A look at one of the more controversial subjects within Christendom...

::::::::

https://www.charismanews.com/opinion/75989-10-lies-the-church-believes-about-mental-illness

Perhaps there is no single issue we face in this life more confusing for Christians than what the world refers to as mental illness. Over the years I have seen solid bible believing Christians rapidly abandon biblical truth in pursuit of carnal promises or whatever their personal experience was and present that to the church as the secret sauce for solving all of their psychological woes. Before getting into this, it is important that there is some self-disclosure so you understand where I am coming from. I hold two secular college degrees. One is in psychology and the other is counseling, so I fully understand the medical model the world presents. As a discernment minister, I tend to be skeptical and research based so I have done the work regarding the truths behind the medical model and how psychiatry grew from the bottom rung of science to the multi-billion dollar industry it is today. Lastly, I suffered for seven years in my twenties from a panic disorder. If too many people boarded the bus I was on, I would get off, regardless of where it was. When taking my local ferry I would have to sit outside, even if it was the dead of winter. Subways? Yeah not even a possibility. I know what it is to be trapped in your mind which seemingly cannot slow down the negative thought processes we can all fall victim too. My purpose here is not to provide a silver bullet solution for all Christians because that would be presumptuous. My intent is to sift through the worldly logic and remind us what the bible says. Everyone's case is different beloved but God never changes. We must at least try to apply the bible to all of our situations even if the answer makes us uncomfortable. The above link is to an article on Charisma News regarding this subject and the author tries to outline what she thinks are 10 myths regarding mental illness given by the church. Let us reason together again:

"One Sunday when I was 16, I wore a hat to church, resolute in my misunderstanding of 1 Corinthians 11:6 (NIV): "For if a woman does not cover her head, she might as well have her hair cut off; but if it is a disgrace for a woman to have her hair cut off or her head shaved, then she should cover her head." Bipolar disorder had ravaged my young mind, and I clutched at another misinterpretation of Scripture: "Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed" (James 5:16a). In the middle of the 500-person service, I cried out during the pastor's prayer: "Father, forgive me. I'm sorry." My parents held me tightly, quite embarrassed in the moment and apprehensive, not knowing what I'd say or do next. I remember speaking to the pastor afterward. Maybe I had asked my parents if I could apologize to him for my outburst, or perhaps my parents wanted me to give a sort of explanation. Either way, he forgave me, and we left it at that. But why didn't anyone do anything? Couldn't they see I was struggling with mania or even borderline insanity? It's been 13 years since my first hospitalization and five since the last. Both times, part of what sent me into the tailspin of mental illness were misunderstandings and false information. In our journey with this illness, my family has been misled by lies we were told or truths withheld. These lies continue to mislead the church and keep people from properly viewing mental illness as what it is."- Katie Dale

Katie Dale is the author and presents herself as an authority in this realm. By no means do I intend to demean her personal experience, which sounds horrific. Everyone's experience in this realm carries with it a personal hell that we all wish there was a magic solution to. The problem is that Katie has used her experience as the foundation for everyone else's problems. Thus the solutions presented to her that were ineffective are now labeled "lies" when they may or may not actually have been. I do not know the details of what preceded the onset of her diagnosis or how it was initially handled which could provide insight into why it went unresolved for so long. Either way, let us now turn to her "lies."

"Lie No. 1: You're just going through a rough time. Pray, give it to God and give it time. The reality is, if you are clinically depressed or you have bipolar disorder, it is not good to forego seeing a mental health professional. Therapists and psychiatrists are qualified experts on the care and keeping of your mind. If you are in a chemically imbalanced state of mind, chances are, no amount of praying or time is going to help, unless God is answering your prayers for a good psychiatrist or psychotherapist." -- Katie Dale

This is a horribly carnal answer from someone who says they are Christian. Realize what she is saying beloved. That the solutions offered by the world are superior to what God can do through prayer. That is simply unbiblical and untrue. A psychiatrist will only offer you one thing -- drugs. That is what they are trained to do within the medical model. You present with symptomology, they fit you into the box that corresponds to those symptoms and then they prescribe medication that corresponds to that box. It is important to realize that chemical imbalance is a theory. It is not a fact. If a doctor ever says you have a chemical imbalance ask him what is out of balance and by how much. They will not be able to answer. Ask them to produce test results that display this imbalance. They cannot. I am not suggesting that all you can do is pray but I think God deserves a little better then definitively saying prayer cannot help.

"Lie No. 2: You're simply in the middle of a spiritual battle. Just renounce and resist the devil, and he will flee. You may be in the middle of a spiritual battle, but there's more going on here, too. Don't waste time renouncing Satan or anyone else, especially considering how vulnerable the psyche is in a mentally unstable state. Seek a medical professional's help immediately. You can seek spiritual support and seek God through prayer and at the same time, receive professional health care." -- Katie Dale

So is God a liar now? Did God say resist and the devil will flee? Yes He did so do not present as if this is untrue. The problem is in applying that verse here is not accurate. I agree on the renounce thing but it does provide some illumination into what may have been going on in her early life. These battles are spiritual. The bible says so. The weapons of our warfare are not carnal. What happens in many cases is that churched people are not actually saved people. They attend an apostate church and hear a false gospel. In those instances they are unarmed in the spiritual battle they face.

"Lie No. 3: You're depressed? Pray it out. Depression, if clinical, means your brain does not have the means to get out of the slump it's in. If you're relying on just praying it out, you're fighting an uphill battle. Though prayer has been shown to alleviate symptoms, being in a clinically depressive state is more than just a prayer away from wellness." -- Katie Dale

Are we sensing a theme yet? Prayer, faith, God? Nope; that won't be enough. Worldly professionals and carnal medication? That's the ticket. I am sorry for whatever torment Katie Dale had to endure as a child but so far all of her solutions say the God that created you is powerless to heal you and experts in the world can. I do not agree.

"Lie No. 4: The Lord does not address mental illness anywhere in the Bible. While the term "mental illness" isn't in the Bible, King David was very familiar with the reality of depression and perhaps even mania. Reading the Psalms, we see an outcry of emotions from this man after God's own heart. Elijah was depressed to the point of experiencing suicidal ideations (1 Kings 19). Instead of condemning him, God cared for him and sent an angel to meet his physical needs. These are only two examples of the many men and women in the Bible who suffered in deep depression or from psychotic troubles, PTSD and other mental health issues." -- Katie Dale

This is what happens when you use the bible to prop up what you believe instead of wanting to hear what God actually said. It is true that David was a man of great emotion and some of the Psalms beautifully display this range but to state that it means a clinical diagnosis of anything is ridiculous to the point of absurdity. Elijah was certainly upset when Jezebel called for his head and possibly even sad but that is a far cry from being clinically depressed! If anything he was being narcissistic and throwing a tantrum. He asked God to end his life but that is not "suicidal ideation." We all I hope pray for the day that there will be no more pain and sorrow but that doesn't mean we are suicidal. What Katie also conveniently avoids are true examples like the man with a legion of demons. The world would have diagnosed him with multiple personality disorder. What about the mute boy in Mark 9? The other boy in Mark 9 with an obvious epilepsy condition? Were these all examples of people merely suffering from conditions the world could resolve? No. They were all dealing demonic forces. They all needed to be delivered.

"Lie No. 5: You can be healed--if you have enough faith. Oh, if we could just move that mountain on our own with the faith inside us. But God is sovereign, and that sovereignty means our faith to be made well is not a cure-all. God may heal you miraculously, but most often, He does not. Remember, medication is a gracious gift from God to apply to the infirmities of the mind, in order to bring about a different kind of healing." -- Katie Dale

The first half of this is absolutely correct and speaks more to the poor theology that is taught in most churches today. This is pure NAR and word faith theology beloved. The truth is God is sovereign as Katie says. We also are trained to value this life instead of the eternal. No one likes to lose a loved one but if they are saved they transition to be with Christ and that is infinitely better than the suffering on this earth. The grief is ours. The seeming unfairness is ours. The departed are no longer suffering. The teaching that if healing does not come it is related to your faith is insidious in that while it can sometimes be true it robs God of His sovereignty. The problem here is in the worshiping of medication and the deification of such. Not all medication is a gift from God and in many cases for what we are speaking of it is a trap from the devil. There will be more on this later but for now realize that symptom relief with long term consequences is not "healing." God does not solve our problems by creating others.

"Lie No. 6: Jesus healed everyone. What about in his own hometown of Nazareth? Nope. They couldn't and wouldn't let him with the doubts they held, because they presumed to know who Jesus was already. And even those who believed were not always healed. Jesus left many behind as he moved on to minister to the next town or meet the next set of plans the Father had for Him (see Matt. 8:18)." -- Katie Dale

The exegesis is weak here but she is correct. The notion that Jesus healed everyone is another staple false teaching from the NAR and word faith camps. Instead making assumptions and inferences into the texts, as Katie does here, we can just go to the story of the man healed at the Bethesda Pool. While Jesus did heal the paralytic, there were multitudes there that appear to have not been healed.

"Lie No. 7: You're choosing to stay depressed; choose to be happy. If everyone could will it to be, they would be happy. This is especially true for those in depression. Just like having enough faith, "willing" yourself to be happy is never an option in depression. The mind can be responsive to conditioning and cognitive behavioral therapy, and it can adjust in time. Medications can help with that therapy, but to just choose to be happy in clinical depression is like choosing to be a marathon runner when you've never even run a 5K." -- Katie Dale

If anyone truly advocates to simply think your way out of depression I would agree that is silly. That said, it is wholly biblical to address what we do with our thoughts. The bible says to take every thought and make it obedient to Christ. So when that first thought creeps into your mind in the morning that you are anxious you are supposed to apply scripture to it remind yourself what God said. I wish Katie and Christians would realize the power of the Word is stronger than the power of the world. Now, is that the whole battle? Of course not but why not start with what you claim to believe in?

"Lie No. 8: You're sinning somewhere--confess your sins and be healed. I've seen this one before, believing that with enough faith, and if I could only get right with God, He would heal me. God chooses not to heal most people who have chronic illness--although he does enable us to discover medications that can help us manage and live well with these conditions. The Bible makes clear that illness does not primarily function as punishment for individual and specific sin; it's an outcome of original sin and a backdrop for God's grace (see Jesus' explanation in John 9, where He healed a man who was born blind). It's also clear that no one who receives God's healing actually deserves or earns it." -- Katie Dale

Yeah this is a scriptural mess. First of all, there are ridiculous amounts of proof that people "deserved" their healing in that nearly every time Jesus attributes it to their measure of faith. Do I think that is a magic bullet? No, but you can't dismiss it out of hand like Katie does here. Now I agree that just telling someone they are sick because they are sinning is akin to the "friends" of Job and not viable advice. Katie seems to be only applying the notion of a sin-sickness connection to the punishment angle but she misses the eternal connection. Sickness entered the world through the original sin. Many times sin can play a role in why we are sick. A prominent example is the story of Michael Guglielmucci from Hillsong and Planetshakers. He struggled with a 16 year pornography addiction that manifested in physical sickness that he claimed was cancer. He even wrote the powerful song "Healer" to continue the cover up. God eventually brought the truth to light but there are valuable lessons in this story and one of them is that sin can be an entry for sickness into our life, especially for mental illness as we struggle with our sin behavior knowing it is wrong before a holy God.

" Lie No. 9: Your behaviors are sinful; you should be ashamed. Repent! Sometimes the behaviors that come from mental illness are sinful. We have no reason to call out people with mental illness as more sinful than other people; they're not. The outright wrong acts and behaviors one commits while mentally unstable are not necessarily expressing a person's intentions but are more like a knee-jerk reaction, because people with mental illness often experience poor impulse control and act on impulses that other people are able to resist or keep hidden. They may also misinterpret their surroundings and unknowingly behave in ways that are inappropriate. That does not make them any more sinful than other people, since sin really resides in our hearts rather than simply in our actions. Repentance may be required, but not in greater supply than for anyone else." -- Katie Dale

Sorry Katie but this sounds like sin excusal and God does not work like that. Now I agree that we can and should always correct with love but excusing sin will not help them be healed either. It is the world that creates the victim mentality in people, not God. The issue is also not in comparison to other people. Sin is sin is sin. It does not matter where it comes from. It does not matter how justified you think you are in it. Repentance is what is needed for it. I agree of course that this cannot be the sole focus when dealing with someone who is struggling but to ignore it is pure folly.

"Lie No. 10: Psychiatric drugs are of the devil. Psychiatric drugs are no more evil than any of the other medications we have developed to prolong life, improve quality of life and help people live to their potential. While the misuse or neglect of psychiatric drugs can be dangerous, the proper diligent monitoring and application of such tools are invaluable to aiding the healing process of the mind. Healing, care and restoration are part of God's work, not acts of evil." -- Katie Dale

So we finally come to it. Katie had been hinting at this throughout this article and she is sorely mistaken. Psychiatric drugs are pure evil. Now before those who have had success from them revolt, hear me out. We use evil solutions all the time in this world for our problems. We shouldn't; but we do. If you find an honest psychiatrist they will tell you they have NO idea how psychotropic drugs work. No one does. It is a game of Russian roulette where the doctor is hoping for a placebo reaction out of desperation to feel better but if the patient kills themselves they just lament, "well they were depressed." Does anyone seriously think that God works this way? Consider this summary from the Citizen's Commission:

Common and well-documented side effects of psychiatric drugs include mania, psychosis, hallucinations, depersonalization, suicidal ideation, heart attack, stroke and sudden death. Not only that, but The US Food and Drug Administration admits that probably one to ten percent of all the adverse drug effects are actually reported by patients or physicians.

The initial self-mutilation rate for Prozac was as high as 15% Do research on Cymbalta and hanging suicide, a subject I know personally from losing someone. I have worked with teens ruined from years of Ritalin. I know someone who almost lost their life from Xanax addiction (not a psychotropic but used in psychiatric treatment of anxiety). This list can go on and on but the point is that God does not solve our problems by creating others. I am not anti-medication. I am anti-medication that does not truly solve the problem it is addressing. If I am sick I will take an antibiotic. But do not try and give me an anti-seizure medication because the Pharmaceutical Company lobbied the FDA for approval to market it for nerve pain relief (true story). Do not offer me pills to address an imaginary "restless leg syndrome" condition you do not even know I have (true story). Do not offer me a serotonin reuptake inhibitor when you do not actually know if there is anything wrong with my serotonin levels (which cannot actually be measured). For those who do not know what these are here is the definition from Wikipedia:

Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors are a class of drugs that are typically used as antidepressants in the treatment of major depressive disorder and anxiety disorders. The exact mechanism of action of SSRIs is unknown.

The exact mechanism of action is unknown. Wow. That means they have no idea how or why it might work. Do you think God seriously had anything to do with creating that? Do you know that when you see the word sorcery in your bible it is translated "pharmakeia"; which is where we get our modern word for pharmaceuticals? Now, can you experience symptom relief through psychiatric drugs? Sure, many do. Many others do not survive them however and my objection is in claiming God had anything to do with it. Realize those that may experience relief are now reliant upon the drug and not God. That is not even getting into the long term side effects of using such drugs. God does not resolve problems by creating others or by allowing 15% of the people He is trying to help mutilate themselves.

Listen beloved. There are no easy answers here. I wish there were. Some of what Katie Dale has said is spot on but a lot of it revealed that she was raised in churchianity and taught very poorly because of it. If she has a restored life through pharmacology, more power to her. I would gladly however show her the gravesites of those who it did not work for. The point is that what worked for you does not mean it will work for everyone and it does not mean that we should not pray and seek true biblical solutions. It certainly does not mean that everything you tried that didn't work must now be classified as a "lie."

Reverend Anthony Wade -- April 18, 2019

Authors Bio:
Credentialed Minister of the Gospel for the Assemblies of God. Owner and founder of 828 ministries. Vice President for Goodwill Industries. Always remember that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose.