Five Truths to Change Your Views on Mental Illness

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Why read a post about mental illness?

  • Demographics. Nearly a quarter of the U.S. population will meet criteria for some mental illness this year.  Mental illness touches everyone’s life.
  • Friendships. Maybe you want to support friends who are suffering.  Or you know that increased understanding means a decreased chance of hurting someone you care about.
  • Personal Impact. You want to reduce your own chances of experiencing mental illness or cope better with the situation you are in.
  • Charity.  Perhaps you are someone who wants to “Speak the truth in love.”  The more you know, the better you can reach and relate to someone who struggles with mental health.

Whatever your reason, here are five points that might shift your views on mental illness:

1. Mental illnesses are part of the spectrum of common human experience.

I can’t speak for you, but I know I experience anxiety quite often.  I remember anxiety over speaking in high school or asking someone on a first date.  Now I feel anxiety when others evaluate my work, or when I have to confront someone I care about. I am sure you have worried about some aspect of your life: “Will we have enough to retire?”  “Will the principal judge me if my daughter wears mismatched socks and shoes to school?”  “Is there something wrong with me if I see the dress as white and gold?”   Anxiety and worry are human experiences, but for some they are debilitatingly intense or pervasive. Read More →

Thomas Merton, Lent, and the Perils of Avoiding Suffering

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I’ve sometimes wondered what Lent must look like to a non-religious person:

  • We spend one day a week not eating meat, and on a few days we skip meals altogether.
  • We voluntarily deprive ourselves of good things.
  • We intentionally ponder and ritualize the torture and death of our God/Leader.
  • Oh, and our male leaders all dress in purple (and occasionally pink).

In this thought experiment, I can imagine the other thinking: “Those people are intentionally causing themselves to suffer.  Who does that?  All the sane people are trying to avoid and reduce suffering.”

Checking in with myself, I notice that often avoiding suffering is indeed my main motivation. Read More →

The Beauty of Brokenness

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Plant_cracked_concrete2We are all broken.  We think of this as our biggest liability, but the reality is that the beauty in our brokenness is overwhelming.

Cancer.  Addiction.  Chronic pain.  Anxiety. Poor physical fitness.  Depression.  Job burnout.  No one I know wants experiences like these, but everyone I know has some.  Does that mean we are somehow diminished?

We come into the world as a small bundle of needs, completely dependent on our parents, unable to control even the movements of our limbs.  We are not angels – our will is frail and flawed.  Yet, as we grow, we are told to seize the day, hold the fort, take charge of our future.  We are fed with illusions of control and individuality, and we begin believe that sanity consists of the ability to shape our world to our own desires.  Our entertainments feature actors and athletes who are strong, beautiful, powerful.  Our cultural narratives promote constant self-improvement, rising above our humble beginnings, and eliminating our flaws.  We learn to fear our weaknesses as cracks in the armor that protects us from harm.

That’s all backwards. Read More →

When Raising Kids: First Place the Oxygen Mask Over Your Own Mouth

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family-shadowsIt’s no secret that children growing up in our society face a multitude of challenges.  They face the ubiquitous presence of alcohol and drugs, media saturated with sexuality, and a culture that struggles to plausibly stand behind basic values.  Not to mention a high likelihood that they will not make it to adulthood with both parents in the same stable marriage.  As parents, we want to find ways of shepherding our children through these dangers, and we often go to great lengths to provide worthwhile, productive and affirming experiences.

But who is looking out for the parents? Read More →

Grace-fully Supporting a Friend with Mental Illness

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clasped_handsYou know someone with a mental disorder.  Even if you don’t know it yet.  Whether family, co-workers or acquaintances, we’ll call them “your friend.”  Since you are reading this, I know you are a caring and compassionate person who would like to understand and support your friend.

Mental illness makes many things very difficult, especially relationships with others.  I bet you have felt that with your friend.  Maybe they have been labeled with major depression, and find it hard to respond to your invitations or enjoy activities with you.  Maybe they have issues with anxiety and their worry is so intense that you find it difficult to relax with them.  Maybe they carry the label of bipolar disorder, and their manic energy and obsessive enthusiasm occasionally leaves you in the dust and overwhelmed.  Maybe they sometimes seem to lose touch with the ordinary world, and meaningful communication appears impossible.  But whatever the problem, you can feel their suffering, and you do not want to give up or walk away.

So how can you help someone with a mental illness?   Read More →

5 Scientific Findings that Support Religion

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research-microscope2So I am sure you know that there is no conflict between science and revelation.  If I asked, you would tell me that when science discovers truth, it cannot conflict with religious revelation because the truths of science and the Church have their source in the same Author.   But nevertheless, sometimes it is alleged that “science” disproves/replaces/invalidates religion.

Rather than restate the philosophical debate about whether science has any standing to examine moral truth, much less the transcendent, I thought I would keep it practical.  You know, list some scientific findings that cast religion in a positive light.  Because there are many. Read More →