Mental Health Medications and Christians

[sparkman]

As a precursor to this discussion, I'm not a mental health expert and would not want anyone relying on my expertise regarding this topic.

The basic question is whether a Christian should use mental health pharmaceuticals or not.

My position is that there are some individuals with genuine chemical imbalances which can benefit from mental health pharmaceuticals, but that our society tends to overprescribe such pharmaceuticals and these drugs can have a detrimental effect on the Christianity of those who take the drugs.

I want to point to my personal experience. I started taking Paxil in about 2010 or so, due to social anxiety. I had just left a church I was involved with for years, and the experience was very disillusioning. I needed to get involved with another fellowship which taught sound doctrine, but felt out of place. I thought the drugs may help me to adapt to a new environment and to deal with the resulting anxiety.

Instead, I believe the drugs caused me to feel complacent about non-attendance, and about my Christian duties in general. I ended up backsliding for a number of years, getting involved in very obvious immoral behavior.

I don't blame my behavior on these anti-anxiety medications, but I do believe they engendered a false sense of peace, which replaced the peace I should have been receiving from the Holy Spirit. I also gained a lot of weight from these anti-anxiety medications, which caused further issues.

There are different attitudes in the Church regarding mental health drugs. My understanding is that John MacArthur teaches that they are never useful to the Christian. I have a friend who attended MacArthur's fellowship..my friend had a roommate with genuine mental health issues (having auditory and visual hallucinations) who was not encouraged to take medications and it caused great difficulty in his life. So, while I respect MacArthur's view on other topics, and while he has a genuine concern regarding mental health drugs, I do not agree with his black and white view on this topic.

My aunt is a very faithful Christian and also experienced auditory hallucinations and takes mental health drugs as a result. So, I am definitely sympathetic to both perspectives. Our physical bodies are subject to the effects of the Fall, and I believe that these sorts of illnesses are a manifestation of underlying physical frailties due to this, in some circumstances. However, I also believe that these illnesses can, in some cases, be caused by sinful thinking. It's a mixed bag.

Just wondering what everyone else thinks on this topic.

Note: I am not encouraging or discouraging the use of mental health pharmaceuticals, nor would I want anyone to feel guilty over their use if they have a genuine organic condition. I'm not qualified to judge that. I am only relating my own circumstance and thoughts.

 

[blue_ladybug]

Hmmm.. Well, I don't know much about mental health/illness, or what meds there are for it, but if a person is taking meds for it, and it interferes with their lifestyle or whatever, then their doctor should work to find a combination of drugs that will allow that person to live a good, normal life with a clear perception of their religion, and how they interact in their lives.

Does that even make sense? lol

 

[coby2]

Same experience when I used it, backslid, immorality, first a suicide attempt from the prozac. It alters your mind and ability to make moral decisions. Psychology is all about you're sick and it's your brain instead of it's sin and the devil. I saw Hal Lindsey preaching on revelations, sorcery. That's when I stopped at once. Had 8 oxazepam and 1 remeron a day.

 

[coby2]

Experts say antidepressant drugs cause suicides instead of preventing them - NaturalNews.com

 

[Miri]

I've never taken any, but I know that for UK doctor's the first line of treatment
is to try to refer people for counselling, or on line services or re-direct them
to appropriate groups.

Anti anxiety meds especially are given as a last resort rather than a first resort.

Where they are genuinely needed though I am not against the idea. There
are genuine chemical imbalances which drugs can help with which effect
both the brain and hormonal balance of the body.

 

[GrumpyCrumpet]

Voted.

I have PTSD and I'm on medications to stabilize my mood and alleviate anxiety attacks/reduce nightmares. They work wonderful for me and my situation.

 

[nogard]

Your poll options are a little unbalanced. One is an absolute negative while the other is a situational positive. If you reworded the second option, the poll might be a little more balanced.

 

[ember]

I think there is a time and a place if a person needs them under a doctor's supervision

no....never taken them.....had some ongoing pain issues once and was prescribed what they give depressed people at the minimum dose...supposed to take the edge off pain....I could not stay awake...it was lala land all day....I asked the doctor about that and she said that when a person is depressed, even the strong dose does not make them sleepy like that

so that was my foray into drugs....I am also for pain relievers if you need 'em....

again, all under supervision

 

[sparkman]

Voted.

I have PTSD and I'm on medications to stabilize my mood and alleviate anxiety attacks/reduce nightmares. They work wonderful for me and my situation.

It's good that they are helping. I qualified my remarks that I think there may be appropriate situations.

 

[sparkman]

Your poll options are a little unbalanced. One is an absolute negative while the other is a situational positive. If you reworded the second option, the poll might be a little more balanced.

Maybe you can list the options as you see them..might help me understand. I do try to frame the options carefully...I may have missed something though.

 

[ember]

Experts say antidepressant drugs cause suicides instead of preventing them - NaturalNews.com

well, it is my understanding that it is an individual side effect and not as a whole? Mind you, a friend had a friend who was on one of those and that person did actually commit suicide

when I see the adverts on TV, and the side effects, I would think it is a last resort to take just about anything

like anything I guess, they have their place

 

[keepitsimple]

Unless I first walked in their shoes ... felt what they felt ... and struggled with their very struggles, I wouldn't venture to give an opinion. I very much dislike the "label" that a mental health issue can carry in todays' society. For example ... why is it acceptable to treat the physical body, but not the suffering mind ? This is why we must be careful in not judging others for any reason whatsoever. We simply don't know their burden ... and struggle.

 

[NayborBear]

In my opinion, and this is only my opinion on mental health issues and pharmacia, or however it's spelt, is that thee main objective of the "shrink", is to get the patient into becoming, or "enhancing" the patients' ability/ies, to the "Usefulness to the beast", or, society, however you wish to pigeon-hole it, or, categorize it.

The problem/s with a "believer", in one's striving in being "wise as the serpent", is staying innocent, as a dove. That is, being in the world, but, not of the world. I'll even go as far as saying, that methinks, tiz God Himself, inside a persons' spirit (yanno, breath of life thing. Ya, He's there, which makes true, that some things ARE true WHETHER, one believes it, or not), believer, or not, that keeps trying to "check itself" against the outside environment, that causes/creates such havoc, and/or turmoil, within ones' mind, that it effects ones' reasoning, when it comes to "empiricism vs. faith". It is in these "strugglings" with "powers and principalities of darkness", and "spiritual wickedness in high places" (abilities in reasoning) where these (so called) "hallucinations" are made mainifest. These are very real, and SHOULD give even the most faithful of believers, a very real sense, of: "Is there any hope for me/us?!" Can you imagine what/how a non-believer is handling this? The success of "meds for the head", IS made manifest in how loose the ethics and morals of the individual/society has achieved, in its negating the aforementioned realities! They simply don't exist! Or, at least don't exist, to the point that one can yet be a contributor to "society", and the perpetuation and growth of itself (mark of the beast, kinda thing). So?..ya get off the meds, eventually, and then start with self medicating. Drinkin' and "black market" procurements, cuz, yer insurance has runned out, and therapy is just too expensive to continue on your dime. So? Yer wondering as to the why the whole world is sinking into depths precisely like Sodomy and Gomorrah?

Here is an excerpt from the Book of Jasher-19: 1-22. It describes in more detail of how much more wicked then that which was "cannonized":

1. And the cities of Sodom had four judges to four cities, and these were their names, Serak in the city of Sodom, Sharkad in Gomorrah, Zabnac in Admah, and Menon in Zeboyim.
   
2. And Eliezer Abraham's servant applied to them different names, and he converted Serak to Shakra, Sharkad to Shakrura, Zebnac to Kezobim, and Menon to Matzlodin.
   
3. And by desire of their four judges the people of Sodom and Gomorrah had beds erected in the streets of the cities, and if a man came to these places they laid hold of him and brought him to one of their beds, and by force made him to lie in them.
   
4. And as he lay down, three men would stand at his head and three at his feet, and measure him by the length of the bed, and if the man was less than the bed these six men would stretch him at each end, and when he cried out to them they would not answer him.
   
5. And if he was longer than the bed they would draw together the two sides of the bed at each end, until the man had reached the gates of death.
   
6. And if he continued to cry out to them, they would answer him, saying, Thus shall it be done to a man that cometh into our land.
   
7. And when men heard all these things that the people of the cities of Sodom did, they refrained from coming there.
   
8. And when a poor man came to their land they would give him silver and gold, and cause a proclamation in the whole city not to give him a morsel of bread to eat, and if the stranger should remain there some days, and die from hunger, not having been able to obtain a morsel of bread, then at his death all the people of the city would come and take their silver and gold which they had given to him.
   
9. And those that could recognize the silver or gold which they had given him took it back, and at his death they also stripped him of his garments, and they would fight about them, and he that prevailed over his neighbor took them.
   
10. They would after that carry him and bury him under some of the shrubs in the deserts; so they did all the days to any one that came to them and died in their land.
    
11. And in the course of time Sarah sent Eliezer to Sodom, to see Lot and inquire after his welfare.
    
12. And Eliezer went to Sodom, and he met a man of Sodom fighting with a stranger, and the man of Sodom stripped the poor man of all his clothes and went away.
    
13. And this poor man cried to Eliezer and supplicated his favor on account of what the man of Sodom had done to him.
    
14. And he said to him, Why dost thou act thus to the poor man who came to thy land?
    
15. And the man of Sodom answered Eliezer, saying, Is this man thy brother, or have the people of Sodom made thee a judge this day, that thou speakest about this man?
    
16. And Eliezer strove with the man of Sodom on account of the poor man, and when Eliezer approached to recover the poor man's clothes from the man of Sodom, he hastened and with a stone smote Eliezer in the forehead.
    
17. And the blood flowed copiously from Eliezer's forehead, and when the man saw the blood he caught hold of Eliezer, saying, Give me my hire for having rid thee of this bad blood that was in thy forehead, for such is the custom and the law in our land.
    
18. And Eliezer said to him, Thou hast wounded me and requirest me to pay thee thy hire; and Eliezer would not hearken to the words of the man of Sodom.
    
19. And the man laid hold of Eliezer and brought him to Shakra the judge of Sodom for judgment.
    
20. And the man spoke to the judge, saying, I beseech thee my lord, thus has this man done, for I smote him with a stone that the blood flowed from his forehead, and he is unwilling to give me my hire.
    
21. And the judge said to Eliezer, This man speaketh truth to thee, give him his hire, for this is the custom in our land; and Eliezer heard the words of the judge, and he lifted up a stone and smote the judge, and the stone struck on his forehead, and the blood flowed copiously from the forehead of the judge, and Eliezer said, If this then is the custom in your land give thou unto this man what I should have given him, for this has been thy decision, thou didst decree it.
    
22. And Eliezer left the man of Sodom with the judge, and he went away.

Can you see a similar trendings here?

I pray this helps.

 

[Hellooo]

Absolutely, take medication if you need it.

 

[coby2]

Lol I'm always told to shut up about my opinions in church, but churches that encourage their people to go to a psychiater, man, what a powerless and faithless bunch. A church forced me to do it, unbelievable.

 

[cjordan38]

The Word said you have what you say you have. It also says that the physicians are for the unbelievers. Also it says by his stripes we were healed. And one more thing Jesus got up with healing in his wings. So no drugs are for those whom don't believe. The boy with legion inside him was mental and Jesus healed him. Also Jesus healed the lame, dumb, and blind. So if the power worked over 2000 years ago why not now. I like your post.

 

[Willie-T]

The Word said you have what you say you have. It also says that the physicians are for the unbelievers. Also it says by his stripes we were healed. And one more thing Jesus got up with healing in his wings. So no drugs are for those whom don't believe. The boy with legion inside him was mental and Jesus healed him. Also Jesus healed the lame, dumb, and blind. So if the power worked over 2000 years ago why not now. I like your post.

I better not see you wearing a cast if you break a bone, nor heading for the hospital if your appendix bursts, or if you have a heart attack or stroke. LOL

 

[4enlightment]

As a precursor to this discussion, I'm not a mental health expert and would not want anyone relying on my expertise regarding this topic.

The basic question is whether a Christian should use mental health pharmaceuticals or not.

My position is that there are some individuals with genuine chemical imbalances which can benefit from mental health pharmaceuticals, but that our society tends to overprescribe such pharmaceuticals and these drugs can have a detrimental effect on the Christianity of those who take the drugs.

I want to point to my personal experience. I started taking Paxil in about 2010 or so, due to social anxiety. I had just left a church I was involved with for years, and the experience was very disillusioning. I needed to get involved with another fellowship which taught sound doctrine, but felt out of place. I thought the drugs may help me to adapt to a new environment and to deal with the resulting anxiety.

Instead, I believe the drugs caused me to feel complacent about non-attendance, and about my Christian duties in general. I ended up backsliding for a number of years, getting involved in very obvious immoral behavior.

I don't blame my behavior on these anti-anxiety medications, but I do believe they engendered a false sense of peace, which replaced the peace I should have been receiving from the Holy Spirit. I also gained a lot of weight from these anti-anxiety medications, which caused further issues.

There are different attitudes in the Church regarding mental health drugs. My understanding is that John MacArthur teaches that they are never useful to the Christian. I have a friend who attended MacArthur's fellowship..my friend had a roommate with genuine mental health issues (having auditory and visual hallucinations) who was not encouraged to take medications and it caused great difficulty in his life. So, while I respect MacArthur's view on other topics, and while he has a genuine concern regarding mental health drugs, I do not agree with his black and white view on this topic.

My aunt is a very faithful Christian and also experienced auditory hallucinations and takes mental health drugs as a result. So, I am definitely sympathetic to both perspectives. Our physical bodies are subject to the effects of the Fall, and I believe that these sorts of illnesses are a manifestation of underlying physical frailties due to this, in some circumstances. However, I also believe that these illnesses can, in some cases, be caused by sinful thinking. It's a mixed bag.

Just wondering what everyone else thinks on this topic.

Note: I am not encouraging or discouraging the use of mental health pharmaceuticals, nor would I want anyone to feel guilty over their use if they have a genuine organic condition. I'm not qualified to judge that. I am only relating my own circumstance and thoughts.

Greed is sort of like a mental problem and which we adapted to it. And if pharmaceutical companies are in it for the money but not distributing it for free; then how can anyone trust those that are sick as well. If the sick starts doctoring on the sick, what will be the condition of the patients?


You have been quoted saying that in medical school you were told prescription opioids were not addictive. Is this true for a lot of doctors? Why are doctors prescribing them at such a high rate?
I think there are a lot of doctors who – like me – weren't trained to have a due respect for just how dangerous these drugs are. They are addictive, and they are highly lethal. Frieden: Doctors Aren’t Prescribing Medications to Treat Heroin Addiction - US News



More Than Two Thirds of American Youth Aren’t Good Enough for the Military, Says the Military | Smart News | Smithsonian

 

[cjordan38]

Lol. I actually had my leg broken by getting hit by a car before i became a believer. I was taking about 8 ibuprofen. 1600s a day. But one day i decided it was going to be my last day taking one. Never took one again.

 

[Angela53510]

As I have mentioned before I run a bipolar support group. People are all med compliant, which means they take the drugs they are prescribed. Now, if they get bad side effects, they do talk to their doctor and try a different one. I have never had a problem in that group. They all support each other, and are kind and generous to one another.

In my new church I am mentoring a woman whose husband is a big wheel in AA. He was a serious alcoholic. Now he is clean. Except they told him not to take meds for his bipolar disorder. When I finally met him, I met an erratic and mixed up man, putting AA before God and his family. In fact, he is now divorcing his wife, and I wonder how much of that is uncontrolled mental illness, combined with the cult of AA?

Mental illness is a disease. If you get on the wrong medication, try again till you find one that works with a minimum of side effects. It really is no different than a physical illness, and the source is neurotransmitters in the brain which are not working correctly. This also applies to depression. I've seen people become contributing members of society on the right antidepressants. (And I do not think Prozac is one of those drugs - too many bad side effects!)