Mental Health Counseling !

[DarkNLovely]

What is the EO position on mental health councelling, treatment and medications for mental health? When should a person seek out more professional help as opposed to just talking things over with a spiritual guide?

Thanks!

[Thekla]

in my son's situation, as spiritual origins were "ruled out", we were encouraged to continue with standard (ie psychiatric and therapy in our case) treatment.

As one spiritual father says (to paraphrase) "...when the instrument (brain) is broken, it does not play well; in these cases, medication is needed".

In answer to prayer, we "happened" onto an excellent psychiatrist and therapist. God is good :)

[DarkNLovely]

in my son's situation, as spiritual origins were "ruled out", we were encouraged to continue with standard (ie psychiatric and therapy in our case) treatment.

As one spiritual father says (to paraphrase) "...when the instrument (brain) is broken, it does not play well; in these cases, medication is needed".

In answer to prayer, we "happened" onto an excellent psychiatrist and therapist. God is good :)
Wow! I didn't know about your son! I'll keep ya'll in my prayers.

What did you mean by spiritual origins?

[Akathist]

I am a mental health counselor.

The EO church encourages members to be healthy in all ways. Some mental health issues are caused by physical medical problems that need medication.

To be a good steward of one's body, medication may be needed.

The Spiritual Father (typically Priest) would be the one who would advise about each particular situation.

Mental Health problems used to be considered all about being "possessed" or about some terrible spiritual issue. Those stigma's are fading but can appear in some of the ECF's writings.

But I do firmly believe that there is a direct correlation between spirituality and recovery from mental health issues. Those who suffer from them recover or become more functional when they are a part of a spiritual community and when they use their faith as a part of their treatment.

Further, prayer has been proven to be effective for situations like depression and anxiety. (Proven as in scientific studies have shown a positive correlation.)

[Thekla]

Wow! I didn't know about your son! I'll keep ya'll in my prayers.

What did you mean by spiritual origins?
Sorry, DnL, for the delay !

there are many ways to "get to a symptom"; a 'spiritual slide' or imbalance can present in many ways ... our priest was interested in our son's health, so he tried conversation, and anointing etc. And continued to encourage us to seek treatment -- which can be hard to get; we really appreciated the encouragement :)

[Lukaris]

There is an Orthodox medical association of professionals in this area. http://www.ocampr.org/

[Akathist]

Lukaris, thanks for the link. That was the Orthodox association for people in the mental health field I had been looking to link to here. I couldn't afford the fees to join them and I misplaced the link.

[Akathist]

What did you mean by spiritual origins?

I wanted to touch on this. Sometimes mental health symptoms are not due to medical problems. For example, I was very depressed after my husband disappeared. I even thought about how I wanted to die.

That was lack of faith on my part. I wasn't Orthodox at the time but as I increased in faith and joined the Church, my dispair was dissolved.

The body, mind and spirit are all connected. So, a spiritual problem can show up as a symptom such as depression or anxiety. But, sometimes depression and anxiety have a physical medical aspect to them as well as a spiritual (or even without a spiritual problem.)

The discernment of what is a spiritual problem and what is a medical problem is not always easy to determine. But we have our Spiritual Father's who guide us, and we have our spiritual practices that help protect us as well and to help us heal along with medication if needed.

[machismo]

We all need it...

[DarkNLovely]

OOPPS! I forgot about this thread while I've been away! Thank ya'll so ubber much!