Mental Illness, Disability and Religious Life

[BarbaraTherese]

The ministry or apostolate of the sick is an important one in the life of The Church and The Mystical Body, simply because illness is an act of Divine Providence - the person has not chosen the illness, The Lord has permitted it. The illness thus becomes an involuntary penance which most all our spiritual classics do point out are of far more importance and value than voluntary penances or those penances one chooses for oneself…and the importance of illness or also involuntary suffering lay in the fact that they are not a result of self will or choosing oneself (and even with the highest of motives), but because they are a result of God’s Will and His Providence. In allowing illness and sufferings, God is acting to complete The Passion of The Lord in His Mystical Body on earth.
In a special way, then, those who do suffer an illness or some involuntary suffering are receiving a special call to unity with The Passion and “we make up in our own bodies what was lacking in the Sufferings of Christ” (St. Paul).
Any organization I would envisage would specifically then emphasize the above and the spirituality in part would lay around the prayerful accepting of one’s illness and the sufferings associated with the very best disposition one can and in unity with The Passion of Christ.

While we do hear much about the ministering to the sick, we hear almost nothing to nothing at all about the special ministry of the sick and those who suffer involuntarily and their unique and special calling to complete the Sufferings of Christ in the Mystical Body of Christ on earth. All without exemption are called to this completing, but those who are ill or suffer involuntarily have a very special calling by God to do so. There is a whole way of life, a lifestyle and a unique in part spirituality in this calling.

Blessings…Barb

 

[BarbaraTherese]

:juggle: Hey Barb,

I was born with chromosome 22 missing, in my genes. And this leaves me with seizures. Seizures take many forms. When I have a seizure I know it is going to come. I feel dizzy, I cannot stand up. I feel like I am going to faint and I feel the room spinning, then I throw up. Yuk

This is not fun Barb. I am only 22 my mom gets worried. I went to the hospital so many times for this. I even colapsed on the floor and my grandpa said I gave him a scare because I wasnt responding. I take seizure medication now it helps but I still get quite a few seizures.

See in my case some doctors think it is Psuedo Seizures I feel that it isnt… My seizures are usually 5 to 30 seconds (commonly more than 10), with a gradual beginning and ending. When I get them.

The I will stare (as I would in any absence seizure) but often is somewhat responsive. Eye blinking or slight jerking movements of the lips may occur. One of my doctors said Daydreaming and inattentiveness can mimic these seizures. While that is true I just know i is not a fake seizure I know it isnt.

How do you explain, when I watch TV or go to a place that has blinking lights so fast like if you are in a club cause me to have seizures! You tell me. That doesnt sound that I make this up.

Here is a typical story:
“In the morning, I get these ‘jumps.’ My arms fly up for a second, and I often spill my coffee or drop what I’m holding like I was getting something to drink in the refrigerator and I had a sudden jerk in my arm like it just happened and I broke my mothers boyfriend’s mom’s plate I felt bad I just didnt know why I did that sometimes you cant help it. Now and then my hands will stay shut for a split second. Sometimes I get a few jumps in a row. Once I’ve been up for a few hours, the jumps stop.”

Then I get very brief jerks. Usually they don’t last more than a second or two. There can be just one, but sometimes many will occur within a short time. I feel like if I have a mix of Myoclonic (MY-o-KLON-ik) seizures are brief, shock-like jerks of a muscle or a group of muscles. “Myo” means muscle and “clonus” (KLOH-nus) means rapidly alternating contraction and relaxation—jerking or twitching—of a muscle. Juvenile myoclonic epilepsy: The seizures usually involve the neck, shoulders, and upper arms. In many patients the seizures most often occur soon after waking up. They usually begin around puberty or sometimes in early adulthood in people with a normal range of intelligence. In most cases, these seizures can be well controlled with medication but it must be continued throughout life.

Can I have both without knowing Barb? I also fell that I have this:

Lennox-Gastaut syndrome: This is an uncommon syndrome that usually includes other types of seizures as well. It begins in early childhood I never told my mom that I would jerk sometimes in my childhood because I wasnt aware of it at the time but now come to realize it I did jerk a lot as a child with my neck. Or make facial jerks in my mouth or eyes…

The myoclonic seizures usually involve the neck, shoulders, upper arms, and often the face. They may be quite strong and are difficult to control.

Can I still become a Fransiscan sister and have seizures?

It sounds as if you are called to suffer much - much!

    I cannot answer your question as to whether a Franciscan Order of religious sisters or nuns would accept you as a candidate, your best move would be to contact the Orders you are interested in and ask them directly.  Certainly religious Orders here in Australia will not accept women who suffer some form of disability or illness, but I am not fully aware of the situation in other countries.

May The Lord bless your seeking and your hopes with love of His Divine Providence in all things great and small…my regards…Barb

 

[Kerryr1013]

No vocation to begin with; religious life is just a fantasy for them.

I have a pretty severe mental illness, one that left me without the capacity to care for myself for many years. God called me back to the church in a very unusual way… I was unable to read as a result of some of the meds I was on because they blurred my vision and destroyed my concentration. One day I accompanied my father into the library where I obtain a copy of a book about midwifery, my vision cleared as I looked through the book and I read the entire thing cover to cover in a day and a half. From there I started to read everything I could about the practice of midwifery, and began studying down south. After a particularly beautiful birth I attended as an apprentice I went to church (Catholic) to give thanks to God for allowing me to be part of the birth. After hearing the first reading from the book of Wisdom (Wisdom 6) I was hooked, and after I started receiving communion in a state of grace I fell in love with Jesus. It was a slow process that only has begun to come to a head in the past few years, and heightened in the past few months, but I consider myself to have a vocation that will ask me to consecrate myself to Him completely, I could be wrong and I have sought the advice of a priest to help me discern. The fact that he has healed me (with the assistance of medication and therapy) is proof in and of itself that I have a vocation, whether it be in community or otherwise. I came from a darkness that I pray no one ever experiences, and my thoughts were so profoundly illogical that I was told I would never get better and I should accept this fact that.
My point in writing all this is this, if I could come from where I was any person could. My diagnosis fluxed from bipolar, to schizo-affective to schizophrenic and now has been pinned as (once again) bipolar. I am not so broken that I am not a person, with feelings. I think that was I not as confident as I am that the Eucharist is God here on Earth that if I head that I did not have a vocation (which is blatantly untrue) that I would conclude that I was not good enough for sanctification and Gods love and I would run from the Church without ever looking back.
When we make blanket statements about women or men with mental illness we must be able to live with what we’ve said, this is true with any person, mentally ill or not. By saying that I am not worth of a vocation which is a manifestation of His love you’re saying I haven’t a hope of salvation and that I have no place in the world. That is a very good argument for justifying a number of things including suicide and abortion, would anyone agree with that who was truly in line with the Catholic Church? I think not. My illness is a grace not a curse and it certainly should not preclude me from Gods love, although I am humble enough to accept some orders would not be a good fit because of it, just as not just any religious order is acceptable for any sister, or priest.

Kerry

PS- I have a feeling that the fact that I can offer up my sadness and heartache that I still experience for the unborn or the glory of God, conversion of sinners etc. It is a huge honor, this might sound crazy but I wouldn’t trade my illness for the world, it has made me a better person, more compassionate, and more helpful in both a corporal and spiritual matters

 

[TiggerS]

Hello Kerry
I think you are quite right and that those who may suffer a mental illness have a unique call to share in the sufferings of Christ and to unite their sufferings to His. This is immensely fruitful for The Church and has some similarities with the contemplative vocation where suffering is embraced; however, very often the sufferings that are embraced are self inflicted or chosen and not always those allowed by God although the contemplative vocation has this aspect also. With mental illness (in this instance) all suffering is involuntary and permitted by God and according to our spiritual classics, the best penances are these which are not chosen rather permitted or allowed by God. Hence mental illness is at once a suffering to strive to overcome and a Grace to be embraced insofar as any suffering cannot be overcome and hence is permitted and allowed by God. This reflects the Crucified Christ whose sufferings could not be overcome and were permitted and allowed by God and therein the similarity to those who suffer from illness, including mental illness. This similarity is also a theological one.
Sadly, the theology of involuntary suffering as in the case of sufferers of mental illness is not developed in The Church or rather, perhaps more accurately, is not well understood and circulated. If it were, it may bring much dignity and sense of self worth and also rich sense of vocation and call to sufferers and bring many Graces generally to The Church. Rather than a sense of being rejected in any way, sufferers of mental illness and all who suffer illness or disability and whose sufferings cannot be overcome have a unique place in the heart of The Church and are redemptive where the crucifixion and sufferings of Christ are an overwhelming act of Divine Love and Redemption. This unique place is not spelt out carefully and rather loudly by The Church which does leave sufferers often with a sense of not quite belonging and even of rejection, stigma.

TS

 

[Young_Thinker]

I do not know why but a no. orders/congregations seem to be a little discriminatory in terms of applicants who lack “ideal” mental or physical health, for instance subjecting everyone to psychiatric testing. That is not so Christlike in my opinion. One can still be quite competent and have “problems.”

 

[Ocarm]

I do not know why but a no. orders/congregations seem to be a little discriminatory in terms of applicants who lack “ideal” mental or physical health, for instance subjecting everyone to psychiatric testing. That is not so Christlike in my opinion. One can still be quite competent and have “problems.”

Psychological (as opposed to psychiatric) testing is intended to assess the ability of the candidate to deal with the particular stresses of religious life, which by its very nature precludes certain kinds of mental health issues (explosive aggression, uncontrolled sexual urges, significant addictive traits and so on). The process does not seek ‘ideal’ people, but individuals who are capable of social integration and who can manage their inevitable imperfections (we’re all broken people) without becoming a risk to others.

It can seem harsh to turn some people down on the strength of psychological problems, but in my career in mental health I saw a lot of people whose difficulties were sufficiently disruptive to them and to others that they would have dominated the daily life of a religious community. Since problems that extreme could make the apostolate of a community impossible to fulfil, the religious institute has to balance the needs of the candidate against the charism and work of the institute.

This is only one respect in which entry into religious life can be seen as something that happens by invitation, and not by desire alone. There are many ways to serve God, and there is a way for all of us to serve God, and we have no absolute right to demand that we serve Him in one particular way.

Imagine demanding the right to be married to someone: they would have the freedom to turn you down, wouldn’t they? - and not necessarily because they don’t care or are unChristian, simply because they don’t see themselves as being compatible with you. So it is with religious institutes.

Best wishes.

 

[Young_Thinker]

Psychological (as opposed to psychiatric) testing is intended to assess the ability of the candidate to deal with the particular stresses of religious life, which by its very nature precludes certain kinds of mental health issues (explosive aggression, uncontrolled sexual urges, significant addictive traits and so on). The process does not seek ‘ideal’ people, but individuals who are capable of social integration and who can manage their inevitable imperfections (we’re all broken people) without becoming a risk to others.

It can seem harsh to turn some people down on the strength of psychological problems, but in my career in mental health I saw a lot of people whose difficulties were sufficiently disruptive to them and to others that they would have dominated the daily life of a religious community. Since problems that extreme could make the apostolate of a community impossible to fulfil, the religious institute has to balance the needs of the candidate against the charism and work of the institute.

This is only one respect in which entry into religious life can be seen as something that happens by invitation, and not by desire alone. There are many ways to serve God, and there is a way for all of us to serve God, and we have no absolute right to demand that we serve Him in one particular way.

Imagine demanding the right to be married to someone: they would have the freedom to turn you down, wouldn’t they? - and not necessarily because they don’t care or are unChristian, simply because they don’t see themselves as being compatible with you. So it is with religious institutes.

Best wishes.

Thank you, but I feel that God is more accepting than a possible husband. Orders should reflect that just a little more than some of them appear to do.

 

[Ocarm]

Thank you, but I feel that God is more accepting than a possible husband. Orders should reflect that just a little more than some of them appear to do.

I suppose I don’t know which institutes you’re referring to, or what their admission procedures are, but the assumption of reasonable - not perfect - health is made by most religious communities. This is really about the reason why institutes exist in the first place, which is to promote a way of life and/or a particular apostolate, whether that is active or contemplative. The community cannot take on people who are unable to live this life or apostolate in some form.

If the health problems are minor and do not stop the person from engaging with this, they will not be a bar to entry; I know of some very active institutes that have accepted people with significant physical disabilities who can nevertheless support their peers as administrators or in pastoral roles. But if health makes it impossible to fulfil any kind of duties, or means that the individual is frequently incapable of such, then the person simply cannot adapt to the lifestyle of the institute; and that is why people enter religious life, to promote and preserve a charism that is a witness to God.

God doesn’t choose not to accept someone just because they are not suited to one form of life, and never rejects or abandons us; through discernment He will help them to find another life that is best for them. We can’t all be priests, or husbands and wives, or religious.

I’ve been through such disappointments in my own life. For many years I wanted to marry and have children, and was convinced that it was God’s plan for me. But it was only when I opened myself to other possibilities that I realised that my call would take me somewhere else, and now I’m more fulfilled that I’ve ever been. Our own certainties have to be surrendered to God, who knows much better than we do where our vocation lies.

A chronic illness can be a very hard burden to bear, and accepting that we may have to live with that illness and the suffering it brings can be very difficult, and sometimes very lonely. But it is still a life to be offered up to God even so, and there are many vocations that can be lived within it; however, we are not promised a free choice. or that all options are open to all people. We just don’t control our lives with God as much as we might wish to.

Best wishes once more.

 

[Young_Thinker]

I suppose I don’t know which institutes you’re referring to, or what their admission procedures are, but the assumption of reasonable - not perfect - health is made by most religious communities. This is really about the reason why institutes exist in the first place, which is to promote a way of life and/or a particular apostolate, whether that is active or contemplative. The community cannot take on people who are unable to live this life or apostolate in some form.

If the health problems are minor and do not stop the person from engaging with this, they will not be a bar to entry; I know of some very active institutes that have accepted people with significant physical disabilities who can nevertheless support their peers as administrators or in pastoral roles. But if health makes it impossible to fulfil any kind of duties, or means that the individual is frequently incapable of such, then the person simply cannot adapt to the lifestyle of the institute; and that is why people enter religious life, to promote and preserve a charism that is a witness to God.

God doesn’t choose not to accept someone just because they are not suited to one form of life, and never rejects or abandons us; through discernment He will help them to find another life that is best for them. We can’t all be priests, or husbands and wives, or religious.

I’ve been through such disappointments in my own life. For many years I wanted to marry and have children, and was convinced that it was God’s plan for me. But it was only when I opened myself to other possibilities that I realised that my call would take me somewhere else, and now I’m more fulfilled that I’ve ever been. Our own certainties have to be surrendered to God, who knows much better than we do where our vocation lies.

A chronic illness can be a very hard burden to bear, and accepting that we may have to live with that illness and the suffering it brings can be very difficult, and sometimes very lonely. But it is still a life to be offered up to God even so, and there are many vocations that can be lived within it; however, we are not promised a free choice. or that all options are open to all people. We just don’t control our lives with God as much as we might wish to.

Best wishes once more.

All right; you, too.

 

[angela121]

Thanks Barb, I will look into this
“The Apostolate of the Sick” in which sufferings and difficulties were striven to be borne as well as could be possible and with prayer and difficulties etc. offered for The Church. It was considered to be an Apostolate of Prayer.

 

[japaprana]

has anyone got anywhere with having an order whose charism is for the mentally ill and those who are called to live alongside them? I found this thread via google and it matches thoughts I had had myself. I live in the uk and am interested in starting such a community but I am currently very unwell and only 25.

 

[Cloisters]

has anyone got anywhere with having an order whose charism is for the mentally ill and those who are called to live alongside them? I found this thread via google and it matches thoughts I had had myself. I live in the uk and am interested in starting such a community but I am currently very unwell and only 25.

The mentally ill are banned from religious life by canon law. There are many good reasons for doing so. One is that a person receives ‘correction’ in the novitiate, and only those graced with good mental balance are able to receive such with humility. The financial aspect figures in, as well. The community may not have the funds to support one person who needs that kind of medical attention.

Lay associations/third orders/oblatures, and possibly secular institutes, would be the more logical options for persons with mental illness.

Blessings,
Cloisters

 

[japaprana]

I googled it and found on wikpedia (fount of all knowledge!) that that only applies to Holy Orders. can you find me the bit in Canon Law where it says it applies to religious? i don’t mean to sound obnoxious asking.

 

[Cloisters]

I googled it and found on wikpedia (fount of all knowledge!) that that only applies to Holy Orders. can you find me the bit in Canon Law where it says it applies to religious? i don’t mean to sound obnoxious asking.

Why don’t you pose the question to the ‘answers’ people on the other forum. We could all use the citation. Superiors always quote canon law, but never give the citation.

There is a secular institute called Franciscan Missionaries of Jesus Crucified. They were founded for the disabled. An online friend of mine who is a lightning strike survivor has joined them. Her formation was via Skype.

I think it would be up to persons with the disability to band together and form a lay association. Any kind of religious institute/secular institute/society of apostolic life would emerge from that. You’d write the statutes/constitutions for whatever works for you, in accordance with the Magisterium.

My own emerging charisms have suffered greatly from persons with mental illness, at least those who deny they have problems and won’t medicate. Other religious communities will say yes or no depending on their past experience, just like anyone else.

It all depends on your discernment process, and whether or not you’ve got a spiritual director. If you’ve gone through the attraction discernment, and say, “This is the convent I’m most attracted to,” and tell the nuns the same, they might give you a hearing. They do discernment, too.

I have heard that St. Leo’s Monastery in Florida accepted women with mental illness.

Blessings,
Cloisters

 

[Rosebud77]

Hi again Brigid:wave: …I am very much aware that we are singularly blessed here in Australia with our social security programs. Singularly blessed!!! I am more than capable for example of say working in an Office, but at 62yrs I am regarded as unemployable though of course our laws do prevent anyone from actually stating such officially. By going to school two days week my pension grows by $140 fortnight…prior to being a student, I took in ironing 6 days week, which kept things here afloat (I live a specific lifestyle under private vows) and I had to turn people away who wanted their ironing done as there simply were not enough hours in the day. The basic disability pension is around $450 fortnight (mine grows to roughly $600 fortnight).
I did some years ago attend our local Centrelink Office (social security) and offered to work in their offices for free to earn my pension. This was laughed at! Prior to illness I had a career as a private secretary/personal assistant to some quite well known here executives…so with a brush up course (which I could do at school) in office procedures and computer literacy I could still work in an office, even part time.
There are simple ways of earning money here with a little imagination and also we have sheltered workshops where people with disabilities can work at various tasks and earn a wage…and with simple and frugal living under a vow of actual poverty I am sure a type of religious community could survive and manage to keep a roof over heads, pay the bills and not starve. There are endless opportunties too to take up a ministry inside The Church and even missionary in nature in that the ministry takes in the general community in some way. I would love too to see habits around the streets again which we never see nowadays - the habit evangelized without one saying a word.

I seem to keep coming across here and there women (mainly on the internet) who do suffer some form of disability who have been rejected by religious orders because of it and hence the notion that a type of religious life for such is not at all non feasible. And I thought too that if I put my concept onto the internet someone may pick up on it. It does astound me that many enclosed communities whose members are not earning any sort of regular weekly wage do survive financially - The Lord watches over them surely. I know I never lived so well, nor ate so well - quite literally - as when I was in monastic life…donations of money and food kept on coming. And I have truly never lived in such grand accommodation for which monastic life especially is well known I think.

Blessings and regards…Barb

Barbara Therese; there are actually several such communities but not in Catholic circles. it is something other churches seem to understand. . ie living a rule at home. I knew one lady who managed to get into a regular order then realised SHE could not cope with being so much alone.