Saints who battled mental illness

[Michie]

Those who suffer aren’t in any way less holy than those who don’t.


With the stigma surrounding mental illness, many Christians feel quite sure that their mental health struggles are a result of their own sin, calling depression a “failure to hope” and insisting that mental illness can be prayed away.

Mercifully, this is not the Catholic position. The Church understands that health struggles have many causes, that treatments like therapy and medication are often necessary, and that those who suffer aren’t in any way less holy than those who don’t. This is true of mental health as well as physical.

But those living with mental illness don’t always realize that they’re not alone in their struggle; though many of the saints lived before modern methods could diagnose their mental health issues, we have others who clearly suffered from mental illness. During this time when many are struggling with their mental health even more than usual, it helps to know that there are saints walking alongside us.


St. Oscar Romero (1917-1980)

Continued below.

Saints who battled mental illness

Those who suffer aren’t in any way less holy than those who don’t.

aleteia.org

 

[Michie]

Patron Saints of Mental Illness — The Face of Mercy

These are saints who themselves struggled with various mental illnesses, including anxiety, depression, dementia, paranoia, obsessive-compulsive disorder, addiction. St. Therese of Lisieux, St. Louis Martin, St. Oscar Romero, St. Jane Frances De Chantal, St. Alphonsa, Bl. Matt Talbot, and St. Benedi

www.thefaceofmercy.org

 

[RileyG]

Ora pro nobis

 

[mourningdove~]

Those who suffer aren’t in any way less holy than those who don’t.


With the stigma surrounding mental illness, many Christians feel quite sure that their mental health struggles are a result of their own sin, calling depression a “failure to hope” and insisting that mental illness can be prayed away.

Mercifully, this is not the Catholic position. The Church understands that health struggles have many causes, that treatments like therapy and medication are often necessary, and that those who suffer aren’t in any way less holy than those who don’t. This is true of mental health as well as physical.

I think the Catholic Church does the best job in dealing with the subject of mental illness.