Families Affected by Mental Illness Feel Little Support From Churches
Although this study is US and Protestant based, from the many grim stories I’ve encountered of mentally unwell folks experiences in the church, I should suspect some UK appositeness.
I am unable to access the original research:
A new study conducted at Baylor University indicated that families with a mentally ill member would like their congregation to offer more assistance. The study, published in the journal “Mental Health, Religion and Culture,” was the first to look at how mental illness of a family member influences an individual’s relationship with the church.
“Families with mental illness stand to benefit from their involvement with a congregation, but our findings suggest that faith communities fail to adequately engage these families because they lack awareness of the issues and understanding of the important ways that they can help,” said Diana Garland, Ph.D., dean of Baylor’s School of Social Work and co-author of the Baylor study.
The study surveyed nearly 6,000 participants in 24 churches representing four Protestant denominations about their family’s stresses, strengths, faith practices and desires for congregational assistance. Families with mental illness ranked help from the church as a second priority; however, families without mental illness ranked it 42nd on their list of requests from churches.
Per Matthew Stanford, Ph.D., co-author of the study and professor of psychology and neuroscience at Baylor: “The difference in response is staggering, especially given the picture of distress painted by the data…. Families with mental illness reported twice as many problems and tended to ask for assistance with more immediate or crisis needs compared to other families.”
I’m not sure why there exists the great divide between mental health and faith communities. I suspect there are many pastors and religious leaders who still believe that those who pray hard enough will get God on the job and have no need for other treatments. Much like holistic centers, too much emphasis is placed on emotional and spiritual therapies that the physiological underpinnings of mood disorders are forgotten or ignored.
“Mental illness is not only prevalent in church communities,” says Garland, “but is accompanied by significant distress that often goes unnoticed. Partnerships between mental health providers and congregations may help to raise awareness in the church community and simultaneously offer assistance to struggling families.”
Tags: Church Life