Last week someone asked me for guidance on how Christians should understand the issue of mental health from a biblical perspective. I wasn’t surprised by the timing of the question because I have noticed an increased emphasis on mental and behavioral health in our community. I did some research about this and found that last year the government of California started a program that focuses on the mental health and substance abuse for children and young people.
In August of 2022, governor Gavin Newsom announced that the state is investing $4.7 billion to address “the issue of mental health and behavioral health once and for all in this state.” This is being done through several different initiatives. One program will seek to hire 40,000 more behavioral health professionals over the coming years. Another program will seek to provide “screening and support services” for youth up to twenty five years old. (https://edsource.org/updates/newsom-announces-plan-to-reimagine-mental-health-and-substance-abuse-services)
This increase in funding helps explain why we are seeing community organizations and the educational system emphasizing mental and behavioral health.
So how are Christians supposed to handle issues of mental health? How should believing parents interact with counselors and psychologists at schools and counseling centers? Some people may think the Bible offers no help for such modern problems, but the careful student of Scripture will recognize that the Bible is capable of addressing all issues of life, including everything that falls under the rubric of mental health. (2 Timothy 3:16-17 ESV)
In order to understand mental health it is important to grasp the history behind the term. The word “mental” comes from the Latin phrase mentalis and refers to the mind and the intellect. The phrase started to be used in English in the 15th century and by that time the meaning included spiritual issues related to the soul. In the early 1900s the phrase became synonymous with being “crazy, deranged” because of the negative connotations associated with mental hospitals and institutions, which were often referred to as asylums and sanitariums. Clifford Beers pioneered the use of the term “mental hygiene,” which later became “mental health.” In 1909 he founded a non-profit named Mental Health America which is dedicated to “addressing the needs of those living with mental illness and to promoting overall mental health for all.” https://screening.mhanational.org/about-mha-screening/ Beers wrote about his traumatic experience in a mental hospital in the book A Mind that Found Itself. He started much-needed reform in the treatment of mental illness.
Later a psychiatrist named Emil Kraepelin pioneered a scientific understanding of psychotherapy and psychopharmacology. Many of his ideas were used as a basis for the American Psychological Association’s classification of mental illnesses, which are updated in the 1,120 page DSM 5 (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th edition). This manual lists over three hundred different mental disorders. These included anxiety, depression, mania, and schizophrenia. All of these disorders can fall under the umbrella of mental illnesses or mental disorders.
The Bible is written from a very different perspective than the DSM-5. Instead of primarily looking for a materialistic explanation for people’s problems, the Bible looks for the spiritual cause and solution. The Bible recognizes that humanity was created perfectly healthy and whole before the Fall. There was no depression or anxiety before Adam and Eve sinned, as described in Genesis chapter 3. It was only after the Fall and after they sinned, that behavioral problems and the difficulties of life began to manifest themselves. The Bible makes it clear that Adam and Eve both felt guilt and shame because they disobeyed God. It also states that life after the fall would be full of pain and trials. Genesis 4 reveals that the first murder took place because of Cain’s jealousy and hatred towards Abel. As sin increased on the earth, so did the problems that mankind experiences.
The Bible has another dramatic difference from the DSM-5 because God’s word is willing to provide a spiritual solution for humanity’s most fundamental problems. The DSM-5 is written to help diagnose problems. It is not definitive on how to reach solutions for the problems. There are hundreds of different approaches to psychological solutions. The Bible brings a remarkable clarity to dealing with the problems of life. It does not try to remove all negative factors from someone’s environment. The Bible teaches believers how to have joy in the midst of trials (James 1:3). The Bible does not look for solutions in a person’s circumstances. The Bible gives spiritual solutions that are rooted in God’s love and mercy.
The Bible teaches that everyone is born with a conscience that is aligned with God’s definition of right and wrong. When people do something wrong, they experience a profound sense of guilt and shame because they have been created to feel that way. If they learn to confess their sin to God they can have that sense of guilt completely removed. God’s word says, “If we confess or sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9) The Bible teaches that someone’s guilt can be removed because Jesus Christ paid for their sin on the cross. If they believe in the work of God, instead of their own attempts at doing good, then they can be saved. This is a supernatural truth that the Bible goes into extensive detail to explain (Romans 3:23, 6:23, 5:8, 10:9-10).
The saving truth of the gospel is something that Christians need to keep in mind when dealing with anything that might be diagnosed as a mental illness or disorder. This does not mean that Christians must reject psychological or psychiatric solutions. It means that all mental issues can have a spiritual issue connected to them that should not be ignored. The historic definition of a person’s mental livelihood included the existence of the soul. Instead of reducing a person to a materialistic framework of chemicals and proteins, the Christian needs to have a Biblical approach, which is wonderfully holistic. It recognizes that humans are made in the image of God and thus their bodies and souls are intricately connected and need to be in tune with the God who made them in order to achieve the true health, peace, and shalom that the Bible describes.
Jesus described this sense of peace when he said, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.” (John 14:27). Jesus knew how to help people overcome the darkness they experienced in their lives. He knew that his death on the cross and his resurrection from the dead would overcome the pain of sin and death. He brought the ultimate answer to the problems of the world. Instead of looking to materialistic remedies for help, Christians need to first and foremost look to God and his word that brings healing to our souls.
