Clinical depression and bipolar are medical conditions caused by a chemical imbalance in the individual’s brain. They are no different than a disease such as diabetes that is caused by a chemical imbalance in the individual’s body that throws off their blood sugar levels.
Diabetes is comparable to bi-polar / depression in that medical science knows it exists from its symptoms but doesn’t fully understand what causes it. As recognized by the Mayo Clinic “Type 2 diabetes develops when the body becomes resistant to insulin or when the pancreas stops producing enough insulin. Exactly why this happens is unknown.”
Despite billions of dollars on cancer research it was only in 1998 that it was actually determined how cigarettes caused cancer. Before then it was simply a theory based on correlation and circumstances. It is still not known exactly how, and many will say if, the sun and asbestos cause cancer.
Countless millions have been spent on the cause of rheumatoid arthritis, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Alzheimer’s disease, gulf war syndrome, multiple chemical sensitivity syndrome, sarcoidosis, inflammatory bowel disease, fibromyalgia, primary open-angle glaucoma, and many other diseases but to date, medical science has no clear answer to what causes them and in many cases can only diagnose them based on their symptoms and by exclusion, the same as most mental illnesses.
The National Alliance on Mental Illness defines mental illnesses as “medical conditions that disrupt a person’s thinking, feeling, mood, ability to relate to others, and daily functioning. Just as diabetes is a disorder of the pancreas, mental illnesses are medical conditions that often result in a diminished capacity for coping with the ordinary demands of life.”
WebMD notes that “Although the exact cause of most mental illnesses is not known, it is becoming clear through research that many of these conditions are caused by a combination of biological, psychological, and environmental factors.” They go on to identify the biological factors as an abnormal balance of neurotransmitters in the brain; defects and/or injury to the brain; genetics; infections; prenatal damage; substance abuse; poor nutrition and toxins (such as lead). They also recognize that psychological factors such as childhood psychological trauma (emotional / physical / sexual abuse); loss of a loved one at a young age; neglect and a poor ability to relate to others as well as environmental stressors such as death of a loved one; divorce; a bad family life; poverty; feelings of inadequacy, low self-esteem, anxiety, anger or loneliness; life changes; social and cultural expectations; and substance abuse issues can trigger mental illness.
Numerous studies have demonstrated that mental illness is very common. The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) estimates that 20.9 percent of Americans ages 18 and older suffer from a non-substance abuse mental disorder in any given year. Based on the US Census bureau estimates for 2010 49.1 million people in the US will have some form of a diagnosable mental disorder and 14.1 Million people, 6% of the population, will suffer from a severe mental illness in 2010.
More than 90 percent of people who kill themselves have a diagnosable mental disorder, most commonly a depressive disorder or a substance abuse disorder. The 2005 National Healthcare Quality Report estimates that 11.3% of adults age 18 and over with serious psychological distress will commit suicide. The Center for Disease Control (CDC) reports that for every completed suicide there are 25 attempted suicides. In 2007, 395,320 people were treated in an emergency department for a self-inflicted injury and 165, 997 were hospitalized for a self-inflicted injury. The CDC also noted that in 2007 14.5% of students in grade 9-12 considered suicide in the prior year and 6.9% reported a suicide attempt.
Based on these numbers, approximately 800 thousand people in the US will attempt suicide in 2010. Of those over 395 thousand will end up in an emergency room with a self-inflicted injury and over 32 thousand will die.
If we look at this from the eyes of the Church the numbers are staggering.
The American Religious Identity Survey (ARIS), conducted in 2001, documents that 76.5% of the US population describe themselves as Christians.
That means that of the 14.1 million people with a severe mental illness 10.7 million of them are Christians. Assuming a 38% reduction in suicidal behavior from the general public as a result of the individual’s religious beliefs, approximately 380,000 Christians in the US will attempt suicide in 2010. Of those about 187,000 will end up in an emergency room with a self-inflicted injury and over 15,000 of our Brothers and Sisters in the Lord will die.
Further, based on these numbers, if your church has 100 kids in its senior high youth group, grades 9-12, nine of them have considered suicide this year and four of them have or will attempt suicide this year.
Researching this issue makes it abundantly clear that mental illness and suicidal behavior is epidemic in society and the Church and that most of society and the vast, vast majority of the medical and scientific community recognize that a mental illness is not a personal weakness, or a character defect and that recovery is not simply a matter of self-discipline or will.
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