Helping those living with mental illness

As part of Mental Health Awareness month, the focus of worship yesterday at Chain of Lakes was caring for someone living with mental illness.  It was a marvelous day of high attendance, plenty of energy, and a deep desire among the people present to help those who live with mental illness.  After worship John Stadler, a representative from the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), shared his story and spoke about how people can help those who live with mental illness.

My interest in mental illness began when I attended seminary.  I had two encounters with someone who lived with a mental illness.  Both of these encounters made me realize that I had a lot to learn when it came to helping people who livewith mental illness.  Ever since I have encouraged the faith communities that I have led to focus on helping people who live with mental illness.  When I served at Community Presbyterian Church in Plainview, the church was able to provide on-site counseling services—the only counseling services offered within a thirty-mile radius. We offered support groups to help people who were struggling with particular mental health concerns.

The multiple tasks of developing a church from scratch has prevented me from doing more to help people living with mental illness. However now that Chain of Lakes is less than a year from breaking ground on a new building, I can devote some more time to this essential issue.

The statistics are sobering.  According to statistics provided by NAMI, 

·       1 in 5 people live with a mental illness

·       6 out of 10 youth who live with a mental illness are not receiving treatment

·       4 out of 10 adults living with a serious illness not treated

Resisting the stigmas surrounding mental illness are essential.

These stigmas often come from a lack of understanding from those of us who don’t live with mental illness.  People who live with mental illness are often blamed for their condition.  When a person goes through a psychotic episode it’s described as “going through a phase.”  A perception exists that if a person living with mental illness will just try harder the person can snap out of it.  A cure exists and the cure depends on the strength of the person living with mental illness.  Just try harder!!

Anyone living with mental illness knows that if they could be cured then they would be cured.  They know they came into the world with the brain that doesn’t always function well.   The psychotic episodes are more than a phase.  People living with mental illness would snap out of it if they could. 

People who live with other physical illnesses are not treated with stigma.   

In December 2015 I had the aortic valve in my heart replaced.  I was born with an aortic valve that didn’t work.  I didn’t know about this condition until November 2015.  I had a mechanical valve put into my heart.  A person would never know that this happened unless they sat close to me and heard the clicking of my heart.  I’m living with a physical condition.

When I had surgery and recovered, the people of Chain of Lakes were marvelous in their support. People visited me in the hospital, my family received more food than we could eat, I received cards, I was given as much time as I needed (at full pay) to recover until I came back to work.

This is the type of support that a person living with a mental illness needs when the person goes through a difficult time.

If all of us can see mental illness as a physical illness, a brain chemistry issue, and communicate that message then we will be more successful in pushing back on stigma.  Asking a person living with a mental illness to “snap out” of it would have been like asking me to “snap out” of having an aortic valve that didn’t work.  It’s impossible.

I want to encourage all faith communities to consider offering counseling services in their building.  Almost every church has space that is not used during the week.  Most leaders of congregations know of counselors in their community.  Many counselors would offer more services if they had a place to practice.  The counselors can handle their own billing.  It doesn’t seem that it would be that difficult for a church to offer counseling services. 

According to the research provided by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation program, Anoka County has one counselor for every 690 people.  This ratio is in the bottom fifty percent among counties in the State of Minnesota.  If every church in Anoka County would provide counseling services in their building this ration would decrease. The population would be healthier.

Let’s get to work!

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