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Friday, March 2, 2012

Christians, Anti-Depressants and Psychology / Psychiatry




I just had a few thoughts to share, as a Christian with a mental illness, about the areas of Psychology and Psychiatry and some of the medicines that go with it all.

Psychology is, after all,  simply the “study of the mind”. And Who created the mind?

Psychiatry is more specifically the  'medical treatment of the mind', which is a bit more controversial.

A lot of Christians, and many other kinds of people for that matter, become very suspicious and even condemning  when these topics are raised.  We all remember Tom Cruise’s rants (of course, he is a Scientologist ).

But many Christians have knee-jerk reactions to these topics as well – and I just think there is some misunderstanding of these topics.

 I was actually in the same place as those types of folks until God taught me a lesson – the very hard way ( because that was the only way I would learn it) – you can see the very end of this blog  for a piece of my personal testimony about this as well as some Biblical input.

I know that anti-depressants and other “brain” drugs have been vastly over-prescribed and even abused.  I know some of these “doctors of the mind” are also out in left field.

But here is where we make our mistake – we throw the good away with the bad. The baby with the bath water as they say.

One of my pastors always said “Eat the orange and spit out the seeds” – in other words find and accept what is true and discern what is not and throw it out. 

There is also a saying that goes “All truth is God’s truth”. And if there is some truth in these areas of the mind – we are only harming ourselves to not see it and receive it.  Just like we accept truth in the areas of science ( i.e.  the law of gravity)  and physical medicine (listening to our doctors)  so we should in the areas of Psychology and Psychiatry – so long as it is true . True,  both in the practical sense that it works and makes sense – and of course in the Biblical sense.

As a Christian, I don’t for a minute suggest or recommend adhering to anything that is clearly un – Biblical.

However, many of the “techniques” or therapies I have learned are just common sense that is backed up by research and studies. In fact, they parallel with Biblical principles very closely. There is a lot of stuff in Psychology / Psychiatry that I don’t happen to believe ( it is , after all, an inexact science) but there is so much to be gained from learning from it what is real – don’t throw the “baby” out!

In college, as part of my course load, I was to take  two semesters of “Personal and Inter-Personal Behaviour” . Much of the information was gleaned from very basic Psychology / Psychiatry . While I did not find everything to be true to life or Biblical – I was amazed at how much I learned about myself and others. This helped me a great deal I think in my Christian ministry as a youth “pastor”. 

When I first had to see a psychiatrist I was a bit freaked out by it.  But I found her very interesting and , at the time, just what I needed. 

A fiery Scotswoman, she didn’t really beat around the bush too much and I soon learned something very interesting about her – she was a Christian.  And if that is too vague for you, let me further specify – she was an Evangelical Christian ( that’s right – the local conservative Baptist church).

I no longer see her but she was a great help to me and I firmly believe God put her in my life at that time and place… knowing I would be suspicious of a Psychiatrist.

Again – I’m not suggesting you go out and start popping “happy pills” for the heck of it. But I am saying – don’t disregard the whole topic. Don’t be a “purist” who thinks they are above the need of medical attention.  Just be wise, do some research, talk to Christians who have some personal experience or education on the matter.

By doing this you could, ironically, find yourself disobeying God as my testimony shows…..


Part of my testimony – Please feel free to read the whole thing here: A Beautiful Mind

Now having said this I have to tell you a little story. I was young but had firm opinions about so-called mental illness and the medications that went with it. This was brought to the forefront one day when I was preaching at my little church in Prince George. I was speaking about the joy of the Lord , I believe, when in my youthful fervor I exclaimed
“ We don’t need  Prozac to be happy – that is just a crutch. The Lord will make us happy”. Well apparently that night one of the dear “mom-like” ladies had brought her brother to church –the first time in a long time for him as he was not particularly religious. It turns out this man was on Prozac and I had greatly offended him. Although I still didn’t believe in mental illness or the drugs for it , I realized I had to apologize for what I had said and the way I had said it. So I made the difficult phone call and he graciously accepted my apology.

Now this is not where the irony ends my friends, for it was not long after this that I experienced that second breakdown, that my pastor’s wife had suggested depression and for the first time in my life was I was open to hear about it. With an entirely new perspective on life ( I had quite an experience with God – learning about pride and grace – but that is another story you can read about here: When I understood grace... or at least began to. , I went to my doctor and he had me fill out a questionnaire on depression. I was finally ready to be honest with my answers and I scored off-the-chart for severe clinical depression. I tried a series of different drugs until at last one seemed to help – its called fluoxetine , other wise known as Prozac. God indeed has a great sense of humour.

Taking medication for mental health is a very personal issue between you, your doctor and God. I do not believe it is the complete answer but it is a tool of medicine that God has given us just like any we would take for any other more socially acceptable disease. One thing I’d like to mention here folks is this  - the difference between “diagnosing” and “labeling”. Diagnosing is not labeling – please know the difference. Correct diagnosis can free someone – like the truth. The root problem is treated and the symptoms lessen or disappear altogether. Labeling ignores the root problem and only brings the person down further – they often even tend to become more like the label.

You may also want to read :  Mental Illness and the Bible


War of the minds - by Flame


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