3 Christian Responses to Mental Illness; Which One Is Most Biblical?

By Frank Viola , CP Guest Contributor

April 11, 2013|6:15 am

This post is a P.S. to my article on Monday entitled Rick Warren's Horrific Tragedy & The Sickening Response of Some "Christians", which has become my most viewed blog post since I started the blog in 2008.

Throughout my years of being involved in various and sundry Christian movements and denominations, it seems that Christians understand mental disorders in one of three chief ways:
1. Mental illness is demonic in origin. So the antidote is to cast out the demons that are causing it.
2. Mental illness is psychobabble. There's no such thing as a "mental disorder." All so-called mental illnesses are just sinful behaviors. So the antidote is for person to repent and get right with God.
3. Mental illness is a physiological disorder. The brain is a physical organ just like the heart, the thyroid, the joints, etc. Thus if someone has panic attacks or bipolar disorder or schizophrenia or chronic depression or ADHD, they have a chemical imbalance in the brain, not dissimilar to a hyperthyroidism or high blood pressure or arthritis.
I cut my teeth on a movement that promoted #1. I've met many people who believed #2. But I believe #3 is often the case.
Yet it's not so simple.
The problem, I feel, is that confusion over this issue seems to be rooted in the fact we don't properly understand the integration of body, soul, and spirit.

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