Title: Should Christians Take Medication for Mental Illness?
Headings: Should Christians Take Medication for Mental Illness?
Should Christians Take Medication for Mental Illness?
Why Do Christians Hesitate to Use Medication for Mental Illness?
Concern 1: Christians may fear displeasing God with a “lack of faith.”
Concern 2: Christians may fear becoming dependent on medication.
A Christian’s Ultimate Hope in Heaven
What Does the Medical Community Say about Mental Illness?
What Does the Church Say about Mental Illness?
Is Mental Illness a Physical or Spiritual Issue or Something Else?
Mental illness symptoms could stem from sources other than a mental disorder.
What Does the Bible Say?
1. Don’t decide alone.
2. Medications are not sinful.
3. People are made in the image of God.
4. The ultimate source of all illness and death is sin in general.
5. It’s not wrong to seek healing.
Mental and Emotional Anguish: Examples and Verses in the Bible
Approach the Decision with Wisdom.

Content: The National Institute of Mental Health says one in five adult Americans lives with a mental illness, ranging in severity from mild to severe; and the World Health Organization pushes this further to one in four people. However, biblical counseling professor Heath Lambert notes the failure of psychologists to define mental illness, especially when there is “no evidence of pathology” and a lack of medical precision in determining mental disorders. Doctors normally test for physical disorders and abnormalities, but sometimes can only observe behavioral manifestations—as in the case of schizophrenia. Behavior descriptions are often subjective, and some people consider “mental illness” a social construct. For example, “many of the behaviors that the DSM (a catalogue of mental illnesses created by the American Psychiatric Association) describes are moral categories that God describes,” Lambert says. While various health agencies are quick to say mental illness is not a personal failure, mental illness is often stigmatized by the church. What Does the Church Say about Mental Illness? Many churches believe mental illness is the result of sinful responses. Christians typically understand occasional depression or anxiety, but some are put off by an official diagnosis of mental illness.