What’s one thing you know now that would have saved your younger self a lot of pain?
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I can’t think in terms of saving myself a lot of pain. Life for most people involves happy days, difficult days, and mundane days. I never had any serious mental health issues, but I would probably have had mild anxiety and depression at times. I knew little about how to address these in years gone my.
There was a bit of a counselling fad in evangelical circles back in the 1980s with different theories and perspectives. And no doubt, there are Bible passages that address mental health to some degree. But I would think that God deals with much of that through what is known as common grace. As with physical health, He allows people everywhere to discover and share means of addressing mental health issues. They might have their sources in Christian cultures, but they might also come from other cultures.
I remember reading a book that John Lennon was into – The Primal Scream by Arthur Janov. I think the theory was that the birth process affected your mental health and you can overcome issues by screaming 😀. I never did any screaming, but that was the sort of mental health book that I would have read before I was a Christian.
Then, I read Christian books, which were of some use. But after work-related stress back in 2008, I started looking into Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT) and mindfulness. I probably did little to implement the advice, but it’s good to know that simple solutions exist. Of course, they don’t necessarily completely solve things, but they help you to manage your mental health. I quite enjoy reading Dummies books – they suit me 😀.
Some Christians worry about that stuff because some people look for magical solutions, so it might direct them into some other religion or cult or whatever. And you always get people, including Christians, who capitalize on people’s problems and offer them magical solutions if they pay money or join thier sect or whatever. But the Dummies books are secular, and they don’t promote any particular religion.
And I like this guy. He’s an Oxford professor and he is also an ordained priest in the Church of England and an Honorary Canon of Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford.
I remember hearing Lawrence Crabb back in 1985 at a confererce in the Metropolitan Tabernacle, London. It’s quite a conservative reformed Baptist Church. They later lost confidence in his Crabb’s teaching, if I remember correctly. I also heard Jay Adams there back in 1996. I do enjoy Christian counselling material, but I’m uneasy when they dimiss material from non-Christians or non-evangelicals. Maybe they don’t entirely dismiss secular solutions, but they sometimes give the impression that the Bible has all the answers. As I said, the Bible doesn’t exclusively provide solutions for developments in health. Sin can certainly affect your health, and godliness can be helpful, but there are many other factors to consider. And of course, there are always disagreements and debates in both Christian and secular circles. But that doesn’t stop mean from finding simple helps – such as lying down and doing a calming body scan – or taking a few deep belly breaths. And it’s always been nice having people to chat to – both in church life and in college, work, home etc.
And here are some hymns that are somewhat helpful:
