Addressing Mental Health with Medicine AND the Bible
I’m excited to formally begin work on a project that my friend Brad and I have been talking about for awhile. Brad Zehring is a doctor early in his career with a passion for mental illness, body image, and eating disorders. As most of you know, I’m a pastor at a local church in Arizona. From very different vantage points, Brad and I have both seen the need for a bigger discussion in helping people work through various aspects of the effects of mental illness. Often times, people err on the side of ONLY seeking medical help or ONLY seeking spiritual help. The assumption is that you have to choose as they probably contradict one another. This usually isn’t the case but most people aren’t well-versed enough in both areas to know how to apply them together. Brad and I believe that a combination of both is the healthiest response.
These ideas will eventually make their way into a book that we will write together. In the meantime, we are going to co-blog on issues and each speak into it from our perspectives. I’m excited for this discussion as it will offer you two views that while different, will build on top of each other and present a cohesive way of addressing very real problems that we often have no idea how to handle. Even if you are not personally affected by this you likely know someone who is.
We want to start this by opening up a dialogue to see what immediate questions come to your mind with this topic. Consider this a formal invitation to leave a question in the comments on this post and then Brad and I will select different questions to answer together. Brad is also asking the readers on his blog to do the same thing. We have no delusions of solving these huge problems or arguing something that no one has ever thought of before. Rather, we want to make space for a much needed (and much neglected) conversation by allowing for the depth of perspective needed.
Question: What do you want to know about dealing with any type of mental disorder (i.e. depression, bipolar, anxiety, addiction, etc.) that we could address from both a medical and spiritual point of view? (leave your question in the comments below)
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