The Myth of Mental Health
Introduction
I had a few moments to myself and felt a strong desire to spend some time with the Lord alone, so I ventured down to the chapel at my workplace. I sat for a few moments in the quiet, praying to God and thinking on the circumstances of life, meditating upon his goodness and grace to calm my anxious nerves. In the chapel is a small library where they shelf books from various religions: Christianity, buddism, catholicism, hinduism, etc. – it is an “interfaith” library—the kind of religious library that is the outgrowth of a pluralistic culture. The Christian section is hit or miss—and usually miss—but sometimes there are books that look interesting enough to read. Skimming through the spines, looking for interesting titles, publishing houses I respect, and authors I’m familiar with, I saw a bright yellow book published by P&R Publishing. It is a 31-day devotional intended for teenagers titled Anxiety: Finding The Better Story, written by Liz Edrington. Being a Christian counselor, I am forever interested in all things counseling—I am keenly interested in resources that articulate this aspect of the Christian life that has been obscured by inept bible teaching and torn asunder by hired hands.
I grabbed the book and began thumbing through it. The table of contents looked promising: Day 1: Jesus is rest, Day 3: Order from Chaos, Day 9: secure in God’s grace, Day 14: never rejected by God, Day 23: receiving daily bread. I began to read the introduction. Here, the author begins by sharing her own anecdotal experience with anxiety and the confusion it caused as she sought answers to dealing with the trouble. She quickly moves on to answer the question “What is anxiety?” She says,
“Most basically, anxiety is an emotion. It isn’t part of our identity or personality. We can feel anxiety in our bodies when our hearts race, our breathing gets shallow, and our stomachs tense. Anxiety causes us to go on high alert whether we want to or not…anxiety may seem like an enemy, but it’s actually our body's natural response to stress…here’s the image I want you to remember: anxiety is like a big wave in the ocean that you have to ride out. Like anxiety, a wave is powerful. It is neither good nor bad. Yes, a wave can destroy castles—but it’s also great for bodysurfing…having anxiety does not mean you don’t have enough faith or are a “bad Christian.” You are not wrong for having anxiety.”
In this little statement exist demonic lies that, if believed, will draw you away from Christ. First, anxiety isn’t an emotion. Anxiety is a complex of things, and calling it an emotion is far too simplistic. Anxiety certainly manifests itself in emotions like fear, sadness, possibly anger, etc., but that’s not what anxiety is. Anxiety also manifests itself physically through a racing heart, sweaty palms and forehead, quick shallow breathing, but again, that’s not what anxiety is. Anxiety originates in the soul. It is a preeminently spiritual problem. We know this because the antidote to anxiety is also spiritual: seeking first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness (Matthew 6:33). Second, anxiety is not a natural response to stress; it may be what we do, but that does not make it natural. Anxiety is fundamentally a distrust in God, which is the result of a sinful heart, which is a result of our fall from grace. That which is natural/normal is properly defined as that which existed before the fall (Genesis 3). Anxiety, then, is a perversion of that which was created, which is definitionally, normal or natural. Further, if anxiety is a sin, and it is, then saying it is natural will permit one to experience anxiety without regret or repentance, and this will distance him or her from the Lord. Lastly, she says being anxious does not mean your faith is waning, and that being anxious is not wrong. Again, these are Devilish lies with a diesel injector, causing your heart to pull away from Christ. It's an allowance to sin wrapped in a warm blanket and a romcom.
In short, Liz Edrington is trying to kill you, and P&R put her perversion in print.
Why This Matters
Our world is inundated with the language of “mental health.” The unbiblical and, frankly, uncritical repetition of this phrase is alarming and shameful; people who love the bible should know better. This doesn’t mean, however, that things like anxiety, depression, narcissism (vainglory), addiction (idolatry), etc. don’t exist. That isn’t the case at all because they certainly do. What it does mean, however, is that we’ve mischaracterized these and put them in the wrong bucket, so to speak, and this unfortunate mishap has permeated even into reformed and formerly trustworthy spheres of the reformed church. See example 1: P&R Publishing.
When the psychological community—which is entirely secular#_ftn1—uses the term “mental health,” they are doing at least two things: 1) they are framing all odd and debilitating behavior as a matter of health. At first, this may seem noble or appropriate; however, when it comes to illnesses (when someone has a “mental health” problem, it is labeled a “mental illness”), we understand that illness is a medical term and is used in a medical sense, and we recognize that an illness is never chosen but is what people suffer from. Oddly enough, the psychological community, which is not a medical discipline#_ftn2 #_ftn3, frames itself as such and convinces the masses that it is. Instead, Psychology is the scientific study of the mind, emotions, and behavior. It is often classified as a social or behavioral science, and there is no real objectivity to its study. The subjectivity of psychology is so pronounced and so outrageous that the National Institute of Mental Health has disavowed the DSM-5 as having any soundness at all saying, that it “lacks validity” and “Unlike our definitions of ischemic heart disease, lymphoma, or AIDS, the DSM diagnoses are based on a consensus about clusters of clinical symptoms, not any objective laboratory measure.”#_ftn4 In short, psychology is nothing but a hodgepodge of opinions from people who have no tether to truth. There are well over 300 different “evidence-based” modalities in psychology that people use to improve people’s mental and behavioral “health.” They then use the label “health,” and people have been convinced that this practice is actually scientific (repeatable, testable, and observable) and that it is actually medical care. It is not.
Additionally, the words psychology and medical care are words that describe fundamentally different aspects of the human being. The word "physician" comes from Middle English "fisicien," which came from the Old French "fisicïen" and the Latin "physica" (natural science). This traces back to the Ancient Greek word phusikos (φυσικός), meaning "pertaining to nature." In other words, a physician is someone who deals with the physical. The word psychology, on the other hand, comes from two ancient Greek words: "psyche" (ψυχή), meaning "breath, spirit, or soul," and "logos" (λόγος), meaning "study" or "knowledge". Therefore, "psychology" literally means "the study of the mind or soul". So the conflation of psychologists that psychology is about preventing mental illness is erroneous on multiple levels.
2) Because the realm of psychology is secular, the propagators of this practice are also secular. There are certainly Christians who peddle this practice, but they do this because they are double-minded and are again, trying to mix Christ with Belial. But, being secularists, they are also humanists and materialists. In the final analysis, they do not believe the problems that people face are spiritual, but are simply matters of the brain. They do not understand the difference between the brain and the mind, and therefore, all happiness, joy, sadness, and fear you face is simply a matter of chemical imbalance in the brain. Sex addiction, alcoholism, narcissism, voyeurism, delusions, etc., are simply matters of brain fizz, not fizzing properly. Therefore, they are quick to supply addictive drugs to help your brain function properly. Rather than recognizing the spiritual nature of anxiety and sadness, the answer is, invariably (at one point or another) to prescribe SSRIs and call it good. Do you have OCD? Here’s medication to help you not be so unreasonably anxious. But oddly enough, the field of psychology and psychiatry still has no clue how SSRIs work#_ftn5 and yet they prescribe them like candy.
What Is Mental Health, Really?
Although secular psychology does not mean it this way, when you, dear reader, hear the words “mental health” or “mental illness” or “behavioral health,” you ought to immediately think of the soul. The soul of the person or persons being spoken of is in rebellion against God, and it is in need of compassion, repentance, and the embrace of the Savior. The only remedy for anxiety is for the soul of that person to trust in Christ. The only remedy for unrighteous anger is for the soul of that person to believe that God will repay all evildoers. The only remedy for those caught in the throes of addiction—which is really idolatry—is for their love of the idol to shift to a devout love for Jesus Christ!
To the secular mind, this is far too simplistic; people are more complicated than that, they’ll say. But no, they are not. We have all been made to be in communion with our creator, Jesus Christ. When we are not, our souls are in danger and exhibit all sorts of deviance. Why does someone get a thrill from flashing people in from the sidewalk? Why does a man enjoy sex with another woman, not his wife? Why does a girl want to remove her breasts and grow facial hair? Because their soul are in rebellion against their maker, and the answer to these problems is to come into the safe embrace of that maker, who is Christ the Lord.
#_ftnref1 When I use the word secular, I mean: secular, godless, reprobate, devoid of righteousness, sinful, dark, depraved, and the like. It is impossible to participate in the realm of psychology and not envelop yourself in this reality. All Christian therapists, psychologists, psychiatrists, and psychoanalysts who would consider themselves “integrationists,” meaning they integrate their faith with psychology, are dabbling in a wretched and demonic practice. This is because they and Christianity are diametrically opposed; thinking otherwise shows a wild lack of wisdom and understanding. Because they are opposed, they, naturally, cannot coexist. For what relationship does salt water have with fresh, or olives and figs, a believer with an unbeliever, or Christ with Belial? None. There simply is no relationship. They are, in the truest sense possible, conflicting and contradictory. One cannot indulge in one without losing the other. You either have Christ, or you have Belial. You either have salt water or you have fresh—they cannot exist simultaneously. And since we live in a world of truth, created by God, for his glory, and he is the God of all truth (Deuteronomy 32:4; John 14:6), then all things that oppose him are necessarily false and dark.
#_ftnref2 und.edu/blog/psychology-vs-psychiatry.html
#_ftnref3 semo.edu/blog/blog-posts/is-psychology-a-social-science.html
#_ftnref4 https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/side-effects/201305/the-nimh-withdraws-support-for-dsm-5#:~:text=Henceforth%2C%20the%20NIMH%2C%20which%20had,a%20particularly%20good%20dictionary%2C%20apparently.
#_ftnref5 https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/denying-to-the-grave/202209/we-still-dont-know-how-antidepressants-work#:~:text=Key%20points,to%20alleviate%20depression%20is%20lacking.