Christian View on Treatment of Mental Illness - Essay Sample

Introduction

According to Huguelet and Koenig (2009), it has long been established that persons experiencing mental disorders are more probable to get help from spiritual leaders rather than professionals. This stems from the fact that spiritual support provides distressed individuals with other resources that professionals do not offer. Indeed, studies have proved that religion can play a vital role in the recovery of mental disorders. Unfortunately, the negative influence of the Christian anti-psychiatric movements of the 1500s, 1700s, 1960s and the 1970s are still being felt today limiting the possibility of a medical approach in the treatment of mental illness. These movements perpetuate the idea that mental illness is explained in the bible and should be dealt with in a pastoral counseling context.

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Save 25%

For Christians, the bible is the greatest resource a person can possess, and it is there that they get their understanding of psychological illness. Wesselmann and Graziano (2010) while quoting the bible states that after the fall of man from the garden of Eden, humanity was affected by sin. According to Wesselmann and Graziano sin changed every part of human lives and as a result, ailments like a headache, rashes and other infections that were not there before sin entered the world. Since all humans live in the fallen world, the mind is also affected, and a person can get sick. In other words, Christianity believes that sin causes mental health disorder. Depression, schizophrenia, anxiety, and other illnesses did not exist in the Garden of Eden. The first man and woman worked with God in their perfect physical and spiritual state. Sin corrupts the body, so people no longer have the physical and mental perfection. God strikes sinners with insanity. For instance, God threatened Israelites at Mt. Horeb that he would hit them with insanity if they sinned against him. "The Lords will strike you with blindness, the bewilderment of heart and madness" (New King James Version, Deut 28:27-29). In another instance, Nebuchadnezzar was stricken with dementia for his pride against God.

Since the cause of mental illness is sin, Christians believe that only spiritual methods can correct the condition. This is through prayers and abandoning your sinful ways so that God can forgive and restore you to your sanity state. "Do not think you are wise in your eyes; fear the Lord and cease from sinful ways. It will be curing to your body, and refreshment to your bones" (Prov 3:6-8). As a result, Christianity rejects any form of medical assistance to mental illness such as atheistic biopsychiatrists. As listed in Galatians 5:20, it is a sin in taking prescription psychiatric drugs. If anyone is mentally ill, then Christians recommend that they call upon the elders of the church so that they pray while pouring anointing oil over them in the name of the Lord. The prayer offered over the sick person will restore their faith, and the Lord shall raise them up.

Conclusion

In summary, Christians reject the secular understanding of psychological illness because it does not include God in the evaluation of insanity. Christians believe that mental illness among other diseases is because of sin. God uses madness as a punishment for those disobeying His commands. In the light of the fact that insanity is caused by sin, it is repentance and following God's ways that can heal a person. Henceforth, regardless of other factors, secular understanding of mental illness should incorporate Christianity to come up with a reliable method of treating the mentally ill.

References

Huguelet, P., & Koenig, H. G. (2009). Religion and spirituality in psychiatry. Cambridge University Press.

Wesselmann, E. D., & Graziano, W. G. (2010). Sinful and/or possessed? Religious beliefs and mental illness stigma. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 29(4), 402-437.