Dear God: Please Tell Your Followers to Stay on Their Medication. Amen.

This article almost made me drop to my knees and pray for divine intervention if I weren’t so spitting mad about the sheer insanity (pun intended) of the subject matter. A recent study of 293 Christian church members who sought help from clergy regarding their own or a family member’s previously diagnosed mental illness revealed that almost 1/3 of them were told that they really didn’t have a mental illness. One expert quoted in the article contends that clergy are also advising people to stop taking their psychotropic medication, which is—HELLO—a huge health risk for the individual and the public at large! Have we all not sat riveted in front of the television as a number of cases have unfolded in which psychotic individuals, usually women with a history of psychiatric problems and relationships with abusive, controlling spouses and fanatical churches, have gruesomely killed their children out of some religious delusion mistaken as God’s command. I can think of two cases here in Texas—Andrea Yates and Dena Schlosser—in which each woman had a documented history of psychiatric problems, including postpartum depression compounded by multiple pregnancies, cessation of medication that eased symptoms, and adherence to strict gender roles within the family. Last but not least, both women were linked with fundamentalist, bordering on cult-like, religious sects. Schlosser’s pastor, Doyle Davidson, preached that mental illness was caused by demons and curable only by God. These cases are extreme, but they definitely illustrate the danger of counseling vulnerable individuals to disavow a mental illness diagnosis and cease medical treatment.

Clergy who adhere to belief systems that do not recognize the validity of mental illness are abusing their power as counselors, spiritual or otherwise, when vulnerable parishioners come to them for help. Clergy may be the only source of counseling for people who lack insurance or cannot afford their mental health co-pays. I fear that with our ever-weakening economy more and more people will turn to their churches for help on so many levels, none the least of which will be counseling for psychological stressors that precipitate and/or worsen the debilitating effects of mental illness. The aforementioned article also cites a Baylor study in which researchers found women’s mental problems were more likely to be dismissed by clergy. Well, this is no revelation to me as we women tend toward the hysterical anyway, and if we’d all just shut up, mind our husbands, and crank out progeny for the Lord’s flock, we could drive those demons right out of our pretty little heads. I hear exorcism works, too.

I don’t mean to totally denigrate spiritual counseling. I support those who choose it to enhance their every day lives, but make no mistake, it is NO substitute for therapeutic evaluation and counseling by a licensed mental health provider. And, clergy have no professional authority to recommend individuals stop taking prescribed psychotropic medication. Exploiting people’s religious faith to further the church’s antiquated agenda at a time when they desperately need humane, non-stigmatizing mental health treatment is morally reprehensible and spiritually offensive. I think these clergy could use some mental health treatment themselves for harboring grandiose delusions that they speak for God. Then, again maybe they’re just imbibing too much of the Communion wine. Whatever the case, the shepherds are clearly out of line. God, I pray you put them in check.