The Over-Spiritualization of Mental Health

I grew up in the church since my earliest memory and I love the church. I appreciate the desire for wholeness, the focus on getting unhealthy patterns and mindset under control and living a life of service to God and others. Yet, there is one aspect that I see as a major set-back when it comes to dealing with mental health. Too often, it’s over-spiritualized (it’s a real word, I checked), leaving people with a stronger sense of guilt, self-doubt and isolation.

If you don’t know what I mean, let’s use this simple example. A dude is dealing with a porn addiction and constantly hears, “we need to be pure and stop sinning…” He instantly feels a sense of shame and self-awareness that he is majorly failing at his porn addiction. When he goes to talk to someone about it, the typical thing offered is Bible verses, prayer and a good dose of, “this needs to be removed from you life to honor God.” While well intended, I haven’t seen this at effectively assisting the guy in progressing towards honesty and freedom.

Why is this? Personally, I believe it’s because he has developed a sex addiction, but instead of it being understood as an addiction, it’s looked at as “bad behavior.” But, as we all know, “bad behavior” comes from somewhere and typically it’s not out of rebellion or giving God the middle finger. Most people in the church genuinely want to live free and fulfilled lives and have a genuine desire to grow in their spiritual practice.

Addiction is its own beast. It has an etymology, a cycle and and underlying reasons for having a grip on the psyche. In my opinion, I think the addiction needs to be processed and properly treated as the primary focus. Spirituality should undergird the clinical treatment, with a sense of love and support from scripture and fellow believers. It should send the message, “God is for you and He’s working with you to find freedom,” not “if you don’t stop this behavior, there will be consequences.”

Addiction is just one example, but the same is true for anxiety, depression, PTSD, eating disorders, self-harm and drug abuse. Too often they are minimized into the simple category of “sin,” and if you’ve been around the church, you know God hates sin. Image what that does to the interior life of that person dealing with any number of mental health conditions. It too often leads to a greater sense of failure, depression and self-accusation, which produces more of the unhealthy behavior, not less.

I’m sorry, but having anxiety or suffering from PTSD is does not make you less spiritual, less valuable or less of a Christian. We live in a screwed up world that screws up our mind and can cause trauma, and trauma, my friend, leads to all kinds of mental health issues. I think it’s time for the church to reevaluate the approach to dealing with people various mental health conditions and to be cautious when labeling such issues with a one-dimensional label of “sin.” This polarized way of seeing people has lead to psychological damage, suppression and ultimately a warped perception of the unconditional love of God.

Prayer is powerful. Confession is essential. Health is the aim. The next time you find yourself talking with a friend about their emotional struggles, pray with them, comfort them with scripture but above all else, listen with empathy and compassion that they may leave your presence with a sense of hope and affirmation. I think that’s what Jesus would do.