FAITH

HOPE

LOVE

 What We BELIEVE 

I want to start this conversation about mental health and faith by saying, Nothing Hidden (NH) is a faith-centered organization.  Whether you believe in God, are seeking Him, or maybe just aren’t sure what you believe yet, we are here for you. 

NH believes God still heals the sick.  Over the last 25 years, I have prayed for some people who were obviously healed either instantly or gradually, while others were not. Personally, it still remains a mystery. There are many things humans will not understand here on earth. That’s just the way it is, but I accept that and still believe in praying for the sick.

I can say this because we prayed for our daughter Bella, who was not healed, and now push through the pain of her death. I will continue to pray for the sick, and continue to pursue Jesus. No one ever said life would be fair or make sense, and Jesus even specifically said we would suffer difficulties while on earth.  But I still believe and follow wholeheartedly.

 

Let’s be honest, responses to the topic of mental health within the faith community are all over the place.  What I’ve realized is, until you have experienced a mental illness or journeyed alongside someone suffering, it’s really easy to misunderstand and judge. I did!

Until Bella’s life started to spin out of control, and we realized something was not right with her brain. She started to realize it, too, saying, “Something is wrong with me. My mind is not right.”   Ultimately, she was diagnosed with clinical depression and various other mental health conditions.

 

A clinical mental health condition indicates a brain that is sick. It doesn’t function properly, and needs to be examined and treated. These conditions can also be complex, involving other biological issues.  When someone has cancer, diabetes, or heart disease, they go to a doctor for treatment, right?   So we should treat mental health issues the same way.  Depression, extreme anxiety for weeks or months or longer, not eating and extreme weight loss, and self-harm all require medical attention. 

 

Yes, we should pray and pray and pray some more, and go to the church and ask pastors to pray for our healing. But there comes a point, just as with any other sickness or disease, when we must seek professional care.

 

As I have experienced myself in the community of faith, we have been uneducated and missed the fact that mental illness is a medical condition. Prayer is an incredibly important part of the equation as we work toward health, but we cannot ignore the clinical aspects.