The Independent News Source
Twitter - Facebook - Email Alerts - RSS
When you're mentally ill, no one brings you a casserole
Resources for ministry to people with mental illnesses
Oct. 15, 2009
Residents watch as people carry an icon from the St. Vincent de Paul Chapel in late August through the streets of downtown Portland, Ore. The icon is meant to show Jesus’ outreach to the poor and mentally ill. (CNS/Catholic Sentinel/Kim Nguyen)
Printer-friendly version
Send to friend
PDF versionDorothy Coughlin tells the story of a man whose son had left college after being diagnosed with schizophrenia. “The dad was with friends who were all talking about their children, the degrees they were getting and what they planned to do after college.” He said nothing about his son.
The man came to Coughlin distraught. “He said to me that he just hated the thought that he felt so ashamed.”
This story, said Coughlin, director of the Office for People with Disabilities for the Portland, Ore., archdiocese, “speaks to the stigma of the illness. If my son was sent home because he was in a sporting accident, that is something that could be shared. But to say my son came home from college because he was diagnosed with schizophrenia, it just stops the conversation. People just don’t know how to respond, how to offer support.”
Chicago Deacon Tom Lambert has been in ministry to people with mental illness since the 1980s. He cites statistics that say one in every 17 people have a serious and persistent mental illness, and that one in every five families has been affected by mental illness.
Given that prevalence, Coughlin said, chances are that every Sunday you are sitting next to someone who has a family member or someone close to them with a mental illness.
Lambert calls mental illness the “no-casserole disease.”
“If a person is in the hospital for a heart situation, people in the parish come over to the house and bring casseroles every other night until you get to the point that you’re sick of casseroles,” he said. “People with mental illness may be hospitalized either in a state hospital or a psychiatric unit not even near the parish. And because of the stigma involved, there are not a lot of people relating to the situation and so nobody brings the casseroles.”
Neither the person with the mental illness nor the family is being cared for, he said. “That is why parishes want to be and are involved in this ministry.”
The stigma can be erased through education and awareness-building, which can begin simply and build.
- Bulletin articles: Lambert has a series of eight very short articles explaining the facts about mental illness, the moral implications and suggested actions for faith communities.
- Prayers of the faithful: Coughlin and Lambert suggest that the community pray publicly for people with mental illness and to mention specific illnesses, such as schizophrenia or manic depression, so parishioners recognize the difference between mental illness and cognitive and developmental disabilities.
- Preaching: Lambert said preachers should include references to mental illnesses in homilies about justice, discrimination and compassion.
- Offer space to community groups: Coughlin encourages parishes to host Family-to-Family meetings sponsored by the National Alliance on Mental Illness. This is a structured, 12-week program of education and support.
“It’s so great to have in your parish bulletin that your parish is hosting a 12-week program to support families with a member who has a mental illness,” Coughlin said. It says the parish cares and “my experience is that it brings out of the woodwork a lot of families within the parish that have family members with mental illness, and they begin speaking out loud in that environment their needs and their issues and find support.”
The National Alliance on Mental Illness emphasizes that mental illness is a medical condition that, like diabetes, “results in a diminished capacity for coping with the ordinary demands of life.”
Just as diabetes can be managed, mental illnesses can be managed with professional help, medication and community support. Lambert said that community support is what parish-based ministries are good at. “It’s our core value, if you will.”
“Just like you don’t have to be an oncologist to support someone with cancer, you don’t have to be a psychiatrist to support someone with mental illness,” Coughlin said.
Lambert said, “People who have professionals in their lives need someone who can just be good friends and good faith partners in their lives.”
The following are some examples of parish-based ministries:
- At St. Catherine of Siena-St. Lucy Parish in Oak Park, Ill., the Faith and Fellowship program every other week brings together people from nursing homes in the area that serve those with mental illness.
- Many dioceses have chapters of the St. Dymphna Society (St. Dymphna is the patron saint of people with mental illness) and typically hold regular meetings for people with mental illness and their families for prayer, fellowship and education.
- St. Thomas of Villanova Parish in Palatine, Ill., hosts a biweekly meeting for people with mental illnesses to hear presentations on health, faith and related topics. The ministry hosts a mental health awareness Sunday. Lambert preaches at the weekend Masses and area mental health agencies have information booths
- Parishes in the Portland archdiocese form small faith-sharing groups for weekly scripture study and sharing during Lent. Coughlin’s office started a sharing group that used the same archdiocesan program, but was sensitive to special needs of people with serious mental illnesses.
- The St. Vincent de Paul Downtown Chapel, which serves the poor urban core in Portland, sponsored a day retreat for anyone with severe depression.
Dennis Coday is an NCR staff writer. His e-mail address is dcoday@ncroline.org.
Resources for mental illness ministries
www.miministry.org
The Web site for the Chicago Archdiocesan Commission on Mental Illness
www.nami.org
The Web site of the National Alliance on Mental Illness has a wealth of educational and statistical information useful for advocacy. It also has many links for state and local support groups for children and teens, veterans, college students, care providers and other special needs groups. The site also links to the NAMI Legal Center, which can provide lawyer referrals.
www.nami.org/faithnet
NAMI FaithNet is a network for members and friends of the National Alliance on Mental Illness who have a special interest in the role religious communities can play in supporting people with mental illness and their families. Type “PSMIN” into the site’s search engine to find a one-page survey, “How to Rate Your Faith Community,” that can help a parish see how welcoming it is of people with mental illness and their families.
www.ncpd.org
The National Catholic Partnership on Disability was established in 1982 to reach out to Catholics with disabilities, work with parishes and dioceses in ministering to people with disabilities, and to advise the U.S. bishops’ conference on disability issues. The Council on Mental Illness, under the National Catholic Partnership on Disability, provides outreach and support for specific mental illness ministries in parishes and dioceses. A complete listing of resources, including a theological framework and catechetical resources on mental illness, is at www.ncpd.org/ministries-programs/specific/mentalillness.
Webinars
A “webinar” is a Web-based seminar transmitted over the Internet that allows an audience to see and hear a presentation and interact with the presenters. The National Catholic Partnership on Disability has three webinars on mental illnesses:
- “Supporting People with Mental Illness in Your Parish” first aired in 2007.
- “Come to the Table: Nurturing the Sacramental Life of People with Mental Illnesses” first aired in 2008.
- “Access to Tools in Addressing Suicide: Pastoral Supports and Prevention Strategies” will be transmitted live Oct. 20 at 1 p.m. Eastern time and will feature noted speaker and writer Oblate Fr. Ron Rolheiser, Dr. Thomas Welch from Portland, Ore., and Claire Woodruff, religious education director for the Portland archdiocese.
DVD
The National Catholic Partnership on Disability has a new 27-minute DVD, “Welcomed and Valued,” and study guide available for parishes and faith communities interested in ministry to people with mental illness and their families. “Welcomed and Valued” features people with mental illness explaining their situations and how a range of spiritual, psychological, social and medical approaches meet their needs. They also share their experiences of faith.
Thanks for promoting health
Thanks for promoting health for the mentally challenged.
I have struggled with bipolar condition for many years.
I do find that I am a better minister because of experiencing
much fear and feeling the stigma. Carry on! And blessings to
all concerned about those on the margins.
My brother suffers from
My brother suffers from schizophrenia. He was diagnosed in his late teens and is now 51. What goes along with that sometimes is chemical dependency, homelessness, and jail. For many years, I did not talk about my brother, who is 2 years younger than me. Many people did not know I had a brother. Those who did assumed we did not want to take care of him and were the cause of his homelessness. There is still a great stigma attached to mental illness. We did not find the Church to be a great source of support because of a lack of education about this disease, even now. The "system" is not a great support, either.
I am no longer afraid to talk about my brother. I love him and have a better understanding about his illness. He will not stay on his meds and prefers to medicate himself with street drugs. He walks out of every rehab where he is placed and many times can be found on the streets. He is proud that he can panhandle for a pack of cigarettes or a cup of coffee. When he needs a pair of jeans, or a new shirt, or a pair of sneaks, we buy those for him. He doesn't think twice about selling them or trading them for drugs. In the winter, we make sure he has a warm coat, gloves, scarf, and hat. He might sell those, too. When he is in jail, we visit. We accept him where he is, and I pray for him everyday. I know my mom expects to get the phone call. She is a saint. He is in God's hands.
I will keep your brother in
I will keep your brother in my prayers and join with your mom her prayers for him. A mother’s prayers are very effective.
Recently, I went to a retreat given by a priest who is a hospital chaplain in Vancouver, B.C. He shared with us a real-life ministry situation where he was asked by a man’s mother to go to pray over her (drug-related) mentally-ill son who was verbally or almost physically violent. He went and was amazed at the Hope of the mother of this man. The priest himself was afraid and not optimistic based on what he saw.
After a long time, this man did go into rehab and seemed to have improved and allowed his story to be shared with other people.
I have also taken a course in the summer, part of it touched on homeless ministry and have interviewed some church programs that are related to this. What you said is very similar to what I have heard. But I also heard the effect of prayers, how our prayers can even stop the effect of drugs on its track.
God’s ways are not our ways. But keep praying. Keep up with Hope that God in his kindness and goodness will always hear our prayers and keep your brother in His Love.
Thank you for the article on
Thank you for the article on mental illness. Twenty miles from Portland is one of the outstanding resources to support people with mental illness and their families, MindFreedom International, www.mindfreedom.org There are numerous mental health organizations. The oldest one in the U.S. is Mental Health America, www.mentalhealthamerica.net
Parishes can't wait for diocesan leadership. I think grassroot parish ministries are the most effective. St. Joan of Arc Church, Minneapolis, started a Mental Illness Ministry four years ago. We just announced an open parish brainstorming meeting to discuss if and what people wanted. And we began.
A study done a few years ago, found that the first place 40% of people with mental illness (our consumers prefer Pursuers of Wellness) look to for help is their faith leaders/communities. And what are Catholic Seminarians learning about 1/4 to 1/5 of their future parishioners--don't think much. What would our priests do if a parishioner announced that they were thinking of suicide?
It is so easy for a parish to begin a Mental Illness Ministry that would fit the people of that parish. St. Joan of Arc Church is fortunate because we have a marvelous staff person, Roseann Rogers, who is our advocate, friend and advisor.
Mary Paradis
I just want to correct
I just want to correct something I may have said in my email a few minutes ago. MindFreedom.org is in Eugene, Oregon. Thank you.
Mary Paradis
“Acceptance, without shame,
“Acceptance, without shame, of mental disorder. But that would be crying for the moon.” Or would it?" Roy Porter.
Another good Resource for mental illness ministries:
Every Family in the Land: Understanding Prejudice And Discrimination Against People With Mental Illness (Paperback)
Ed Arthur Crisp. Sir Robert Mond Memorial Trust, Royal Society of Medicine, Royal College of Psychiatrists.
446 pages
Publisher: Royal Society of Medicine Press; 1 edition (January 2004)
ISBN-10: 185315573X; ISBN-13: 978-1853155734
****************************************************************************
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1122608/
"It was seven years into the HIV epidemic and several thousand deaths before the then president of the United States, Ronald Reagan, could bring himself to use the word AIDS in a speech."
"Contrast this with the legionnaires' disease outbreak of the early 1970s. This generated several front page headlines, public debate, and a photograph in the New York Times showing President Ford holding an emergency cabinet meeting to address the government's response to what was already viewed as a serious public health crisis. And all this within the first two weeks."
"If there is one thing the AIDS epidemic must have taught us, it is that stigma, and stigma alone, can have a huge impact on how we respond to public health issues. What opened the public's hearts and the profession's minds to HIV/AIDS?"
"This collection of essays, research, anecdotes, personal accounts, and conference transcripts is another benchmark in the Royal College of Psychiatrists' five year campaign to counter the stigma surrounding mental illness. The campaign began in 1998. As part of my research while reviewing this CD, I asked a team of mental health nurses and junior psychiatrists for their views on the campaign so far. None of them knew that it existed. The well intentioned conferences, cinema advertisements, and leaflets seem to have had little impact.In the medical profession the stigma around mental illness has rarely been addressed. Observe the esteemed physician on post-intake rounds confronting a patient's agitation with a damming “this isn't medical, it's psychiatric,” as he waves his team away. Anyone who has experienced countless similar scenarios must surely realise that stigma, fear, and prejudice stand between us and our duty of care.So how do we make the last year of this campaign count? A few high profile celebrities of the calibre that came out fighting for the HIV cause couldn't hurt."
"Then again, although this is less glamorous and certainly less high tech, we could all take a long hard look inside ourselves, and outside at our practices. And perhaps, to quote the late Roy Porter in the first and by far the most readable chapter of this e-book, find the true solution to the problem of stigma:
“Acceptance, without shame, of mental disorder. But that would be crying for the moon.” Or would it?"
God bless,
Moses
THANKS for this article.
THANKS for this article. This is an area a pastor or parish minister can/could easily overlook just because of the 'silence'. The suggested possibilities are such . . .such that I never realized before! Never too late too learn, even after 46 years. I plan to share this with confreres in our deanery.
a grateful pastor
Years ago there was an old
Years ago there was an old priest who always, in the prayers to the faithful, at the end would say "and we pray for those with the the most painful illness of all, depression." He knew because he was a survivor. The depressed are truly forgotten and alone. I know.
The depressed shun people
The depressed shun people that is why they are alone, but they are not forgotten. They just like to tell themselves that. In fact, they tell themselves a lot of depressing lies.
Saint Francis, and Jesus,
Saint Francis, and Jesus, were accused even by their own family of having mental illnesses.
I have waited a very long
I have waited a very long time, in silence, for this issue to be addressed here. Thank you for doing so now.
One of the problems with discussing mental illness with others is the disclosure issue. The individual with mental illness may not want his/her diagnosis and difficulties known or discussed by people outside the immediate family. Respecting the patient's decision in this matter means the family members carry their burden in silence.
Normalizing this issue might make it easier for patients and their families to open up and receive the kind of loving support that a parish group could offer, but the stigma attached to mental illness means that disclosure is risky. Patterns of discrimination are subtle, but effectively exclude one. By disclosing a diagnosis of mental illness one runs the risk of not being hired, promoted, or included in social life for example.
Much work needs to be done in raising awareness, providing safety and confidentiality, and dispelling fear about this issue.
Dear Sir - I was healed of
Dear Sir - I was healed of insanity - my mind shattered in January 1982 - in the Roman Catholic Church. It took twenty some years.....and a very devout life now. A devout Catholic family - after eight years of serious illness - took me into their Jesus room - a room set aside for someone in great need- and I have lived there for nearly twenty years. I am now president of Our Parish's Legion of Mary. Peter Whalen
Thanks! Great article.
Thanks! Great article.
How true it is! There is no
How true it is! There is no shame in mental illness,but it is shameful indeed how we treat people with mental illness. (News and Observer, Raleigh, NC) NAMI has provided support, education, and advocacy since its inception, and is the voice for mental illness. It has also provided FAMILY TO FAMILY EDUCATION CLASSES FOR FAMILIES OF THE MENTALLY ILL. Teachers for this thirty hour class are trained and certified, and also have a family member diagnosed with severe and persistent mental illness, and participants are screened through interviews to assure that they do have close family members with mental illness. With these classes families are strengthen and encourage to cope, help each other and their loved ones, and furthermore, are interested in helping NAMI with its work. Thanks for your article. Overcoming stigma and discrimination is a worthy goal.
Charles Owens
Praise God for the gifts of
Praise God for the gifts of loving concern and creative ministry to those in need!
Amen! It's almost proverbial
Amen! It's almost proverbial that saintliness and mental illness are hard to distinguish. Members of both groups sometimes act "inappropriately".
Post new comment