"Christian" Healing and Mental Health (3)by Beth McHugh | More from this Blogger 10 Nov 2007 02:00 AM In "Christian" Healing and Mental Health (1) and (2), we looked at the way destructive people going under the banner of being Christians can do untold harm to the self worth and even belief system of vulnerable people suffering from the burden of mental illness. These seemingly sincere people claiming to be working for God initially dowse the unsuspecting with the love and assistance they so desperately needed. Except that they took away their "love" under the guise of it being the fault of the sufferer for refusing to be healed by God. Fortunately, there are some genuinely wonderful people out there who have been literally a Godsend to many lucky sufferers. So how do you tell them apart from the harmful ones? I guess it's like anything in this world, if it seems too good to be true, it probably is. I have mixed with people of many different religious and non-religious beliefs and I have discovered over the years that the really sincere and deeply healing people do not advertise their God as being a "sure thing" nor do they claim to hold all the answers. In fact, the most helpful religious people I have met do not often mention their own faith at all. They simply go about quietly helping and make a point of never forcing their own beliefs, which they regard as deeply personal to themselves, onto others. Not for them the bold statement that "Jesus saves" and "We will cast out your demons and set you free." They are aware that Jesus does not always save, at least not in the way that the sick would prefer it. They do not make false promises. If you ask them about their faith, they will tell you, but they do not go out of their way to advertise it by endless recounting of the wonders of God. No, they are too busy listening. Listening to the stories and pain of others so they can best gauge how to help them, which they consider a privilege and not a personal triumph of the ego as do many of the former group of people. To those of you suffering from emotional problems I would say - listen. Listen to your own guidance and feelings about people who promise the earth. You could be left with a handful of dust. Instead seek people who are truly listeners and who sincerely and humbly try to follow in their leader's footsteps. Contact Beth McHugh for further assistance regarding this issue. Related articles: "Christian" Healing and Mental Health (1) "Christian" Healing and Mental Health (2) Learn more about Beth McHugh  Beth McHugh began her career as a geologist and worked both in industry and as a university researcher. Relevantmental health tags sex | family | children | Scrapbooking | pregnancy | parenting | relationships | marriage | Kids | christmas User Comments  mcmama (51978) 10 Nov 2007 07:42 AMThis is an interesting series Beth, and I am surprised that no one has commented with their experiences. I know of some folks who have gone through some non Christian "New Age" healing rituals, and when those fail are told they have to buy more crystals, herbs, candles, etc. I also know families who have been left out in the cold by "reparative therapies" aimed at gay husbands, only to find when they do not work that they are shoved aside as not having prayed hard enough and now must deal with another layer of deception and shame. Christian response to illness is rooted in a believe in spiritual healing - and faith - and the support is not in "love bombing" but in doing the difficult job of sustaining faith in time of need. For some this is short term, for others (such as those with mental illnesses) it is a long term thing. When I was diagnosed with cancer, many people I did not know prayed for me. Prayed real hard. And my surgery was one of those "miracles" which could be explained away, but I believe it was a miracle. It was AFTER the surgery that I needed the prayer and support, and it was truly God's revelation where I got it - totally unexpected again.  Beth McHugh (13186) 10 Nov 2007 02:16 PMGlad that your surgery went so well, Janet. My point in writing this series was to illustrate just how harmful some people can be, all in the name of Christianity. I hear you about having to buy more crystals, herbs etc, but to be "rejected" by God in the form of these harmful people, really was often the last straw to these sick people. Many of them cried and said that God didn't love them, and it was the worst rejection of all. All I could do was try to reinforce that these people were not God, nor were they loving. They were grossly misinformed as to the nature of the mental illness and took matters into their own hands. One poor man committed suicide. Obviously that was not the fault of the "Christians," but the incident he went through with them was a contributing factor to his final act.  QueenAngie Central Illinois, USA (59956) 11 Nov 2007 02:50 PMI know of one teenaged boy that had cancer and ended up dying, despite excellent medical care and many prayers. His family was very religious and some individuals took it upon themselves to state that "if they only prayed more," "if only they'd had more blessings," "something that the parents or grandparents had done was evil, so this was the result of their child dying of cancer." There individuals were not people who went to our church. They were people in the community. Not very supportive or loving friends, in my opinion. Why would anyone say such a thing to a grieving mother? Beth McHugh (13186) 11 Nov 2007 04:00 PMAngie, this is not only sad but cruel. Yes, why would anyone say this to grieving parents? To suggest that a child died because someone in the family was evil IS evil. This is exactly the type of case I am talking about. I hope these parents did not take on that guilt, because in their vulnerable state they are more likely too. I personally know of a man who did this sort of behavior. That is, until he got cancer himself. To his credit, he did publicly announce that he had been so very wrong. He died too, but he died peacefully, a changed man. Community Tags Christian healing, demons, depression, prayer healing, prayer and mental health Discuss this article
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