MY PERSPECTIVE –

There is a large organization not far away, promising Christian churches that it will equip them to respond to people with lived experience. They teach the ins and outs of mental health and have been doing so for over ten years, offering free online courses about its various aspects.

They speak with authority, bringing to light a great amount of information to build understanding. Churches were delighted to be educated so well and so thoroughly. It gave them the confidence they needed to give better support to the vulnerable in their midst.

This was a wonderful thing to be happening to the understanding of mental illness, where, in earlier Church history, it had been regarded as a spiritual problem rather than a medical condition. The organization became a well trusted, venerated partner in the development of modern church life in Canada. Christians who study this organization’s material have full trust in its wisdom.

But a serious mistake is being made—one that is hurting the very people they’re hoping to support. Those who live with mental health challenges are being talked about but not being heard. The words of those who truly know what it means to live with such challenges are seldom given an opportunity to tell about it. It’s truly too bad that they’re not better included in the discussion of mental illness.

I’m a person with mental health issues, a person who struggles but also gives support to people like herself. For years I’ve been trying to be a voice for those who are not being heard, trying to let our needs be known. And I often wonder why no one seems to be interested.

Is it because most people benefitting from this education look upon people like us simply as “needy” individuals that God is calling them to care for? Or are they even thinking to themselves, “How could we trust the views of “victims” of such illnesses?” Too many are regarding us as nonpersons of sorts—people who are too different to be seriously considered, people not worth listening to, people who don’t really count. This has been my experience over the last many years.

But it hasn’t always been that way.

Things were quite different between the years 2000 and 2014 when I wrote and spoke extensively about my life with bipolar illness and how God had been helping me deal with it. I spoke about the importance of faith for people like me.

I published my experiences from that time in my recent book, ONE SUCH AS ME? It’s a beautiful story of how God helped a person like me, with all my troubles, make a significant impact on Christians’ understanding about mental illness. The story it tells is one that could not happen today. I had a voice then and it was welcomed. I was sought out to speak and to write articles.

But the work I did at that time has not received recognition from the organization that took over the work I had been doing. I’ve always wondered why. The story has been hidden until only recently when I gathered all the details from my many journal entries, blogposts, and emails that I had kept. If it weren’t for that book, the history would have been lost. Yet it is such a good story.

Why are things so different today? I write constantly about faith and mental health. But few Christian magazines will seriously look at what I have to say. I’m never asked to speak and tell what the world is like for a person suffering from mental illness. Perhaps people are content with what they learn from the professionals. They feel that those teachings will tell them all they need to know and they look no further. But there’s a lot more. There’s another perspective that’s important to take into account.

We’re not given opportunities to be heard when we tell about our pain. Would-be supporters might have been taught about the pain of our particular health issues, but are they learning about the worst of our pain? The pain caused by stigma? Are they learning how to help us overcome that pain?

Christians need to hear our personal stories. They need to hear from us directly about how we’ve been hurt and how it felt. What it did to our lives? That’s what would build compassion.

Christians who want to support us need to hear about our life and its difficulties. What can we do to have a meaningful life, despite our struggles? If people who want to support us could talk with us about such things, they might find God encouraging them to help us find ways to reach out for such a life. Our ability to reach beyond what most think is possible for us is far greater than most give us credit for.

I believe that the meaning of “support” goes beyond being nice to a person. It’s about being genuinely kind and encouraging them get the most out of life.

marja