Musings on mental matters

So... mental health prac is over... what an experience!! whew... 


What it taught me most of all is that mental illness is one of the most challenging obstacles an individual may have to overcome. Thanks be to God, that no matter how we joke around about being "crazy", many of us have never had to personally face mental illness or it's debilitating manifestations. 


It takes extreme perseverance, trust and self-denial to conquer mental illness. The sufferer must face their mental illness, acknowledge it's presence, trust the doctor's and nurses and others in their lives who are telling them that what they are suffering is not real, but simply an illusion in their mind and persevere in denying their mental illness power to rule their lives. It may take countless psychology sessions where painful pasts are dragged out into the open and examined by strangers... it may include medications which have their own associated side effects like drowsiness, nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea... which quite frankly may be less appealing than the mental illness. 


My own personal view on mental illness is vague and undefined. As I write my assignment for Friday on "the conclusions that can be drawn about the biological causes of behavioural/psychological problems".. perhaps my views may be clarified in my mind.


Though I am a firm believer that mental illnesses (though they can be caused by lifestyle choices - eg. the repetitive use of marijuana and other drugs.... in the same way that physical illness can be caused by lifestyle choices - eg. lung cancer/emphysema from smoking or liver failure due to alcoholism), are in some cases genetically linked and rooted in biological causes, I find it hard to deny that there is some spiritual element to mental illness. After listening to the number of patients with schizophrenia and psychotic depression rave on about how they are God or the devil, or are in cahoots with the devil, or they are God's representative on earth who controls the spirit world... I found myself coming to the conclusion that Satan's minions are very active in the mental health setting...


And perhaps they are... Just as Satan's minions can use physical illness (eg. cancer) to cause people to deny the presence of a merciful God, perhaps they play with the minds of some of those suffering mentally to cause them to struggle spiritually. It makes me wonder about the people who Jesus healed who were possessed by demons, and whether these demons manifested themselves with mental illnesses like psychotic depression and schizophrenia...


What I do know is that Matthew 4:24 tells us that:
"So His fame spread throughout all Syria, and they brought him all the sick, those afflicted with various diseases and pains, those oppressed by demons, epileptics, and paralytics, and He healed them."


Jesus Heals! He is the great Healer who wipes away the tears of His children and mends their broken hearts. Though physical (or mental) healing may not be His plan for you here on this earth... in life everlasting our bodies and minds will be healed and purified and we will no longer have to struggle with illness - mental or otherwise.