Churches should be safe places for those with mental health issues

All of us will know someone with a mental health problem. We don’t always know which of our friends, family or colleagues has a mental health problem, but that doesn’t change the fact someone we know will be suffering – and probably in silence.

In fact, one in four of us will have a mental health problem at some point in our lives. This means many of us never escape the fact “we carry this” as part of our day-to-day lives.

And there is still significant stigma attached to experiencing mental health problems such as depression, anxiety or schizophrenia.

But attitudes towards mental health are improving as more people talk about their own experiences of these issues.

Encouragingly, over the past few years, this change in attitudes towards mental health has been occurring at different levels. More politicians talking about it, particularly in the run-up to the election; anti-stigma campaigns, such as Time to Change, are gaining momentum; and there is an increasing awareness in society as a whole of the impact mental health conditions can have.

Attitudes are shifting in the Church as well, and more people have been enabled to speak about their experiences, prompting others to do more for those with mental health problems.

I have spoken publicly about my struggles with depression and anxiety, and I am always amazed and encouraged by the response I get. Sometimes I think it’d be easier to stop speaking about them. I don’t want to be known as “that woman who struggles with her mental health”. But it seems that as I share my story it allows others to be vulnerable. As US author Katherine Center says, “we have to be brave with our lives so others can be brave with theirs.”

Many church leaders want to ensure that their churches are a safe place for those experiencing mental health problems, but they have lacked the resources and know-how. In a joint project, two Christian charities Livability and Mind and Soul, have created a Mental Health Access Pack to help churches respond in a more holistic way, giving guidance and knowledge from the perspectives of psychiatry, theology and psychology. It has been endorsed by Bishop Richard Moth, the Catholic bishops’ conference representative on mental health issues.

This offers information in one place and signposts people to other organisations doing great work in the area of church and mental health. It can be used to help support those in congregations that are struggling with mental health issues and be a springboard for discussion and the sharing of ideas surrounding mental health and the church.

It is hoped that as church leaders and others start to engage in the conversation, churches and their congregants can be helped to make church a place of comfort and security for those with mental health needs, while crucially not overwhelming those in the congregation supporting them.

Katharine Welby-Roberts is an associate at Livability and the daughter of the Archbishop of Canterbury, who has endorsed the access pack. For more information click here.