The Church and Mental Illness: What is Their Role?

We certainly have come a long way from the days when the church considered those with mental illness as possessed by demons. http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761566888_9/Mental_Illness.html

However, how involved are churches today in dealing with mental illness? Or, more specifically, how knowledgeable are churches about mental illness?

Considering that one in four families copes with the challenges brought on by a family member dealing with mental illness, it would seem that most congregations, depending on their size, have several families who fit the profile.

During the brief period that my son, Todd, was taking his medication for schizophrenia, he sought out a church after moving into a new apartment in a new town. Soon thereafter, when Todd stopped taking his medication because he felt he wasn’t sick (see http://www.treatmentadvocacycenter.org/BriefingPapers/BP15.htm ) and started displaying symptoms, I contacted the church.

I was grasping at straws.

The ministers, a husband and wife team, said they would watch out for him. And they did. Months later, when Todd began acting inappropriately during services—pulling out his battery-powered electric shaver or shouting something out in response to the sermon—the ministers contacted me. They said they didn’t want to discourage his coming to church, but they didn’t want to cause discomfort for their congregation either. So, they formed “The Todd Project,” consisting of about 10 people, including a physician, a therapist, and several retired persons, whose job it was to more or less watch Todd and be with him when he came to services, kind of “guiding” his behavior—or misbehavior. Todd was never told of this group or of my interaction with group members. We didn’t want to alienate or cause any more paranoia than he already had.


To this church’s credit, during the next several months, the Todd Project met with me to better understand Todd’s history. And they did help him when the electric company terminated service due to nonpayment. Someone from the group regularly drove him to a nearby clinic to get his high blood pressure medication. Then, recently, Todd patted the head of a younger child, and the mother became frantically afraid. No one seems to know if he said anything inappropriate to the child. The mother told the minister she was going to leave and go to another church. The minister immediately told Todd that now he would need to come to report to the Todd Project. Todd turned on his heels and left. I’m not sure if he has returned. And I understand how the church as a whole wants to their church to be a safe place for their congregation. I can’t help but wonder, however, how frantic the mother would have been had a “normal” person patted her child’s head.

One of the Todd Project members told me that the head-patting issue had been elevated to The Session, and this group wondered why I hadn’t had him involuntarily committed.
http://www.phillyburbs.com/pb-dyn/news/111-11182007-1442905.html

That’s when I knew that our job of educating the world about mental illness has only just begun.

The need to address chronic mental illness is urgent. The 1988 General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) adopted a report and resolution which called the church to ministry and mission with those persons affected by serious mental illness including family, friends and professionals. http://www.pcusa.org/nationalhealth/programs/seriousmentalillness.htm#top
The report:
· acknowledged that the religious community is in a unique position to be the bridge between clinical settings and life in the home community and to offer support to the diversity of persons whose lives are touched by mental illness
· urged pastors and congregations to develop ways of inclusion
· urged that congregations cherish the presence of all in the community of faith as it worships, studies, gives, grows and heals together
· encouraged the church to learn more about mental illness and
· encouraged the church to seek new ways to respond to those with severe mental illness and their families.

What do you think? Did Todd’s church helped him, or did they lose him?