i had an awful experience concerning a lot of Christian's views towards the mentally ill. i am a home health aide and had a particular client for over two years. i found out early on that she and her family knew that i had bipolar disorder (through an office staff member who had no right to tell them this). well, a granddaughter told me in private that her family, including my client, believes what people in the 1600s did, and people STILL DO, that mental illness is possession by Satan. i chose to ignore this, although i prayed about it a lot.
(note: that same granddaughter has bipolar disorder but she was told if she just went to church and "got saved" she would be healed. she is trying to cope unmedicated and has since dropped out of school)
one day one of my client's daughters (a preacher) came over to me and started screaming at me about going to hell, shaking her finger at me. i just sat there stunned. another time, (my car's air conditioner doesn't work) i commented to my client about dreading driving home because my car would be so hot. she was sitting at a table reading her Bible. well, she turned real fast and yelled at me "well, maybe that's God's way of showing you what it's going to be like when you BURN IN HELL!!!"
i immediately asked work for a transfer. as a side note, i went to see her last Christmas. she was dying from cancer. we held hands, then i hugged her close and prayed. she died a couple of weeks later and i prayed for God to please take care of her.
i was once asked here at PC (if you knew the context that the question was asked, you'd know how offensive the remark was) what church i attended. well, i'm scared to even try anymore. i don't like being told i'm going to hell, or i'm "possessed" because i don't have a heart condition for example, but have a mental illness.
but thank God these types of thinking are changing in the churches, but you have to find one that is open to support of MI and i don't want to add any more pain into my life by trying to find one, although i may try one a friend recommended.
i believe that faith leads to hope, which is what i need to stay alive, to try to feel good about my life, and to continue to try and heal. i rely heavily on God. i think (this is me personally) that a critical part of dealing with being MI is having faith, no matter what your belief system is.
i found this web site. it's not so much the article, but the comments that uplifted me. as i read about others struggles within the church, i am given hope that narrow minded thinking will change and i can feel accepted in the church community. i will continue to believe, and pray, and keep my sense of faith until i am welcomed into heaven.
http://wisecounsel.wordpress.com/2007/06/26/serious-mental-illness-and-faith-what-to-do/
(partial quote from the above website)
Quote:
Robyn Bloem
July 19, 2009 at 10:40 pm
My husband and I are Christians. He has had bipolar II since 1985. We got so tired of Christians saying that mental illness is sin, bitterness, poor coping skills, anger turned inward, blah, blah, blah, that we finally wrote a book about our experience with his mental illness. He has been a pastor, a therapist in the Community Mental Health system for over ten years and now in private practice for over six years.
We have hit the church head on and have been rebuffed by pastors who think they know—but they don’t. We have started a movement for Christians who have mental illness. If pastors can get an understanding of the mentally ill and help them in supportive ways instead of quoting a Bible verse and sending them home, we will be making progress.
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maybe some pastors out there will read this and take note, and change their thinking. we are all precious children of God who deserve a place in the kingdom of heaven like anyone else. i am in no way bitter. i will always take the high road and try to teach by example and stay true to my faith, which teaches me to forgive.
i just pray that other fellow sufferers of MI will find a place to worship in the houses of their "God". if not, then, well, no one can take away our right to pray, to believe, and to have hope through faith.
God love us all. Amen.
