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

Judged

Its true that we have to deal with sin... but most people already know something's wrong - 

they are just looking for help

Let's not be the army that shoots its own wounded....

Fear Is Just A Lie - Mike Donehey (Tenth Avenue North) - Video Journal

Eating Orders on the rise in Teen boys - MSN

Eating Orders on the rise in Teen boys

This needs to be watched - males too obsess over the perfect body image


http://lifestyle.ca.msn.com/video/?cp-documentid=3aaa02ad-003c-417c-9e38-dbf962726c62

Time Is Energy (and the principle of Chronos and Kairos)

The Greeks (and therefore the New Testament) had two very distinct words for “time” .  One we are probably familiar with – Chronos. As in chronology, chronicles, chronic pain etc…

The other word , not so much. It is “Kairos” .

The simplest way to distinguish the meanings of these two words is probably the following example from Vine’s Expository Dictionary of Greek Words:

Chronos marks quantity, kairos, quality

Chronos is the seconds and minutes of time - either long or short. Kairos is a portion of time, the "things and events of time" (Strong's Concordance).  The English word "moment" might be a good way to describe it.

I recently read a blog by a young mother who used these two words to distinguish “time”.  She had become frustrated when older women would constantly come up to her and say something like “Cherish this time with your children! Its over so fast”

To her this somehow conveyed that she was not doing a good enough job “cherishing” or enjoying this time in her life when she had young children.  She was so stressed out just trying to keep them fed, clean and generally safe that she was not always “feeling the cherishing” .   And so she felt like a failure, like she didn’t love her kids enough or didn’t appreciate all that she had.

 The older ladies I’m sure did not mean to make her feel this way but such is the translation that can occur between one person’s mouth and another’s ear.

I know a bit of what this young mother feels, as does my wife. We are parents of an adorable, incredible and wonderful 11 month old daughter.

But man, its hard.

Having a child changed our world completely. It takes you to a level of selflessness you never knew existed.  And you get tired – real tired.

In talking with friends in similar stages of life and those who have done it before, there is a consensus that this is indeed the most stressful and busy time in a person’s life. 

Feeling guilty about not “cherishing” the time you have with your kids is, ironically, a waste of time. Not to mention energy and emotion. 

What this young mother eventually realized ( and I think what the older ladies were really probably referring to all along) was that this is not about cherishing the every second of the CHRONOS so much as it is cherishing all of the KAIROS.

Those precious moments when you realize how fortunate you are, how awesome and kind your Creator is, how wonderfully and fearfully your spouse and child were made  - when all the beauty just leaves you gasping for air. 

" As a person with a mental illness, time is not always my problem.  In fact, it rarely is. My problem is energy. "

One more thing before I sign off this post.  As a person with a mental illness, time is not always my problem.  In fact, it rarely is. My problem is energy. 

I usually have the time – but I rarely have the energy to do all the things I think I should do, much less the things I want to do.This is hard for most people to understand, and even harder to explain.

It’s not good when other people began to think that you are actually just lazy or selfish, it’s even  worse when you yourself begin to believe it.

I'm sure people with a wide variety of illnesses can relate to this.

But what I have found is that this principle of time we have been discussing also applies to energy.

I don’t always plan ahead very much because the more pressure there is to have a good time, the less likely it is for me to actually have a good time. This, of course, can make others understandably frustrated at my apparent lack of commitment or interest and I often feel terrible about that.

You can just forget about yourself and try and fake it for your family and friends – but eventually they catch on ( especially your wife).  And, of course, you yourself eventually wear down.

Fortunately many of friends do understand this. One example is where a good friend asked me to be in his wedding party - a truly high honour! To my dismay I realized this was n't going to work very well though - I would just end up being a mess leading up to and during the wedding. So I explained this to him and he very graciously understood.

I was able instead to attend the wedding as a guest and put that precious "energy" into doing what I could to make his day very special.

So what I have learned, and my gracious, loving wife has too – is that we often enjoy our moments the most when they happen somewhat spontaneously or without a lot of pomp and ceremony. When in a “kairos” of time (or energy as the case may be) , all the beauty of life and God and family comes into focus.. and you can see clearly.

How sweet are those moments. How sweet is clarity.

Though I truly am thankful for every minute of life…. I really cherish those ones.

 See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time (KAIROS), because the days are evil.

 Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is. 

Ephesians 5: 15 - 17