Women At the Well Ministries

There are many different kinds of mental and emotional sufferings, but I am only covering the most common for now. As anxiety and panic attacks are most commonly associated with depression, much of what I write will apply to these distressing conditions, also. These cover generalities.

Taken from LifeWayResearch (2014)

GENERAL DESCRIPTION

DEPRESSION

• Illness most familiar to all of the experts
  
• Depression was mentioned the most often as being directly impacted by situations, personal care, friendships, and spiritual life
  

BIPOLAR

• Experts placed a much higher emphasis on the need for medication with patients who are bipolar than those with depression
  
• Bipolar frequently causes a great deal of strain on the patient’s closest relationships
  
• Advances in medicine provide a hopeful outlook with a bipolar diagnosis
  
• Those dealing with bipolar face challenges in areas that are their best avenues for making progress:

• 
  
  • Inconsistency
  • Difficulty getting plugged into groups
  • Trouble making relational connections
  • Difficulty feeling connected to God and others
  • Actions can have strong impact on community of faith

SCHIZOPHRENIA

• Is a brain disease
  
• Seen in all faiths, religions
  
• Found in all socio-economic strata
  
• 1% of population (all over the world)
  
• Cuts across people groups
  
• Shows no preferential selection or de-selection
  
• Has 3 categories of symptoms

• 
  
  • Positive (adds something to the person’s personality)
  • Negative (takes something away from the person’s personality)
  • Cognitive (lower functioning than general population)

ON SHAME AND STIGMA

• People with mental illness or their families deal with a large amount of shame and social stigma around the illnesses

• 
  
  • People assume the person has “done” something to cause it

• Honest conversations that bring clarity to the topic are needed
  
• Conversations about mental illness need to change in frequency and in tone. Mental Health Experts on the Family
  
• Parents of children with mental illness deal with a substantial amount of denial and grief
  
• Questions about suffering are common
  
• To move forward, parents have to learn to dream new dreams for their child and their families
  
• Key tools for families

• Establish realistic time frames
  
• Understand illness isn’t going to just “disappear”
  
• Let go of others’ expectations
  
• Make room in their lives to deal with the illness
  
• Establish boundaries that lead to success
  
• Understand that it’s not about them Mental Health Experts on the Church & 
  
• Community

• People with mental illness often turn to the church first for help
  
• Church has an opportunity to be a place of healing
  
• Pastors’ reactions to people struggling with mental illness are varied
  
• Pastors need to understand their own limitations
  
• Walking with the mentally ill can benefit the congregation, not just the individual
  
• Prepare for the cyclical nature of it and potential relapses

• Pastors are most likely to change their view on mental illness once they are personally impacted by it