M
mtjoanna
Guest
I worked at a psychiatric hospital for 7 years. I saw people who had pretty intense mental illnesses, such as paranoid schizophrenia, extreme bipolar, (in kids) reactive attachment d/o, and others. One of the first things done on admission from the ER is to draw blood--there are many physical problems that can cause disordered thoughts and emotions (hypo/hyperthyroidism, diabetic crises, electrolyte imbalances). There are many factors that play into mental illnesses, and sometimes it is medical (chemical imbalances), spiritual (I have seen some patients who I was convinced were being influenced by demons), learned behavior, self-induced (drugs such as alcohol, meth, pot), sometimes because of physical trauma to the head, and/or a combination of these. Sometimes it's short-lived (like a patient I saw who had prednisone-induced psychosis and once the prednisone cleared out of her system, she returned to normal. During her psychotic episode, I walked into her room and she thought that I--short, chubby, blonde, female-was Hitler, so she tried to strangle me). Sometimes it's long-term and sometimes it is a life-long struggle.
Just as with any other illness, there is a level of self-responsibility in managing the symptoms but there are also times when it simply flairs out of control. God can, and sometimes does, provide miraculous healing; He has also provided therapists, doctors and medications that can help us manage these chronic problems that are all a result of sin entering the world. To answer another poster, yes, God can and does work through therapists, some of whom are psychologists. My Dad is a marriage and family therapist, who is first and foremost a Christian; he has worked with many couples who were on the brink of divorce, helped many an individual deal with past trauma and break destructive patterns.
My point? Mental illness and the treatment of it should not cause you to doubt God any more than the existence and treatment of illnesses such as cancer, diabetes, epilepsy, autism, Alzheimer's and anything else that you can think of.
Just as with any other illness, there is a level of self-responsibility in managing the symptoms but there are also times when it simply flairs out of control. God can, and sometimes does, provide miraculous healing; He has also provided therapists, doctors and medications that can help us manage these chronic problems that are all a result of sin entering the world. To answer another poster, yes, God can and does work through therapists, some of whom are psychologists. My Dad is a marriage and family therapist, who is first and foremost a Christian; he has worked with many couples who were on the brink of divorce, helped many an individual deal with past trauma and break destructive patterns.
My point? Mental illness and the treatment of it should not cause you to doubt God any more than the existence and treatment of illnesses such as cancer, diabetes, epilepsy, autism, Alzheimer's and anything else that you can think of.
