CREATING A MOVEMENT

When I was in the process of starting up the Living Room support ministry for people with mental health challenges, my psychiatrist at the time became quite enthused. He often told me how what I was doing was very much like how Alcoholics Anonymous had started. This doctor was so eager to help out that he even paid for the first printing of one of the Living Room manuals.

I’ve heard from others saying the same. My upcoming book, ONE SUCH AS ME? shows how I had prayed that Living Room could become a movement spreading far and wide. Because no one with mental health needs should be kept from such spiritual support.

I didn’t believe that Living Room should be a ministry controlled by individuals, any particular church, or any particular organization. It should have the freedom to spread—wherever it is needed. Living Room is God’s ministry. God is the One who should take it where it needs to go.

I recently started reading AA’s Big Book, curious about what had made AA such a big movement. How does it compare to the kind of movement I had hoped Living Room could become? Why is it so successful?

The edition of the Big Book I’m reading states that in the 16 years between its first printing in 1939 and 1955, AA “had mushroomed into nearly 6000 groups whose membership is far above 150,000 recovered alcoholics . . . All told, promising beginnings have been made in some 50 foreign countries and U.S. possessions.”

According to Wikipedia: “In 2020, AA estimated a worldwide membership of over two million, with 75% of those in the US and Canada.”

This twelve-step program teaches members that they can only overcome their seemingly hopeless situations through spiritual means, by placing their faith in a Higher Power—One much greater than themselves. For most this would mean God.

How does the AA program compare with Living Room?

Both alcoholism and mental health conditions are caused by illness and cannot be helped by those who suffer. They are both medical conditions but sufferers are too often blamed for it by a misunderstanding world. They are rejected—badly thought of.

They both are helped by people with similar problems giving them support. Such peer support has been found to be the most effective way to help both those with alcohol addiction, as well as those with mental health challenges.

The success of the AA program has proven that seemingly hopeless situations of problem drinking can only be overcome through spiritual means. Likewise, my work of giving support to those with mental health challenges has proven how the pain caused by stigma can only be relieved through spiritual means.

I think Living Room has much to learn from how Alcoholics Anonymous became such an amazing movement. Numerous people are leading lives of sobriety because of their work.

AA’s accomplishments should inspire us to bring back Living Room as the going concern it was before 2014, allowing it to be the movement I had always thought it should be. Think of how many who are suffering from the pain of stigma could be helped!

NOTE: I believe that my upcoming book, ONE SUCH AS ME? PIONEERING SPIRITUAL MENTAL HEALTH SUPPORT, might be a key to make such an effort happen. It covers the inspiring story of what happened between the years 2000 and 2014 when Living Room did so much to bring about church mental health awareness and spiritual mental health support. The story shows how much God can do through a person who trusts him, despite great challenges.

marja