This Week's Program
Mental Illness and Faith
“Many people go to healing ceremonies, go to church and say I’ve laid myself before the altar and I’ve asked God to heal me, and God, why haven’t you done it? So that presents a faith crisis.” – Dr. Sherry Davis Molock
Listen - Transcript - Study Guide
Continue ReadingMy Turn
Centerpiece
Harvey Yoder
I remember as a child going on a mountain hike one hot summer day with some of my older siblings and their friends. It didn't take long for me to get so tired I began to lag behind the rest. And the further behind I got, the more exhausted and terrible I felt, yet I didn’t want to admit I needed help.
Continue ReadingCurrent Offer
Pamphlet: "Dealing with Depression"
“Dealing with Depression” (Close to Home series from MennoMedia). Short pamphlet with practical tips for getting help and finding hope in dealing with this common problem. Close to Home pamphlets help Christian caregivers support those dealing with difficult personal issues.
This Week's Resources
VIDEO
Fierce Goodbye: Living in the Shadow of Suicide DVD. Dr. Sherry Mollock appears in this documentary telling the stories of five loving and courageous families, taking you to the innermost depths of their heartbreak and pain to bring hope and healing to others.
Shadow Voices: Finding Hope in Mental Illness DVD. Families, experts and persons of faith share stories and insights on living with mental illness. The bonus material on the DVD contains extra content on faith and mental illness.
ONLINE
Anabaptist Disabilities Network. The Anabaptist Disabilities Network works on mental health issues among others in addressing faith issues in relation to disabilities. Includes books on mental illness written for the Christian faith community.
You’ll find Sherry Davis Molock’s warning signs of suicide in the transcript for this Shaping Families program.
Another good list of warning signs is from the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention: A list especially for teens.
BOOKS
Darkness Is My Only Companion: A Christian Response to Mental Illness. Where is God in the suffering of a mentally ill person? What happens to the soul when the mind is ill? How are Christians to respond in the face of mental illness? In this book Kathryn Greene-McCreight confronts these difficult questions raised by her own mental illness—bi-polar disorder. Brazos Press, 2006.
Wrestling with Our Inner Angels: Faith, Mental Illness, and the Journey to Wholeness, by Nancy Kehoe. The author is both a nun and a clinician, and draws on both her psychological and religious training to approach with insight and sensitivity the role of belief and motivation in the lives of people troubled by mental illness. Jossey-Bass, 2009.
Sanity & Grace: A Journey of Suicide, Survival, and Strength – Judy Collins. A memoir.
SUPPORT
National Suicide Prevention hotline: Call 1-800-273-TALK or Chat. A 24/7 hotline for those in crisis.
Survivors of Suicide.
American Foundation for Suicide Prevention: Survivor Support Groups
National Board of Certified Counselors. Find a Licensed Professional Counselor
American Psychological Association. Find a Psychologist
RADIO
Unsung: Family Voices on Mental Illness radio spots – winner of Gracie and Gabriel awards. Twelve radio spots celebrating the heroic valor of families and friends supporting those with mental illness amid an appalling amount of societal ignorance and stigma and a difficult-to-navigate mental health system.
ONLINE – DVDs and other resources
Mental Health Ministries. Susan Gregg Schroeder’s faith-based organization for reducing the stigma of mental illness.
FaithNet is a network of people of faith working for understanding and interaction on mental health and faith issues.
MedlinePlus website from U.S. National Library of Medicine and National Institutes of Health
Resources Web page and Internet Links for Faith Communities
Burton's Blog
Tragic Shadow
Burton Buller
I was in a conversation with an acquaintance recently. We were talking about mental illness, and the devastating effect such illness has on the family. Near the end of the conversation, he stated that he knew a pastor who claimed that most mental illness was really just a spiritual shortcoming. That if people would get their lives straightened out with God, the depression would go away.
Continue ReadingNext Week
“Obsessive compulsive disorder” or OCD, is nothing to joke about. Debbie, a musician and data entry programmer, takes us inside the mind of a person suffering from this condition. She shares how friends, neighbors and church friends are helpful for those with this potentially lethal disorder.
Favorite Family Recipes
Green Bean Stew
Lovella Schellenberg, one of the authors of Mennonite Girls Can Cook, says this about Green Bean Stew: "My mother-in-law Pauline taught me how to make this recipe. I would phone her every year when the green beans were ripe on the bean pole and ask her what all went into this recipe. This stew has a fantastic fragrance. It might not be the prettiest stew, as the beans lose their bright green color, but the flavor is great; if there are any leftovers, they are eaten quickly the next day.
