So, Church, what you gonna do?

I read on Twitter this morning, courtesy of my friend Rob Bradshaw (who runs the excellent 'Theology on the Web' ministry), this article from the Guardian about mental health in academia. As someone who has suffered in the past from mental health issues (specifically depression and anxiety), I am well aware of the effect it can have on people. As someone doing a Master's degree, and thinking seriously about pursuing further studies/academia, the article made for sobering reading.

But before you think this is another boring academic post, note with me something that, whilst peripheral to the article's topic, is stunning in itself:

"higher education should not be stigmatised for the increase in mental health issues, since it reflected a similar increase in wider society. Figures show more working days are now lost to the mental health problems than any other health issue "

Wow.

Now, I don't know where that notion/summarised-stat comes from, but it resonates with me. This blog post isn't really about the 'higher education industry', but instead about how we might respond to a situation where the number one cause of people not working (and all the attendant problems that brings) is mental health problems.

Many of us will have suffered, will suffer, or know someone who is suffering. If you don't, that is probably because someone hasn't told you. And yet our perspective on health is so often skewed towards only physical health. I remember a friend's story about being taken to A&E by a friend after he seemed to try to take his own life. He was rushed through, checked, and there was nothing physically wrong with him. So, after being told to be careful (and, in fairness, having been given information and advised to stay with someone) he was let out the other end. This is not a criticism of the NHS - it is an observation that we are not set up for mental health problems, most of the time.

I think the Church has a unique role to play in this. Regular readers will know that I am a Charismatic Christian, someone who believes that the Holy Spirit does might wonders, healings and so on today. And yet nearly every time of ministry I have been in, nearly every book on healing and the work of the Holy Spirit I have read, is to do with physical healing. Physical, 'obvious' problems. It is the same, in my experience, in Christian circles in general, let alone the wider population, wherein we can talk meaningfully and helpfully (most of the time!) about physical illness, but not mental illness. From a Christian perspective, I think this is odd. And, a lot of the time, I think it is an appalling oversight in the contemporary church.

Don't get me wrong, there are encouraging signs. I'm grateful for books from folk like Emma Scrivener on Eating Disorders, Chine Mbubaegbu on Being Beautiful, John Piper's 'When the Darkness will not Lift', Henri Nouwen's 'Turn My Mourning into Dancing', and the excellent 'Encountering Depression'. But these are not know, not read, in as many churches as they should be. As many people as they should be. I am immensely grateful for the support and love of the churches I have been a part of when struggling with mental health issues - and yet every time I've brought it up, that loving support has been offered without knowledge of the wider topic, of where to go, of what to do. I have plenty of anecdotes of very unhelpful 'healing prayers' being prayed, and of people shunned or shirked for not being jolly. 

And this is why I ask the question:

So, Church, what you gonna do?

There is so much to do. But I think it comes out of appreciating the simple facts of life. That humans are not just bodies, brains, or spiritual lives. We are complex bundles of all of that, and more. And so, in a non-pseudo-scientific way, we need a more holistic approach to healing. A boldness not only to ask God to heal conditions that have held people for years, but also and perhaps especially to walk in love with those people where the healing we might want does not come. I think, perhaps, resources can be found in the discipline (approach carefully, and respectfully, and taking some of it with a pinch of salt) of Disability Theology. I've found much to reflect on in books like Roy McCloughry's 'The Enabled Life', and Gordon Temple/Lin Ball/s 'Enabling Church'. I'd encourage you to read my friend Hayden's post here, 'Please Stop Pretending I'm not Human'. For what I'm thinking about to try and serve the church, see my post 'Norway: A Preview'.

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As ever, and perhaps most especially, I'd really value comments, suggestions, reading lists, links and all sorts. Do please leave a comment, or connect with me via Twitter or Facebook. This is an important conversation, and one I'm really passionate about. Thanks for stopping by.