Openness about Mental Health Concerns

Date Published: 10/04/2010

In 1972 Missouri Senator Thomas Eagleton was forced off the Democratic Party's ticket as George McGovern's Vice-Presidential running mate because he acknowledged he had been hospitalized and received treatment for physical and nervous exhaustion and depression.

As I opened worship on September 26 I spoke of a mental health concern in our family and asked for the congregation's prayers and support. Several people have spoken to me since acknowledging their own mental health challenges, thanking me for my openness and requesting my prayers. I tried to be as simple and open as possible without drawing too much attention away from worship. If anyone was offended or objected, they did not speak to me. Maybe that will change now that I have posted this. Who knows?

Since this forum is completely accessable, I have not named either the family member or the specific diagnosis out of respect for privacy and confidentiality. Perhaps that hesitancy is a symptom of the persistence of the stigma associated with mental illness. Even so, that doesn't change my decision.

Each of those who spoke to me about their own mental health issues thanked me for my openness and said it gave them more courage to speak, even to me their pastor, about it. Each one expressed some sense of not being free to talk about their experience because other people do not understand and accept their situations.

I write this today as an invitation for a conversation about how to have a healthy openness about mental illness, first of all in the church as the faith community of Jesus who clearly overflowed with compassion toward those who suffer. And then to explore whether and how such openness in the church might influence the broader society.

Your responses are encouraged!