Christianity and Mental Illness

Religion and Mental Illness Podcast

Psyche (root of psychology): originally viewed as the human soul, mind, or spirit. Today we view the psyche as essentially rooted in our brains...something distinctly separate from our spirit. However, in religious circles, these two are still decidedly overlapped. Herein lies the problem/issue that is addressed in this podcast. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sigmund_Freud%27s_views_on_religion)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sigmund_Freud%27s_views_on_religion (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sigmund_Freud%27s_views_on_religion)

https://thepsychologist.bps.org.uk/volume-24/edition-4/mental-health-religion-and-culture (https://thepsychologist.bps.org.uk/volume-24/edition-4/mental-health-religion-and-culture)

No matter how you slice it, we have a serious problem in that religion and psychology are usually seen as being at odds with each other. Many religious people refuse mental health treatment, believing that God can/will cure them.

Early 20th-century interest in religion and mental health was sparked by Freud’s view of religion as intrinsically neurotic. Freud described religion and its rituals as a collective neurosis, which, he suggested, could save a person the effort of forming an individual neurosis. For example, in an early paper, Freud (1907/1924) spelt out the similarities between religious rituals and obsessional rituals. He argued that guilt is created when rituals are not carried out, and assuaged when they are, so a self-perpetuating ‘ritualaholic’ cycle is set up.

Freud’s views prompted furious reaction from the religious establishment, leading in some circles to the dismissal of psychotherapy and psychotherapists as worthless atheistic frauds; but there were parallel counter-movements. Within psychodynamic theory and practice, and in the social scientific and psychiatric arenas, there were serious attempts to explore religiosity and spirituality and their mental health implications. (http://amysimpsononline.com/2013/09/evangelicals-youre-wrong-about-mental-illness/)

http://amysimpsononline.com/2013/09/evangelicals-youre-wrong-about-mental-illness/ (http://amysimpsononline.com/2013/09/evangelicals-youre-wrong-about-mental-illness/)

A recent LifeWay Research survey (http://blog.lifeway.com/newsroom/2013/09/17/half-of-evangelicals-believe-prayer-can-heal-mental-illness/) produced some interesting statistics related to mental illness...48 percent believe serious mental illness can be cured by prayer alone.

OCD

Can Christianity Cure Obsessive Compulsive Disorder

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The author shows that Luther, Bunyan, and Therese had textbook OCD and overcame it by trusting in God with their obsessions. They gave the obsession and outcome into God's hands and trusted in Christ's righteousness as being their righteousness. I struggled with the Calvinistic bent Bunyan and Luther have. They seem to trust more in God's sovereignty over ALL areas of life, whereas I still allow for free will. I admit that my OCD would be less intense if I were a Calvinist, but I'm not still not convinced. I do believe this would be a great read for a Christian with OCD. The author doesn't push "trust therapy" (my own term) to the exclusion of other therapies (medication, cognitive-behavioral, etc.) but mentions that "trust therapy" leads to spiritual growth. This is a very important point. I think the book could be reduced in length because the "trust therapy," but it's still a fairly quick read.