church are either denying or dismissing a somewhat high percentage of mental health diagnosis," said Dr. Matthew Stanford, BS '88, MA '90, PhD '92, professor of psychology and neuroscience at Baylor, who led the study. "Those whose mental illnesses were dismissed by clergy are not only being told they don't have a mental illness, they are also being told they need to stop taking their medication.
That can be a very dangerous thing."

In addition, Baylor researchers found study participants who were told by their pastors they did not have a mental illness were more likely to attend church more than once a week and described their church as conservative or charismatic. However, the Baylor study also found those whose mental illness was dismissed or denied were less likely to attend church after the fact and their faith in God was weakened.

Dr. Stanford's results were published in 'Mental Health, Religion and Culture'.

see also
http://www.ethicsoup.com/2008/10/demon-or-disorder-clergy-dismiss-mental-illness.html

No doubt there needs to be more academic discussion and public education about the connections between mind and spirit. Are the various so-called mental illnesses only another name for classic spiritual disorders? The heart of the issue for Christians is whether to trust in worldly assistance, which is sometimes all even the church ends up actually offering, or to accept that a combination of prayer and counsel and medicine might be required. We must also not forget that clergy too are human and suffer from various psychological and/or spiritual conditions.

A witness that Jesus does heal through friends, family and... yes...sometimes through doctors!

Richard Alastair

Crazy or Genius?

Back in 2002 it was reported (in ScienceDaily - May 22/02)
that Stanford Researchers had Established a Link Between
Creative Genius And Mental Illness

The report began with saying that for decades, scientists have known that eminently creative individuals have a much higher rate of manic depression, or bipolar disorder, than does the general population, and that few controlled studies have been done to build the link between mental illness and creativity.

Stanford researchers Connie Strong and Terence Ketter, MD, were reported as having taken the first steps toward exploring the relationship.

Using personality and temperament tests, they found healthy artists to be more similar in personality to individuals with manic depression than to healthy people in the general population. "My hunch is that emotional range, having an emotional broadband, is the bipolar patient's advantage," said Strong. "It isn't the only thing going on, but something gives people with manic depression an edge, and I think it's emotional range."

Strong is a research manager in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science's bipolar disorders clinic and a doctoral candidate at the Pacific Graduate School. She is presenting preliminary results during a poster presentation today (May 21) at the annual meeting of the American Psychiatric Association Meeting in Philadelphia.

The current study is groundbreaking for psychiatric research in that it used separate control groups made up of both healthy, creative people and people from the general population.

Researchers administered standard personality, temperament and creativity tests to 47 people in the healthy control group, 48 patients with successfully treated bipolar disorder and 25 patients successfully treated for depression. She also tested 32 people in a healthy, creative control group. This group was comprised of Stanford graduate students enrolled in prestigious product design, creative writing and fine arts programs, including Stegner Fellows in writing, students in the interdisciplinary Joint Program in Design from the Department of Mechanical Engineering and studio arts master's students from the Department of Art & Art History. All subjects were matched for age, gender, education and socioeconomic status.

Preliminary analysis showed that people in the control group and recovered manic depressives were more open and likely to be moody and neurotic than healthy controls. Moodiness and neuroticism are part of a group of characteristics researchers are calling "negative-affective traits" which also include mild, nonclinical forms of depression and bipolar disorder.

Though the data are preliminary, they provide a roadmap for psychiatric researchers looking to solve the genius/madness paradox depicted in the movie A Beautiful Mind, which tells the story of Nobel Laureate John Nash. The existing data need further review, Strong said. "And, we need to expand this to other groups," he said. How mood influences the performance of artists and genius scientists will be the subject of future research at Stanford. "We need to better understand the emotional side of what they do," Strong said.

The study was funded by grants to Ketter, principal investigator and associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral science at Stanford, from the National Alliance for Research on Schizophrenia and Depression, and Abbott Laboratories.

Stanford University Medical Center integrates research, medical education and patient care at its three institutions - Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford Hospital & Clinics and Lucile Packard Children's Hospital at Stanford.

See original article at http://med.stanford.edu/news_releases/2002/may/creative_gen.html

Just a Minute!

From a Toronto Sun article of Thursday, January 15, 2009

entitled 'Mental child support'
Parents call to keep funds
By ANTONELLA ARTUSO, QUEEN'S PARK BUREAU CHIEF

Parents struggling to raise children with mental illnesses are calling on the Ontario government to protect and enhance services despite the difficult economic times.

Sarah Cannon, of St. Catharines, whose 12-year-old daughter has been diagnosed with bipolar disorder, told a news conference yesterday that only one out of six children with mental illnesses in the province are able to access services and then only after months on waiting lists.

Privately-obtained services are sparse and dauntingly expensive, and Cannon had to take a second job to cover the cost of her child's $750 monthly medication bill.

"I have been telling my daughter's story for nearly a decade and have been struggling with the daily emotional, financial and social struggles associated with having a child diagnosed with a mental illness," Cannon said.

"I have watched my child have to deal with the isolation and stigma that comes attached to her label. I have watched her struggle and suffer battling faceless demons that few can comprehend. I have learned that she shares this struggle with countless other children."

Suicide is a real risk for mentally ill children even though the vast majority have a psychological illness that could be treated, she said.

Cannon and other members of Parents for Children's Mental Health are asking the McGuinty government to increase spending on these services by 3% after years of flat-lined budgets and to work toward a seamless system of care as recommended in several key reports such as the provincially-sponsored Roots of Violence.

London parent Sean Quigley, whose 12-year-old daughter was diagnosed with bipolar disorder at age 7, said they pushed hard to get her the services she needed.

During the worst of times, they were getting calls every day from school to pick up their daughter who could be violent and verbally abusive when experiencing the mood swings associated with the disorder.

Now in Grade 7, their daughter Erynn has served as a national "Face of Mental Illness."
"She's on the student council and her grades rock," her proud father said.

But many parents of mentally ill children lose jobs, savings and even their homes as they attempt to meet the needs of their children in a complex, patchwork system, he said.

"The health system does not work with the education system which does not work with the social services system which does not really communicate with the justice system," Quigley said.

"And we as parents, we navigate these systems all the time."

Children and Youth Services Minister Deb Matthews said her government's 2004 budget brought in the first base increase in children's mental health services funding in 12 years.
The ministry is currently implementing a strategic framework for children's mental health services to bring more co-ordination to the system, and to use existing dollars more effectively for the care of children and youth, Matthews said.

I'm all for the work of Canada's Mental Health Commission. Yet these examples illustrate the need for more than just talk and research. Real help would go a long way towards reducing stigma for all concerned!
What we really need is a coordinated systems approach, which brings together various levels and departments of government, and which recognizes and collaborates with "informal service providers". We must as Canadians, find ways to stand with each other to obtain the service and respect we all need.

Richard Alastair