A Christian Guide to Mental Illness


Book Description




Troubled Minds


Book Description

Reflecting on the confusion, shame and grief brought on by her mother's schizophrenia, Amy Simpson provides a bracing look at the social and physical realities of mental illness. Reminding us that people with mental illness are our neighbors and our brothers and sisters in Christ, she explores new possibilities for the church to minister to this stigmatized group.







Finding Rest


Book Description

"Jon knows, better than most, what it means to battle anxiety and how to forge a path to victory. He also treats it with care, and pushes the conversation to places that it hasn't often gone in the church." —Kirk Cameron In the aftermath of the pandemic, even those who have never struggled with mental health have found themselves reeling, looking for answers they don't know how to find. For Christians, especially those who've despaired of help from a church that has too often stigmatized mental health challenges as a lack of faith, the way forward can be particularly difficult to see. Jonathon Seidl aims to fix that. Having fought his own way through crippling anxiety, life-altering OCD, and suicidal thoughts, he knows the value of concrete advice grounded in strong biblical truth. Instead of the trite or unsympathetic counsel that's often given, Finding Rest is practical, personal, and productive. Full of compelling stories, humor from a guide who's still on his journey, and scriptural truths, this book offers real hope and help. It also provides a lifeline for friends and family who long for ways to help relieve the suffering of their loved ones. And it lays out thoughtful, needed paths for the body of Christ to become a refuge of hope for the anxious.




Mental Health and the Church


Book Description

The church across North America has struggled to minister effectively with children, teens, and adults with common mental health conditions and their families. One reason for the lack of ministry is the absence of a widely accepted model for mental health outreach and inclusion. In Mental Health and the Church: A Ministry Handbook for Including Children and Adults with ADHD, Anxiety, Mood Disorders, and Other Common Mental Health Conditions, Dr. Stephen Grcevich presents a simple and flexible model for mental health inclusion ministry for implementation by churches of all sizes, denominations, and organizational styles. The model is based upon recognition of seven barriers to church attendance and assimilation resulting from mental illness: stigma, anxiety, self-control, differences in social communication and sensory processing, social isolation and past experiences of church. Seven broad inclusion strategies are presented for helping persons of all ages with common mental health conditions and their families to fully participate in all of the ministries offered by the local church. The book is also designed to be a useful resource for parents, grandparents and spouses interested in promoting the spiritual growth of loved ones with mental illness.




Mental Health Strong


Book Description

Do you feel hopeless, tired, and worn out? Do you feel as though you're losing your own mind? Are you ready to give up on your marriage because of your spouse's mental health or addiction challenge? Twenty percent of the US adult population is diagnosed with a mental health condition each year. Fifty percent of the US adult population is married. Twenty to 80 percent of marriages where a mental health condition exists are more likely to end in divorce depending upon the diagnosis. In Mental Health Strong, Erin Ramachandran and her husband, Keith, believe their purpose is to help marriages affected by this 20/50/80 statistic not merely survive but thrive. They encourage marriages impacted by mental health or addiction challenges to work toward being Mental Health Strong. Written from the perspective of a spouse whose partner battles multiple mental health conditions, this guide offers real-life, faith-based, practical examples and resources. Mental Health Strong leverages more than fifty resources that have worked for Erin as she lives with the realities of her husband's mental illness day in and day out. Erin shares steps, which include prayers and Bible verses, that spouses can adopt to walking resiliently alongside their partners against the backdrop of a mental health condition.




The Church Leader's Counseling Resource Book


Book Description

This all-in-one guide is designed to better equip clergy and the church leaders to meet their congregations' needs in a spiritually grounded and scientifically sound manner. Succinct, easy-to-read chapters summarize all a pastor needs to know about a given problem area, including its signs or symptoms, questions to ask, effective helping skills, and, most importantly, when to refer to a mental health professional. Synthesizing what research says about treatment approaches for mental health issues, this user-friendly reference is filled with guidelines, case scenarios, key points to remember, resources for further help, advice on integrating scripture and theology with the best available research, and tips on partnering with others to provide the best possible care for each church member. Each chapter is designed for quick lookup by problem area, empowering church leaders to understand and help meet the challenges facing the children, adults, families, and communities that they serve.




I Love Jesus, But I Want to Die


Book Description

A compassionate, shame-free guide for your darkest days “A one-of-a-kind book . . . to read for yourself or give to a struggling friend or loved one without the fear that depression and suicidal thoughts will be minimized, medicalized or over-spiritualized.”—Kay Warren, cofounder of Saddleback Church What happens when loving Jesus doesn’t cure you of depression, anxiety, or suicidal thoughts? You might be crushed by shame over your mental illness, only to be told by well-meaning Christians to “choose joy” and “pray more.” So you beg God to take away the pain, but nothing eases the ache inside. As darkness lingers and color drains from your world, you’re left wondering if God has abandoned you. You just want a way out. But there’s hope. In I Love Jesus, But I Want to Die, Sarah J. Robinson offers a healthy, practical, and shame-free guide for Christians struggling with mental illness. With unflinching honesty, Sarah shares her story of battling depression and fighting to stay alive despite toxic theology that made her afraid to seek help outside the church. Pairing her own story with scriptural insights, mental health research, and simple practices, Sarah helps you reconnect with the God who is present in our deepest anguish and discover that you are worth everything it takes to get better. Beautifully written and full of hard-won wisdom, I Love Jesus, But I Want to Die offers a path toward a rich, hope-filled life in Christ, even when healing doesn’t look like what you expect.




A Christian Guide to Psychiatric Medication


Book Description

Misinformation, skepticism and fears, often surround the use of psychiatric medications, disinclining many from seeking professional help. Dr. Biller, a Christian and expert in psychopharmacology (the science of psychiatric medical treatment) offers very useful information so that anyone considering the use of psychiatric medication may understand the risks and benefits of this kind of treatment. He offers straight talk about specific medications, potential side effects and anticipated benefits. All of this is done is a comprehensive, yet easy to understand manner. And, very importantly, this is presented from a faith based perspective.




Christian With Bipolar Disorder


Book Description

Christians living with mental illness need proper coping skills. Medication is not a cure all. This survival book is intended for those suffering with Bipolar Disorder. At the time of writing the author was diagnosed with BP. He now is said to have schizoaffective disorder - bipolar type. From research to experience, Christian with Bipolar Disorder is for those who have the illness as well as those trying to understand what their loved ones are experiencing.