mental illness

Most pastors have seen mental illness in their pews, while some have seen it in themselves.

Did you know the average age of onset for mental illnesses is 14? This is not when individuals are diagnosed, but looking back, this is the average age when many begin struggling.

For many of us, mental illness is not a theoretical issue. Instead, it manifests in many ways and, at times, can impact nearly every moment of every day.

For many, a mental illness—theirs or a loved one’s—cuts right into the way they see themselves, God, and their community of faith. Here are ways people need the Church to step up and connect.

I encourage churches to actively train and deploy “Christian firemen”—running toward those being devastated by the “flames” of mental illness when everyone else is running away.

Mental health is the great mission field of the 21st century, and it is time the Church recognized its God-given role. The involvement of the Church is the missing piece necessary to transform our broken system.

Pastor Rick Warren has praised a pastoral letter discussing mental health and the church. The letter, titled, “Hope and Healing,” calls for an end to the stigma around mental illness and for greater collaboration between science and medical professionals and people of faith.

A new study of over 62,000 COVID-19 patients in the U.S. indicates that one in five of those patients will go on to develop mental illness within the three months following their positive virus test.