May is Mental Health Month

From the Pastor

May is Mental Health Month

What might phrases like “Christ is risen!” or “In Christ a new creation!” mean to someone who is mentally ill?

Our younger son was diagnosed with Type 1 (“juvenile”) diabetes at age 11. He needs insulin injections several times a day to live. Our daughter has been diagnosed with bipolar disorder. She also requires daily medication. No one says to an insulin-dependent diabetic, “Snap out of it!” Yet people who suffer from mental illness hear this or similar sentiments frequently. Our daughter can no more “snap out of it” than our son could live without his insulin.

Our ELCA magazine, The Lutheran, is bold to take on the issue of mental illness as the featured article in the May issue, with other related articles and a study guide in addition. The lead article, “Mental Illness: Coming Out of the Darkness,” is written by a professional woman with a Ph.D., whose bipolar disorder was not correctly diagnosed until she was 42.

Mental illness is a significant contributor to homelessness. When I visit the jail, I wonder if a disproportionate percentage of the population suffers from mental illness. I cannot imagine the inner turmoil of a child growing up in a home where one parent or the other suffers from undiagnosed and/or untreated mental illness.

With timely diagnosis and treatment, people who suffer from mental illness have a chance to have their lives back. The chaos of their lives can be managed. Their families can experience a level of stability they have not known. Potentially devastating individual and social consequences of lives out of control can be avoided. Relationships can be strengthened.

As a society, we need to take away the stigma of mental illness. We need to come to the place where there is no more moral judgment regarding a person suffering mental illness than one with high blood pressure. We need as much attention paid—and as much money invested—in diagnosis and treatment of mental illness as any other illness. Early intervention is critical.

An important ingredient in treatment of mental illness is counseling, not only for the individual, but for the family system. Mental illness affects everyone in the family, and it often takes the entire family to be part of the solution. Unfortunately, our community is woefully underserved by mental health professionals. Patients often have to wait months to be seen. We need to change that.

What role might the church play in being a healing place for those who suffer from mental illness? Unfortunately, many who suffer stay away out of guilt or shame. How can the church be a “hospital for the sick” when we try so hard to present ourselves as “having it all together”? 

A helpful resource for learning more about mental illness is the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI). Visit their website. Events will also be held within our community.

The author of the lead article in the May issue of The Lutheran concludes with a verse that has helped her: “The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit” (Psalm 34:18).

It is my prayer that Concordia Lutheran Church in Duluth will be a place where the brokenhearted and those who are crushed in spirit are not only welcomed but may also find newness of life, that they might experience the power of Christ’s resurrection, not only on Easter Sunday, but every Sunday of the year.