Emotional Problems and Mental Health

Colin Dye — Fri, 06 Jul 2012 09:22:18 +0000

In life and ministry we have to recognise and accept that some of the challenges people face are very serious ones.

Depression, anxiety, loss of hope. These issues are real and need to be addressed.

In many situations individuals who come for counselling (and indeed we may recognise this in ourselves) may be suffering from mental health problems and need medical attention. Prayer and scriptural verses alone will not be enough. If they are suffering from acute anxiety or depression, usually they are unable to concentrate sufficiently to read the Bible or pray and they need to be referred to a doctor or hospital.
As cell members, leaders or counsellors we should not feel we have failed them if we refer people with such needs to medical professionals. We can go on supporting them and praying for them alongside their medical care or treatment.
Some of the challenges, which come up in counselling, could be extreme fear or anxiety; they usually go hand in hand ? fear producing worry and worry, anxiety which can also develop into depression.

Anxiety

Anxiety is a symptom, a response to a potentially challenging or threatening experience. When the threat is not acute or sudden and we have to think about it beforehand, worry and nervousness can produce anxiety. Anxiety is closely linked to fear which is a primary emotion that helps us deal with danger.
Not all anxiety is negative. It can be very positive. Some form of anxiety is unavoidable living in our present hectic society and it is the body?s way of telling us to pay attention, especially in dangerous situations, otherwise the consequences could be disastrous. But sometimes, anxiety seems to spiral out of control and it becomes a serious issue which begins to take over a person?s life. Desperate feelings of anxiety, which are not related to obvious external circumstances, seem to dominate a person?s thoughts. They are filled with a sense of dread and negative foreboding. Severe problems of anxiety like this, which can often be linked to depression, need medical input.

Depression

There are many different forms of depression ? from discouragement to severe depression and everything in between.
Life issues often get people down and usually ministry and support will bring this individual back to a place of trust and confidence in God to bring them through. But a person, who has prolonged sadness with unrelenting symptoms, becomes unable to enjoy life and loses interest in everything. This results in a pervading sense of hopelessness, feelings of dread and a general lack of ability to concentrate or to control thoughts. This is a disabling condition and needs urgent medical help.
People suffering from depression will usually have a chemical imbalance in their body, which is why they are prescribed some form of medication. When that is corrected they can enter fully into the counselling process.
For a Christian to accept he/she is depressed can be very difficult. And so they need a lot of encouragement and support to seek medical attention and indeed to take the medication prescribed (if there is a prescription).
In John 5:2-9, we read the story of the man by the pool with no one to put him in when the waters were troubled. When Jesus came along he was totally healed. There is emotional healing as well as physical healing in the cross. Healing is available for fear, rejection, poor self image, past hurts and every other symptom of damaged emotions. When we release forgiveness to the individuals who have hurt us we step into the pool. And that pool is big enough for all of us.

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The reason for our hope

Colin Dye — Fri, 19 Aug 2011 07:57:27 +0000

Colin Dye

It is said that you can live 6 weeks without food, 3 days without water and only 4 minutes without air, but you cannot live one second without hope. Hope, vital as it is, is failing in today?s world. The youths who perpetrated the acts of looting and vandalism in London last month were said to have acted out of desperation, having no hope. They were described as victims of a society that has given them no future, nothing to look forward to.
For us Christians, hope is an essential part of our relationship with God. Jesus is our hope and he gives us a confidence to face the future. We can be sure that he will never leave us nor fail us. We are persuaded that nothing can separate us from the love of God. We are convinced that God is working out all things for our good and for his glory.
Hope in the Bible is ?a certain expectation of a positive future event?. We speak of the hope of the return of Christ, the hope of the resurrection from the dead and the hope of heaven. All these things are guaranteed us because we belong to Jesus, the source and ultimate reality of all things. By him all things consist and are held together.
You would think that such comforting ideas would be snatched up at once by politicians, sociologists, psychologists and educationalists. Imagine if all these people incorporated Christian hope in both their private and professional lives. Think of the difference it would make if such spiritual confidence lay at the heart of every personal and public decision in our society. Hope in Christ gives us stability in this life and the motivation to make a difference. It is a solid foundation to live for God now as well as confidence for the hereafter.
However, not everyone is persuaded that such hope exists, least of all in the Christian gospel. There are many reasons for this. One of these is that the world is governed by its senses. It is dominated by the natural and is blind to the spiritual. Spiritual truth is not innate. God has put eternity in our hearts and we all have the remains of a once-perfect image of God in our hearts. That?s why humanity is incurably religious. However, we are totally dependent on God?s revelation to find our way back to him.

?Always be ready to give a defence to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you (1 PETER 3:15)

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hopelessness Archives - Colin Dye

Emotional Problems and Mental Health

In life and ministry we have to recognise and accept that some of the challenges people face are very serious ones.

Anxiety

Depression

The reason for our hope