DEFINING MENTAL ILLNESS

Then the people went out to see what had happened, and they came to Jesus, and found the man from whom the demons had gone, sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind . . . (Luke 8:35).

In my copy of the American Psychological Association's DSM-IV there is no classification of a mental illness due to demon possession, but that is exactly what afflicted the Gerasene demoniac.  He did suffer from mental illness because he was not in his right mind.  Jesus healed him by casting out the legion of demons that inhabited this man.  This case presented by Dr. Luke is not intended to suggest that every case of mental illness has a demonic cause, but one cannot escape reading the gospels and come to the understanding that whatever the cause of any illness, Jesus has power over it.

NAMI, the National Alliance on Mental Illness, defines mental illness this way: Mental illnesses are medical conditions that disrupt a person's thinking, feeling, mood, ability to relate to others and daily functioning.  Just as diabetes is a disorder of the pancreas, mental illnesses are medical conditions that often result in a diminished capacity for coping with the ordinary demands of life.   True mental illness is a result of a bodily dysfunction, and some of those bodily dysfunctions we bring upon ourselves because of the mistaken and sinful choices that we make.  For some mental illnesses we bear personal responsibility--addictions come most readily to mind in this regard.

Dr. David Bean, M.D. is a professor of psychiatry in the Sanford School of Medicine at the University of South Dakota.  Dr. Bean presented some interesting statistics to our class on Ministering to the Mentally Ill at Sioux Falls Seminary: 1. 45 million Americans, age 12 or older, will experience mental illness over a year's time.  2.  Only 38 % of them will receive mental health services.  3. The uunemployed have an elevated risk  with 28% of them  suffering with mental illness as compared to 17% of the employed.  4.  In 2009, 11 million adults experienced mental illness serious enough to interfere with major life activities.  5.  8.4 million adults thought seriously about committing suicide, thinking of plans for it.  6.  26% of those with serious mental illnesses are also substance abusers.

These statistics help me make two points: 1.  People can move in and out of mental illness like one catches a cold and gets over it.  My mother tells a story about my grandmother.  Grandma was having hallucinations of ants crawling up and down her arms.  Mom took her to see Dr. Koser, our family doctor, and he said, "She's having a psychosis (this took place back in the 1950's) but she will get over it," and she did, without medication.  That doesn't mean that every mentally ill person will get better, however.  2.  YOU HAVE IN YOUR CHURCH SOMEONE WHO IS DEALING WITH MENTAL ILLNESS.  Do you pray for them?  Do you watch for them?  Do you make your church a welcoming and safe place for them?  Do you understand that just having a healthy relationship with them is one of the best treatments there is?  Do you understand that they need to feel loved and respected?  Oh, I think these are things we all need aren't they?!?

Our Father's Blessings,
Tom