Not Just a Cross: Reconciling Psychology with Mental Illness
*This is an opinion piece based on experience, observation and some research, not professional opinion. If you or someone you know may have a mental illness, please seek out professional help. Faith and prayer do not replace the need for therapy or medicine.
By Hannah Graham
In my teenage and college years, I did not have to wrestle with mental illness. This, I knew, was a gift; many other women in my life, who radiated strength and genuinity, had been called to battle with this demon. First hand, I saw the pain and havoc mental illness could bring into someone’s body and soul. I admired their courage and fortitude during difficult seasons, honored to walk alongside them and slowly understand a somewhat taboo sickness, never thinking I would have to face it as well.
After having my first child, I was diagnosed with postpartum depression (PPD). To say it brought me to my knees is an understatement. I found myself weeping during feeding sessions or typical episodes of newborn irritability. I struggled to find purpose or joy, despite a deep love for my baby. The first time, my PPD was easily resolved with some holistic medication and a few therapy sessions. But after my second child, depression came back much worse. I was battling suicidal ideations, and I needed to go on antidepressants in addition to attending weekly therapy sessions in order to relieve many of my symptoms.
While I’m increasingly thankful for the support and help I received, I have been surprised at the lack of transparent discourse within the Church about mental illness. As a Catholic, walking the line of mental illness and faith can be incredibly challenging. Within the Church, we know that spiritual realities can impact physical realities (and vice-versa)––think spiritual warfare, which can do a number on one’s health physically and emotionally, or fasting which can positively impact one’s spiritual life. So it can be difficult for Catholics to find the balance between acknowledging the impact that spirituality and emotions can have on mental illness while accepting that it is an unseen sickness that cannot be conquered by faith and self-awareness alone.
According to the Institute of Mental Health, in the U.S. alone, 20% of the population lives with a mental illness. Largely due to greater vulnerability on social media, the general dialogue surrounding mental illness has come a very long way, decreasing much of the stigma and mystery traditionally associated with it. For the Church, reconciling the complicated relationship between psychology and faith for the mentally ill will mean making a distinction between the need for faith and the need for psychology, and emphasizing what they are able to do together.
Mental illness: not just a cross
One of the great pains of mental illness is that it’s invisible. There’s no clear way of measuring or explaining how sick you are to others or to yourself. It’s also very difficult for people who do not understand mental illness to grasp that it is different from simply having a bad day.
Typical mental illnesses (particularly anxiety and depression) include symptoms of sadness, irritability, excessive worry, extreme guilt, fatigue and social withdrawal, making it very easy for an individual experiencing these to feel as though they can be simply overcome with enough time and self-care. For a faithful Catholic, the instinct is similar––do the necessary self-care, then carry the cross through this series of “bad days”; after all, we’re not promised happiness in this life, right?
The trouble with this line of thinking for the faithful is that it fails to acknowledge mental illness as a very real sickness able to take control of ones’ mentality and emotions without an individual’s consent. It’s an illness that, for many, can impede their very ability to see and to choose the good.
In an interview with ZENIT News Agency, Dr. Gladys Sweeny, dean and co-founder of the Institute for the Psychological Sciences, says:
Oftentimes depression or other forms of mental illness constitute an obstacle to free will. Effective psychological treatment is very helpful, because the treatment essentially seeks to free the person not only to see the ‘good’ more realistically, but also to be able to choose the ‘good’...The psychological sciences have much to offer a person whose free will is impaired.
This means more than managing emotions since we’re always called to choose the good, no matter how we physically or emotionally feel; rather, Dr. Sweeny recognizes that mental illness can have such serious effects on a person's well-being that it can impact their freewill. This makes it challenging for someone struggling with mental illness to choose to pick up the cross, let alone carry it.
My second experience of PPD clarified this nuanced view of mental health. Prior to that event, I did not experience severe trauma or suffering in my life; I had parents who loved me, an engaging community of friends and a selfless, supportive husband. But after having my second child, I had frequent thoughts of taking my own life. These thoughts confused me immensely––I loved my life and the people in it, I saw and felt so many blessings before my depression––but I couldn’t stop thinking that maybe life would be better that way.
Having never struggled with mental health priorly, it was extremely clear to me that mental illness is a beast of its own, often undetermined by self-care or managing emotions. External circumstances, life or bodily changes, genes, hormones or trauma can all potentially cause mental health issues.
Regardless of the cause of this illness, it is important for the Church to create a dialogue around mental illness that reflects it as more than another cross to be carried; instead, we need to emphasize the serious impact it can have on an individual spiritually and beyond, creating a real need for psychological healing.
What psychology is meant to do for the faithful
In order for those with mental illness to find healing, it’s important to recognize the human person’s unique need for psychology. In his address to the Eleventh International Conference for Health Care Workers, which focused primarily on mental illness, St. John Paul II said, “The Church looks on these persons with special concern, as she looks on any other human being affected by illness.” While the Catholic Church contains a fullness in understanding of the human person based on Truth as well as answers to the spiritual needs of the faithful, mental illness is a sickness that requires healing from outside sources.
For the faithful, psychology can seem unnecessary but, according to Dr. Sweeny, faith and psychology are meant to go hand in hand. “Psychology has tended to see faith as superstitious behavior, and religious people have tended to see psychology as science unnecessary to them . . . Neither position reflects the truth,” Dr. Sweeny says.
Healing comes in many forms and, for many battling this illness, medication, therapy or the like may be required at the recommendation of a professional. This kind of healing is not “failure” on the part of the individual, it is simply the medicine needed to address a painful condition. Just as having heart disease necessitates a cardiologist, so having mental illness typically requires a psychologist/therapist.
When I began seeing a therapist, I quickly saw all the educated insight they could offer––practical tools to overcome uncontrollable feelings or thoughts, insight into my cognitive processes, and even general healing through the reprocessing of painful memories––that I, even with my faith, could not provide myself. It’s not a matter of managing feelings or having sufficient trust in the Lord, it’s a matter of addressing a physical, spiritual and psychological need so that an individual may successfully function.
Faith as an aid to psychology
While it’s clear that the Faith does not replace the need for psychology in terms of mental illness, what it does is provide a holistic, dignified view of the human person that aids in the greater understanding and care for the mentally ill.
According to paragraph 365 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, “The unity of soul and body is so profound that one has to consider the soul to be the ‘form’ of the body...their union forms a single nature.” Rather than assuming a person’s behavior is informed by their psyche alone, the Catholic Church acknowledges the eternal and spiritual nature of the union of body and soul. This profound anthropology of the Church simultaneously acknowledges the dignity and complexity of the human person, including the truth of their various needs––be it spiritual, psychological or physical.
This is why the teachings of the Church matter for the mentally ill in particular. They contain the truths about the mysteries and purpose of the human experience. At the Eleventh International Conference for Health Care Workers, Professor Franco Imoda, S.J., explains more on why psychology necessitates theology:
Science is not sufficient because in the pedagogic/psychotherapeutic action there is an inevitable meeting of the themes of death and life but also of the themes of the origins (past) and the end (future), of flight and commitment, of fantasy and reality, of guilt and innocence, of time and eternity, of intimacy and loneliness, of pain and happiness.
Without the faith, these themes go on as unresolved ideas or base motives; with the faith, they are reconciled in light of a loving Creator, an eternal soul and a meaningful purpose, giving those with mental illness insight into their personal experience.
It’s important to note that the successful use of psychology in addition to the faith does not always require a Catholic psychologist. Catholic psychologists are sparse and there’s no reason to forego seeking help because there isn’t a Catholic therapist readily available. Many psychologists try to be very respectful of their patients’ faith backgrounds and acknowledge their spiritual needs.
When living with or understanding mental illness becomes challenging, may we reflect on the words of St. John Paul II: “Christ took all human suffering on himself, even mental illness. Yes even this affliction, which perhaps seems the most absurd and incomprehensible, configures the sick person to Christ and gives him a share in his redeeming passion.”
As the Church’s dialogue about mental health and illness continues, it is important to remember the profound dignity of those dealing with the pain of mental illness and their need for both psychology and theology.
Resources for those struggling with mental illness:
https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org
https://www.catholictherapists.com
Read more articles like this one from our summer issue of VIGIL!
