In Depth:  mental health

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How much should church leaders engage with psychology?

How much should church leaders engage with psychology?
Dave Burke
Dave Burke

Olivia was 16 years old and wouldn’t go to school. It began a couple of years before when she started feeling anxious and those feelings grew until they ruled her life.

Everyone feels anxious some of the time, but Olivia struggled all the time. Her fear had a savage intensity that only subsided when she shut herself away in her room.

Is 'don't worry, God's in charge' really enough?
pastoral care

Is 'don't worry, God's in charge' really enough?
Steve Midgley
Steve Midgley

“Don’t worry. It’ll be fine.” Some phrases trip off the tongue very easily, yet so often fail to deliver the reassurance we intend.

“Don’t worry, God’s in charge” is a closely related Christian alternative. God is, of course, in charge. But how often those words fail to speak to anxious ears.

Are doctors ‘over-diagnosing’ mental health problems?

Are doctors ‘over-diagnosing’ mental health problems?
Dave Burke
Dave Burke

In 2018, back pain ceased to be the main reason people were taking days off work. The number one spot is now occupied by the stress-anxiety-depression family of mental health problems.

Some used to say that people with back pain were malingering; now, we reserve that accusation for people with mental health issues.

Why mindfulness is different from Biblical meditation

Why mindfulness is different from Biblical meditation
Dave Burke
Dave Burke

We sing about it: ‘Be still for the presence of the Lord…’ We read about it: ‘Be still and know that I am God…’ But we are never still!

The Bible often speaks of ‘stillness’, and the things related to it, such as meditating and waiting on God. But Christians, especially evangelical Christians, cannot abide stillness. We like noise and activity, with a side-order of mild chaos. We don’t do stillness.

Countering anxiety in young people with the gospel

Countering anxiety in young people with the gospel
Dave Burke
Dave Burke

How can we help young people become more resilient?

We have all heard some of the statistics, but you only have to think of a person whose child is in their teens or twenties and is ill with anxiety. 100 percent of their heart is broken, and that is the only statistic that really matters.

The unseen cost of boarding school: pain, healing, and the gospel

The unseen cost of boarding school: pain, healing, and the gospel
Carl Chambers
Carl Chambers

There is a malady which affects the souls, bodies and lives of many men and women, but is barely spoken about. Few understand it, while many subconsciously deny it, whether through ignorance or fear or shame. It may affect someone you know personally, and almost certainly affects people who have had an influence on your life.

What is it and how is it caused?

This malady is called 'Boarding School Syndrome' (BSS). I call it 'Prep School Pain'.

Mental health: the relationship between your brain, body and spirit

Mental health: the relationship between your brain, body and spirit
Dave Burke
Dave Burke

There are 85 billion nerve cells in your brain, only slightly fewer than the number of stars in the galaxy! But the real work is done by the connections between them.

There are around 100 such connections for every brain cell. Every time a tiny packet of a chemical messenger crosses one of these connections, something important happens in your head. These 185 billion connections firing constantly can monitor your temperature, move your thumb, or make you seethe with resentment.

Why John MacArthur is mistaken about mental health

Why John MacArthur is mistaken about mental health
Dave Burke
Dave Burke

Mary came to see me for ‘a chat about her mental health’. ‘I can’t leave the house, I’m so frightened’ she said. It had gone on for years. Her GP referred her to a psychiatrist who had prescribed some medication and a course of therapy.

Her own pastor told her not to see the therapist, and to throw the medication in the bin. ‘Jesus is all you need’ he said, ‘Not an atheistic therapist’. He reminded her of Philippians 4:6-7.

Letter

Clinical depression
Date posted: 1 Apr 2024

Dear Editor,

Thank you to the two brave people who shared their experiences of clinical depression. One can easily hear how the experience of depression was accompanied by a sense of loneliness and isolation from the One who never leaves us. I long for the day when people do not experience either stigma within the church or shame from the self for experiencing psychological distress or mental illness. 

How does clinical depression relate to a Biblical faith?

How does clinical depression relate to a Biblical faith?

Two readers of en share their experiences and what they have learned

Depression – one ordinary man’s experience...

Christian community and today’s rising loneliness in the digital era

Christian community and today’s rising loneliness in the digital era
Patrick Parkinson

Ours is perhaps the most socially connected generation in history.

We live in an age when people can communicate almost instantaneously by email and messaging programs, talk with one another over video, and be in contact with a large number of others through social media.

Be like ‘Hopeful’ to your friends in despair

Be like ‘Hopeful’ to your friends in despair
Dave Burke
Dave Burke

Suicide is a serious problem. According to recently released figures 5,583 people ended their life in 2021. About 20% of the population have entertained thoughts of suicide at some time in their life, so how can we be prepared to help?

John Bunyan explores this in his spiritual Pilgrim’s classic, Progress. Christian is imprisoned with his friend Hopeful in the castle of Giant Despair. The giant beats them senseless and throws them into a dark, stinking cell.

From toothbrushes and walruses to the gospel’s heart

From toothbrushes and walruses to the gospel’s heart
Cassie Martin
Cassie Martin

The toothbrush. The walrus. The pencil. The handlebar. The Dali.

The last two should have given the game away; I’m talking, of course, about moustache styles. November, or ‘Mo-vember’ as it is often renamed, is Men’s Health Awareness Month and you may have been aware of friends sporting various ’taches reminiscent of dodgy bandits or luxuriant WWI fighter aces.

How to deal with anxiety

How to deal with anxiety
David Kim

Book Review HOPE IN AN ANXIOUS WORLD: Six truths for when things feel overwhelming

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Armour against anxiety

Armour against anxiety
Catherine MacKenzie
Catherine MacKenzie

Book Review THE BAD DREAM by Nicola Fairburn

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A mental health tsunami?

A mental health tsunami?
Guest Columnist

Dave Burke

Is it really true that the pandemic is causing a tsunami of mental-health problems?

Pastors and depression

Pastors and depression
John Benton

Pastors are ordinary people. They are not superhuman.

In a quick, recent, online survey of 22 pastors run from Pastors’ Academy, only four said they had never suffered from any kind of depression. Seventeen said they had felt depressed in the last year – I’m sure lockdown had a part to play in that. Six said that they were seeing a doctor and taking medication.

Teenagers, mental health and the gospel

Teenagers, mental health and the gospel
Eleanor

If you ask any teenager today to summarise in a word what they think of the state of the world, I doubt you would get one positive answer in a thousand.

Recently, in my sixth form PSHCE class, the teacher started the lesson off with that question, and sure enough the answers were immensely depressing. ‘Racist’, ‘Sexist’, ‘Classist’, ‘Empty’, ‘Dying’, ‘Pointless’ – by the end, the teacher seemed slightly taken aback at the dark direction his ‘think about the world’ exercise had taken!

Students & anxiety

Students & anxiety
Peter M. Mawson

Book Review TRACK: ANXIETY A Student’s Guide To Anxiety

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How to meditate effectively during the pandemic

How to meditate effectively during the pandemic
Linda Allcock

Linda Allcock looks at different techniques for finding tranquillity at this uncertain time

At risk of stating the obvious, the Covid-19 pandemic has caused a great deal more anxiety and stress than usual for each of us.

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