Mental Health and Faith

[Lea101]

Firstly, I apologize for not reading the original post and rje comments carefully, I’m so distracted right now but I’ll say this:

If a person has depression or a mental illness, that person should receive professional help. Living with a mental illness affects daily activities, including praying, etc. Of course God can cure people, but if you break your leg, you would not just pray, you would pray and go to a doctor. Same thing here (i only say this bc i know a lot of people think depression is something that can be easily cured, it’s not!). Sorry if this seems random or irrelevant, I didn’t have time to read the posts carefully!

 

[Lea101]

Oh and bc you are not yourself if you are mentally unwell, you won’t be held 100% responsible for certain things I guess. God knows your heart (there are people who use their illness as an excuse)

 

[Marjorie2]

I agree that a person suffering from mental illness should definitely seek professional help in addition to praying - after all, God makes therapists, etc. available to us. Though therapy and medications if need be are crucial in treating mental illness (clinical depression, for example, is a chemical imbalance in the brain - not simply a pessimistic mood), scripture can be used to help one to cope with this in addition (as it can help in coping with any situation). There are many good books written that help people to use Jesus’ teachings in fighting depression. It is important, though, to make sure that the book one chooses is in line with the teachings of the Catholic Church.

 

[cheezey]

You’re welcome! I would take the questions to your confessor, explain about your anxieties and any treatments you’re in for them (and how they’re going - because sometimes it takes awhile, in my experience!), and hopefully he’ll be understanding and help you discern what to do, and if dispensations are in order he can give them. Praying for you!

This is appropriate to my question. I was asking about ‘dispensations’. Thank you!
It would make sense that those who are **mentally ill, who in turn cannot fulfill faith obligations. **would be considered for dispensations. Thank you!

 

[ynotzap]

If anyone is still out there for this, I still need to understand
Someone with psychological issues may have great difficulties with the obligations of his/her faith. Attending church, i.e… Lenten offerings now come into this question. Are there dispensations? Is there not a dispensation for those over 60 or those with dietary restrictions?
Any others as they may pertain to psychological issues?

Help! And thankyou…

There are spiritual conditions that enhance or produce psychological issues that we are not aware of. One particular issue is a self-righteous attitude. When a person has this attitude it can cause personal frustration, anxiety, it can even lead to hatred, produce great anger. When one is strongly convinced he is right about something, when in fact he isn’t, this will cause great conflict with others, it can produce personal isolation, it can lead a person unknowingly to commit uncharitable, and unjust actions against another. It’s all based on pride and ignorance which causes a spiritual blindness A person can think himself innocent of any fault, when in fact he isn’t innocent, his intention may be good, but misdirected. A good example of this fault(hidden deep within one’s psyche) is St. Paul, before his conversion. He persecuted Christians thinking that he was serving God until Jesus revealed Himself to Paul and told him, that he was persecuting the followers of Jesus, who was God. This caused Paul great pain, he suffered blindness to signify his spiritual state and often referred to his unjust actions against God and Christians his deep rooted pride I believe comes from the effects of Original sin, and I believe we all have it to some degree. Many of us have it, but are not aware of it. God must reveal it to us internally. If someone tells us we will not understand, as I said it is a spiritual blindness. A spiritual adviser could clue you in to the ailment, but that is not enough to cure us, we have to be convinced internally, and that is done by grace, the adviser can predispose you to receiving the grace. when we are humbled, then our blindness is removed. God gives grace to the humble, and resists the proud, to be humble, we experience humiliation, and we experience humiliation when we discover that we were wrong in our actions. St.Paul was humbled, and when he was he experienced a greater outpouring of grace and became the Apostle to the Gentiles.