Struggling with God: mental health and Christian spirituality
 

'An excellent primer to engage with the topic offering thoughtful analysis, wise words and balanced reflections'

Struggling with God: mental health and Christian spirituality
Christopher C H Cook, Isabelle Hamley and John Swinton
SPCK
ISBN 978-0-281-08641-2
Reviewed by Stephen Copson

 
Most likely those who read this review will either have experienced struggling with a mental health issue, or know someone who has. This is a book that is for all of us. So what does the title convey to you?

The early chapters lay out the topic. The authors question whether mental health is something purely the concern of the medical profession, and instead sees the individual holistically. Dealing with mental health is about integration of the whole person.

Faith has a contribution to this discussion, so there is a valid role for spirituality and a supportive and welcoming community. The challenge is to bring into creative conversation the language of faith and spirituality and the language of healthcare. This at a time when NHS budgets are squeezed with unrelenting pressure.

The authors include a whole range of disorders and illnesses in their broad categorisation of mental health that includes both short term and life-long conditions. This breadth has to be held in mind as the book is digested. Impact on quality of living varies too. People with mental health issues may also be experiencing other challenging situations, for example homelessness, race, prison, youth and drugs related problems, or victimisation on the basis of sexuality.

Prejudicial concepts and language still stigmatise people with mental health issues. Stereotypes, caricatures and myths can be concocted to serve popular sloganizing and urban myths, serving to distance “us” who are well from “them” who are not, isolating the individual and overlooking our common humanity.

The book explores what recovery might look like for people with mental health issues, depending on the condition of course, ranging from a careful life re-balancing to living supported by the care and attention of professionals, family and friends.

Turning to church, the authors recognise that people with mental health issues have historically often been ill-served by Christian thought and practice. Theology has often been experienced as disabling and not liberating. There is a gentle but firm rebuttal of a simplistic “Not enough faith” or “Just cast your worries upon God“, or “demonic possession” school of theology, that in reality further devalues someone who is already vulnerable. But God is nurturing resilience with people as they struggle with their mental health, not a deus ex machina to solve all their problems.

The authors also celebrate good practice among churches, and promote the idea of Christian community as a healthy place for people to flourish, whatever their situation in life. Church can be a place where all are accepted and valued for who they are. How does the Christian community respond to this broad swathe of human experience in a way that allows participation, caring support and even in some cases life-saving contact for some people with mental health issues?

In looking at mission and people with mental health issues, Baptist minister Ruth Rice’s Renew Wellbeing café initiative is cited approvingly. Opportunities can open for a church that takes the time and interest to be involved, even if nothing dramatic is done. It is noted that some churches and some individuals have responded generously, even if what they have been able to offer seems insignificant. 

But it prompts questions like: what impact would inclusion for people with mental health issues make in the culture of the local church? How to give and receive? How to shape the use of language of word, prayer and song? How to offer pastoral support? These questions take the reader to the root of what it means for all to be made in the image of God.

The authors do not pretend to offer easy answers. The clue is in the title. This is not an encyclopedia of mental health. It is an excellent primer to engage with the topic offering thoughtful analysis, wise words and balanced reflections. Biblical examples are explored and each chapter suggests further reading, with questions to assist a study group, surely part of the intended readership.

This is a book to be wholly commended, to be carefully read and prayerfully considered.
 

Stephen Copson is a former regional minister with the Central Baptist Association