Psychology in the Anabaptist community

[steve-in-kville]

Not sure if this will be a once-and-done thread, or if it could be a series... unsure. The draft of a project I've had.

As many know, I place a lot of value on mental health. I've had my own experiences and have watched others have struggles. I know of several people within the conservative community locally that are in need of professional help. Depression, bipolar, panic attacks, and so on. The one belongs to a church that believes it is impossible for a Christian to suffer from such things, and that if they do, its immediately spun into a spiritual shortcoming. Various herbal remedies are offered up and special prayers are had, but to see a therapist and (God forbid) go on some real meds would be against church teaching.

On the other end of the spectrum, I know of people who are so medicated they don't even know what real emotion is anymore. They're not sad, but they're never truly happy, either. They take so to social media to drum up a few "poor me's" and many start to self-diagnose additional disorders. They share memes about "self care" and the like.

So where's the balance in this? I was in settings where I was afraid to speak up about being depressed all the time. Comments like "cheer up" or just "snap out of it" the usual comebacks.

So, I have somewhat of an idea what direction I'd this to go. Everyone is welcome to participate.

[Josh]

Slight correction: I think you mean “Psychiatry in the Anabaptist community”

This is a great topic; I have so far only been part of “over-medicated” Anabaptist communities, although I am very aware that the opposite extreme exists.

[steve-in-kville]

Slight correction: I think you mean “Psychiatry in the Anabaptist community”

This is a great topic; I have so far only been part of “over-medicated” Anabaptist communities, although I am very aware that the opposite extreme exists.

Psychology is the science of mind and behavior. Psychology includes the study of conscious and unconscious phenomena, as well as feelings and thought. It is an academic discipline of immense scope, crossing the boundaries between the natural and social sciences.

They both could work. I'll let it go

[Grace]

Not sure if this will be a once-and-done thread, or if it could be a series... unsure. The draft of a project I've had.

As many know, I place a lot of value on mental health. I've had my own experiences and have watched others have struggles. I know of several people within the conservative community locally that are in need of professional help. Depression, bipolar, panic attacks, and so on. The one belongs to a church that believes it is impossible for a Christian to suffer from such things, and that if they do, its immediately spun into a spiritual shortcoming. Various herbal remedies are offered up and special prayers are had, but to see a therapist and (God forbid) go on some real meds would be against church teaching.

And that is sad. We are fearfully and wonderfully made, but we also live in a fallen world, where there is disease and sickness. Our brains are organs just like every other organ in our bodies. When issues arise involving the brain it affects our emotions and mental well being. We would never accuse a diabetic individual whose pancreas is not functioning properly, of having spiritual shortcomings. Nor would we accuse a person whose heart has some blockages of the same. Yet we have well meaning, but sanctimonious people in the church who will make those accusations, when someone has issues with their brain, which affects their emotions and mental stability. I could never understand the rationale of those who will admit that other organs in a person’s body might become unhealthy, but think the brain and mind will always remain healthy.

I knew of a young teen age girl who was having emotional issues and the accusation was made by some overzealous people, that she was demon processed. It was very hurtful to her and her already hurt and stressed parents.

I am of the belief that when people have depressive, mental, and emotional issues, that it should be treated as a medical condition first. If it is a spiritual condition, it will eventually reveal itself.

[Josh]

Spiritual problems often eventually create physical problems.

I would argue that most of our problems today are, in fact, spiritual; some obvious evidence of this is that the medical profession has been completely ineffective at actually helping people get healthier versus 20 years ago. Lifespans are shorter and people are sicker than ever.

[temporal1]

Labels matter.
Because of the OP reference to medications, it’s well to know, psychiatrists are medical doctors that can prescribe meds.
Psychologists and other counseling pros cannot prescribe meds. (i think) some psychologists refer to psychiatrists when they believe meds are needed. Psychiatrists have far more formal ed.

This gives a brief description of differences:

“Guide to Psychiatry and Counseling”
https://www.webmd.com/mental-health/gui ... counseling

Finding help that is COMPETENT for the problem at hand is key.
Unfortunately, people in need don’t always feel up to or qualified for counselor/doctor-shopping.

(In times past, there was tremendous fear and shame in admitting any sort of mental vulnerability. Taboo.)

The field remains in its infancy. So much to be learned. i see no shame in trying.
i advise prayer in all matters, this is not an exception.

i advise my adult children,
“if you had a broken arm, we would have it assessed and treated. i see mental challenges in much the same way.”
it’s not a matter of character flaws. it’s not a choice. a broken arm is not a choice. neither is depression, or other.

[steve-in-kville]

Spiritual problems often eventually create physical problems.

I would argue that most of our problems today are, in fact, spiritual; some obvious evidence of this is that the medical profession has been completely ineffective at actually helping people get healthier versus 20 years ago. Lifespans are shorter and people are sicker than ever.

Many (but not all!) substance addictions have an underlying mental health disorder.
Many (but not all!) mental health disorders have an underlying spiritual problem.
Many (but not all!) spiritual problems could have an underlying addiction.

See what I did there? Its a vicious cycle often times. I may have just derailed my own thread, but I feel its relevant here.

[Josh]

Spiritual problems often eventually create physical problems.

I would argue that most of our problems today are, in fact, spiritual; some obvious evidence of this is that the medical profession has been completely ineffective at actually helping people get healthier versus 20 years ago. Lifespans are shorter and people are sicker than ever.

Many (but not all!) substance addictions have an underlying mental health disorder.
Many (but not all!) mental health disorders have an underlying spiritual problem.
Many (but not all!) spiritual problems could have an underlying addiction.

See what I did there? Its a vicious cycle often times. I may have just derailed my own thread, but I feel its relevant here.

This presupposes that the etiology of a disease or syndrome somehow affects how we should treat the affected person. Nobody wants to be in a car wreck and have an injury. But if we come across a car wreck, we try to help the people involved, regardless of who's at fault. Maybe the person is a bad driver and drove off the road. Doesn't change the fact they're injured.

But if we want to reduce total car wrecks, it's worth looking at why people are driving their cars off the road and start taking steps to do something about that.

[steve-in-kville]

That's a better parallel than what I had in mind

[Josh]

That's a better parallel than what I had in mind

One persistent problem is always trying to find something / someone to "blame" for why someone ends up with a serious mental problem, emotional problem, etc... which doesn't do any good when dealing with the problem at hand.

This is somewhat related to another disease I sometimes run into in plain Anabaptist circles, known as the "nothing is ever our family's fault - it's always another family's fault" syndrome.