The problem was solely spiritual in nature, they were told.
Here's the thing: Other studies have found that clergy, and not psychologists or other mental health experts, are the most common source of help sought in times of psychological distress.
"The results are troubling because it suggests individuals in the local church are either denying or dismissing a somewhat high percentage of mental health diagnosis," said study leader Matthew Stanford, professor of psychology and neuroscience at Baylor University in Texas.
"Those whose mental illness is dismissed by clergy are not only being told they don't have a mental illness, they are also being told they need to stop taking their medication. That can be a very dangerous thing."
Religion has a place in our world. But it is not as a mental health professional!
I am constantly amazed that people will go to a person who is unqualified to do more then preach from the Bible, for advice on their marriage, on their finances, and on their health care issues.
These people attain a position of trust based on the idea that they are somehow closer to God then the average person. That is simply ignorant. But the ministers and priests seem to believe that as well and feel completely comfortable giving advice about things that they simply DO NOT UNDERSTAND.
Why would ANYBODY go to a celebate Catholic priest for marriage advice?
Why would ANYBODY go to a man who claims to talk to God for mental health advice?
And why would ANYBODY go to a person who has money handed to them every Sunday for misrepresenting the Bible for financial advice?
It simply does not make any sense!
If you are sick, go to a doctor. If you are in debt, go to a financial expert. If you are crazy, go to a psychiatrist. If you are afraid of going to hell, then feel free to go to church (though in my opinion you might benefit from psychiatric help here as well).
When I 'used to be' a member of the Catholic church I went once to seek counseling on a death of a friend of mine.
ReplyDeleteBut I too, never understood how a preist was supposed to be able to give advice on marriage. That blew my mind, even if I was just a kid at the time.
Great post!
And people wonder why I'm Wiccan.
ReplyDeleteMultiply this info about 100 times and you get the people where I live...full of fundamentalists, rabid angry people. I've been told that a Bible won't burn. I've been told that people who aren't "of Jesus" can't enter a church without physical pain, I've been told that my friends were demons (and all this was BEFORE I converted to Wicca - I was still a Christian at the time!!). There are people here who wholeheartedly believe that the Earth is the center of the universe and claim to be able to prove it - but when asked hedge around it and yell that you're "persecuting" them. There are women who believe that if you aren't barefoot and preggers that you need to be in the church kitchen, cooking food for the menfolk. And the children are like the kids from Children of the Corn! Now, not everyone is like this...but it's scary just how much these people believe that they and their congregation ONLY will make it to heaven - other churches are just SOL to them. It's scary. But yeah, stuff like this happens all the time here in So WV.