by Cassidy Oswald
Mental illness is very sneaky, it surrounds us in all different aspects of life while also being hidden and never discussed. Whether you are struggling with mental health yourself or not, there is someone in your life that is going through this. Mental health awareness has always been something I am passionate about and has always followed me in all of my academic studies. My care to this topic is due to my personal struggles with mental health and the death of a close friend who lost her battle with mental illness. I believe that the discussion of mental health has definitely become more open than it was when I was growing up. But I do believe there is still much more that needs to be done in the culture surrounding mental health.
Mental illness is very sneaky, it surrounds us in all different aspects of life while also being hidden and never discussed. Whether you are struggling with mental health yourself or not, there is someone in your life that is going through this. Mental health awareness has always been something I am passionate about and has always followed me in all of my academic studies. My care to this topic is due to my personal struggles with mental health and the death of a close friend who lost her battle with mental illness. I believe that the discussion of mental health has definitely become more open than it was when I was growing up. But I do believe there is still much more that needs to be done in the culture surrounding mental health.
Since March of 2020, the beginning of a worldwide pandemic, there has been a large spike in Google searches related to panic attacks and anxiety. These things have been searched more than anything else during the time of the pandemic. I find this information very telling to where we are all at during this strange time.
What does that say about the mental state of the American people?
I think this data shows that more people are struggling right now, they feel on edge, worrisome, frantic, overwhelmed and lost for what to do next in this pandemic. This also shows that they do not know what to do about these new feelings so they are turning to our friend Google.
Why should anyone care?
As people who love people I think we are called to serve and nurture those who are in pain of all kinds, which includes mental health. As people in the theological sphere we are called to dive into the public and cultural challenges and try to find solutions. So no matter where you fall this is a challenge that we all should try to face at some point.
When thinking on mental health theologically the main point of disturbance is where mental illness comes from. People differ on its origin and this difference is where a deep misunderstanding and inability to comfort these people come from.
The main misunderstanding on the theological discussion of mental health is that mental illness is given as a punishment for the sins of that person, that it happens for a reason. Knowing this misconception surrounding the mental health crisis I am reminded of a book we read in this class. I reflect back on Bowler’s book, “Everything Happens for a Reason.”
In this book she talks about her multiple health problems she has been facing and the damage it could cause on her faith. She also discusses her wrestling with the commonly said Christian phrase, ‘everything happens for a reason.’ She battles with this ideology throughout the book.
How does my illness have anything to do with God’s plan?
Did God really do this to me?
She goes through a period of discovery where she finds this phrase, ‘everything happens for a reason,’ is not something to build a church on. She finds peace in the fact that bad things just happen. Though in her book she battles physical illness like cancer, I believe the same thought processes applies to mental health. It is equally insensitive and inaccurate to say this common phrase to someone who has cancer and someone who has panic attacks or depression.
I believe the first step into a better understanding of mental health and facing the public and cultural challenges is to first look at it like any other health problem. To understand that mental illness is not something people can ‘just get over’ and that it is a real health concern.
“199 sad person copy” by Sustainable Economies Law Center is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0
1 Comment
Add Yours →Cassidy, thanks for raising this important issue, and although I am sorry to hear that you’ve had such up close experience with ill mental health. One of the challenges of stigma, I think, adds a new layer to Bowler’s book. Not only do we problematically theologize illness (“God is teaching you something!” “God has a plan for you!”), but when it comes to mental illness, the categories shift. Sometimes, we perhaps try to find the “reason” in silence, whispering about the person suffering. And sometimes, we use theological categories to blame the person suffering: in such cases, mental illness *itself* mistaken for sin or at the very least, a lack of motivation. Heather Vacek’s book, Madness, may be of interest. When she was working on the dissertation that inspired that book, I believe the working title was something like, “Who Gets the Casserole,” meaning, the church is much better at practicing compassion and support for people with physical illness.