2/7/09

Why are christians so squirrely about...

mental illness?

I have tried to understand this, but just dont get it. I guess for me, i view mental illness as something along the line of diabetes. Sometimes you're born with it and sometimes life and life choices curse you with it. Either way, its an illness and there's treatment. We dont look down or fear people with diabetes, we simply make sure we got sugar free snacks. Why cant we do the same for the mentally ill? Make sure they take their meds, keep them out of situations that upset them and practice grace for the days they freak out.

Sure there's the issue of possession and healing, and all that spiritual stuff. And can it happen...sure? But lets be honest, those cases, esp in the West are rare. Of course this could get into dicey theological conversations about theodicy and suffering, i'll save that for another time. But i guess i figure that the brain is flesh too and that means it's also susceptible to illness too. So why should we be surprised when peoples brains malfunction?

What are your thoughts?

1 comment:

Tit for Tat said...

I would imagine because most people view mental issues from the perspective of character defects. Just look at peoples reactions to addiction. Christians in general are big on this free will thing and think that most things can be controlled. So its not surprising their reactions to mental illness.