5 ways the church can help in the wake of the mental health crisis

There’s a sickness affecting nearly half of the people in our congregations, yet we often choose to ignore it. We don’t understand it. We are afraid to talk about it. I thought I knew about this illness. I’d read about it and known some people with it, but two years ago, when this sickness hit my house like a ton of bricks, I realized that I didn’t have a clue. I’m talking about mental illness.

According to the CDC, more than 50% of the US population will deal with a mental health challenge at some point in their lives. Of course, those challenges can be on a wide spectrum from more mild forms of seasonal depression to crippling, life-altering mental illness. But no matter the severity, that’s a lot of hurting people.

I won’t pretend to understand exactly why we have this mental health crisis in our world today. You could google it right now and get hundreds of theories. But no matter the reason, with so many people suffering and struggling, I think it’s vital for the church to become a beacon of hope and a place of comfort.

I’m not an expert, but I’m a mom who’s been in the trenches and on the frontlines of the battle. From my perspective, I’d like to give some ideas on what we as Christians and as “the church” can do to help.

Acknowledge the reality of mental illness

We need to acknowledge the reality of mental illness. It is in fact an illness. For too long, people in the church have attached all mental illness to a spiritual attack or a lack of faith. I was told this just recently by a Christian brother. Yes, we need to pray. Yes, we need to take our thoughts captive. But just like a diabetic patient needs insulin and someone with a broken leg might need physical therapy, a person with mental illness may need medication and therapy. I think Biblical counseling can be a powerful tool to address many of our difficulties. But I also think it’s okay to encourage one another to seek medical advice for mental health challenges.

Normalize talking about mental health

We need to normalize talking about mental health challenges. There’s a stigma with mental health. It’s one of those things we talk about only in whispers. But if so many people in our congregations are suffering and going through it, why can’t we mention it within a sermon? We need to share with our small group or close friends that we are struggling. We need to normalize talking about going to therapy and counseling. Too many people think they are the only ones or that no one else will understand. As my family has begun to share a little of what we’ve been through the past couple of years, I feel like it’s opened up the door for others to share. I had no idea some of the challenges people had gone through because they were too ashamed to tell. It’s so much harder to walk through these things, when you feel like you have to hide it and that you are alone. We must bear one another’s burdens (Galatians 6:2). You may be wondering why I wrote this anonymously, when I’m telling you to share openly. I am trying to respect the privacy and story of my loved one. I have shared with my trusted people, but that doesn’t mean that I need to share or have the right to share details with everyone. It can be such a tricky balance to walk as our children get older and life gets messier.

Listen to and believe people with mental health challenges

We need to listen to and believe people when they talk about their mental health challenges. Give them space to talk about their feelings. Acknowledge the difficulty and pain they are feeling. Be quick to listen, and not always quick to offer a solution or to downplay their emotions. The wise words from the book of James often play in my mind.”Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to anger” (James 1:19).

Love each other in tangible ways

We need to love each other well in tangible ways. We can offer to babysit for a friend in a pit of depression that you know needs some extra rest. We can offer to drive someone to an appointment. We can send a gift card to a family as they deal with a hospitalized loved one. We can invite someone for a walk or to get coffee. Sometimes, helping people with mental health challenges can be messy, hard, or even inconvenient, but God calls us to love and care for all. We must serve one another humbly and in love (Galatians 5:13).

Have resources available in our churches

We need to have resources available to help people in our churches facing a mental health crisis. That help could be pastoral counseling, a prayer team, books, or a support group. Our churches could offer workshops on how to recognize and help a person in a mental health crisis. Learn what resources are available in the community and who to contact if someone is in a severe crisis. It’s always important to know when someone may need more intensive help and care.

As I’ve been sitting here writing this, I got a phone call from a lifelong friend. This friend has been through some major challenges in life. She’s battled addiction and mental illness for most of her life. I’ll be honest, as the phone rang tonight and I saw her name on the screen, I decided to let it go to voicemail. I knew it would probably be a long phone call that I wasn’t sure I had the time or energy for tonight. Then I sat here looking at my computer and thought what am I doing? I’m writing about this very thing right now. I set this aside, and I called her back. It was a long call, and I didn’t have easy answers for her. But I listened, I prayed for her, and I kept pointing her to Jesus and reminding her of His love for her. She asked me why God has allowed all of this to happen to her. I told her I didn’t know, but I know that He’s been with her and sustained her through it all, and that He’s walking with her now through recovery. I told her there is always hope.

The past two years, I’ve had to repeat to myself over and over that there is always hope. Whether we are the one with the mental illness or we are walking through it with a loved one, we need to remember that God is our living hope (1 Peter 1:3). We need our Christian brothers and sisters to remind us of that and to pray for us when we don’t have the words or the energy.

My prayer is for our churches to be a place of refuge and comfort for hurting people. May we overflow with hope, joy and peace to all we encounter (Romans 15:13).

The author of this article would like to remain anonymous.