Mental Health. Are We Ready?
Mental Health. These are loaded words. These are complicated words that encompass a wide range of needs. These words include everything from job burnout to suicide. And, in a Western culture that praises individualism, these words are also often accompanied by loneliness and isolation.
Mental health is a topic that has been front and center since before 2020 and heightened following the global pandemic. In a survey conducted by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention from January to June 2021, “37% of students at public and private high schools said their mental health was not good most or all of the time during the pandemic. That included roughly half of girls (49%) and about a quarter of boys (24%).” 1 Technology was a necessity during the pandemic, and now students are using it more than ever before. This has allowed them to connect with more people, but in the process to avoid physical interaction. This, in some ways, may be creating a new type of isolation.
According to four Pew Research Center surveys conducted between March 2020 and September 2022, 41% of U.S. adults experienced high levels of psychological distress at some point during the pandemic, dropping to 21% in 2022. The drop is understandable due to most lives returning to “normal,” but this is still 2 in 10 adults. In the same research, 18-29 year olds are still at 33%. 2 The good news is, as the reality of mental health comes to light, this means more opportunities to address it in helpful and healthy ways.
So, faced with something so complex and widely experienced, how do we as the local church care for our neighbors, our congregation, our children, and our elderly, in a culture that seems to be experiencing more mental health issues than in past decades? Or have we simply become more aware of the issues? Whatever the case, mental health is a topic we need to recognize and address. As Dr. Stephen Saunders writes in his article in this issue, we openly pray for illnesses, so why not pray for those experiencing depression? We openly pray for a person in need of a job, so why not pray for a family who is loving and caring for their child with an anxiety disorder?
As we face situations involving mental health, the Church is called to come alongside those members and love and care for them in the way Jesus has done for so many hurting people. As we better define what mental health looks like, we as local congregations can intentionally care for those who are struggling. We can show love and care for our youth, who are experiencing the reality of mental health on a daily basis with their friends, classmates, and neighbors. What better answer to those who are living with mental disorders than reflecting in our actions the truth about a God who loves them, so much so that he has gone to great lengths to bring them into his arms within their darkness today, as well as for eternity?
Tim Mathiesen is the Director of Communications & Prayer for the Church of the Lutheran Brethren.
Mental health is a topic that has been front and center since before 2020 and heightened following the global pandemic. In a survey conducted by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention from January to June 2021, “37% of students at public and private high schools said their mental health was not good most or all of the time during the pandemic. That included roughly half of girls (49%) and about a quarter of boys (24%).” 1 Technology was a necessity during the pandemic, and now students are using it more than ever before. This has allowed them to connect with more people, but in the process to avoid physical interaction. This, in some ways, may be creating a new type of isolation.
According to four Pew Research Center surveys conducted between March 2020 and September 2022, 41% of U.S. adults experienced high levels of psychological distress at some point during the pandemic, dropping to 21% in 2022. The drop is understandable due to most lives returning to “normal,” but this is still 2 in 10 adults. In the same research, 18-29 year olds are still at 33%. 2 The good news is, as the reality of mental health comes to light, this means more opportunities to address it in helpful and healthy ways.
So, faced with something so complex and widely experienced, how do we as the local church care for our neighbors, our congregation, our children, and our elderly, in a culture that seems to be experiencing more mental health issues than in past decades? Or have we simply become more aware of the issues? Whatever the case, mental health is a topic we need to recognize and address. As Dr. Stephen Saunders writes in his article in this issue, we openly pray for illnesses, so why not pray for those experiencing depression? We openly pray for a person in need of a job, so why not pray for a family who is loving and caring for their child with an anxiety disorder?
As we face situations involving mental health, the Church is called to come alongside those members and love and care for them in the way Jesus has done for so many hurting people. As we better define what mental health looks like, we as local congregations can intentionally care for those who are struggling. We can show love and care for our youth, who are experiencing the reality of mental health on a daily basis with their friends, classmates, and neighbors. What better answer to those who are living with mental disorders than reflecting in our actions the truth about a God who loves them, so much so that he has gone to great lengths to bring them into his arms within their darkness today, as well as for eternity?
Tim Mathiesen is the Director of Communications & Prayer for the Church of the Lutheran Brethren.
1 Gramlich, John. “Mental Health and the Pandemic: What U.S. Surveys Have Found.” (2023) https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2023/03/02/mental-health-and-the-pandemic-what-u-s-surveys-have-found
2 Ibid.
2 Ibid.
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