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Writing * Photography * Contemplation

Processing Emotional Pain through Treatment

This is the first post in the series of Processing Emotional Pain. I originally had this post at the end of the series and purposely moved it to the beginning. Treatment for emotional pain or mental illness is not an after-thought nor a last resort. And, so, here it is, at the beginning.

The enduring stigma around mental suffering and our tendency to oversimplify and over-spiritualize complex emotional needs can unnecessarily magnify the distress of those who are struggling emotionally.

Depression is an illness, not a sin. It is a disease – an invisible disease that we tend to sweep under the rug. We are afraid of being judged or ostracized or told to pray more, confess our sins, bind the demons, read the Bible… None of these are bad things in and of themselves, but they are as much a solution to emotional pain and mental illness as they are to diabetes or cancer.

The problem is that with emotional pain, when these potentially helpful spiritual practices don’t result in “successful results” people see the fault as the person’s. They are a “failure” or didn’t put in enough effort or their faith wasn’t strong enough if medication or therapy is pursued. This would never (or rarely) be insinuated for a person who had heart disease or a broken leg.

My emotional pain is not my sin. Your emotional pain is not your sin. Our pain/illness, whether brought on by our environment, our biology, or a mixture of both is exactly that—our illness. It is something we battle each and every day and it is time to stop feeling guilty for being in pain.

Those who suffer are no less deserving of God’s grace than anyone else. Their suffering is not necessarily a result of sin but the suffering of life, an illness of the brain which, like every other organ in the body, is made up of flesh and blood and can be influenced by chemicals, medications, allergies,and illnesses. The brain is no different, other than being much more mysterious.

Let’s not demonize, minimize, or simplify the struggle of those who suffer emotionally, but rather let’s acknowledge the pain in ourselves and others as part of life. Even Jesus acknowledges illness exists in Matthew 9:12 “Hearing them, he said: ‘Healthy people do not need a physician, but those who are ill do.'” In other words, Jesus said the people who are sick need a doctor! It’s OK!

In Sharon Garlough Brown’s book, Shades of Light, the main character Wren is reflecting on her recent prescription of anti-depressants. This scene quite well sums up the struggle many Christians feel when they face this same scenario:

“There’s no shame in this,” the doctor had said, handing her the first of many prescriptions. “If you were diabetic, you would need insulin.” But that logic seemed lost on many in the Christian community who, though it never would have occurred to them to judge a diabetic for taking medication, insisted that the depressed and anxious should be able to “pray their way out of it” or “memorize more Scripture” or “fix their minds on Jesus” or “take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ” and be cured. Such reproach only compounded the sufferers’ deep sense of shame, inadequacy, and defect. If Wren could have “believed Jesus” for a way out of the darkness, she would have.

In choosing treatment, those who are suffering, are often choosing life. And isn’t that why Jesus came? That we might have life?

Therese Kay is an author and photographer residing in Massachusetts. She loves the contemplative practices of visio divina and contemplative photography. She often writes about and teaches them to others.

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