Posted by Tovah on December 19, 2003, at 20:59:01
I've been on antidepressants for many years. Sometimes they haven't worked, sometimes they have, and I think they have kept me from getting suicidally depressed on several occasions. I see them as a gift from God, despite unfortunate side effects.
I know a number of people on this board are on meds...as are a great many other Christian people that I know. Now, granted, most people in our society are Christian to a degree, so I know more Christians than non-Christians...but it does seem to be a high percentage. Don't know if it is higher than or equal to or less than the rate of meds use for those of other religions or no religion.
But it makes me wonder sometimes. Today medical science has (almost) proven that depression, chronic anxiety, etc are medical disorders and there is no shame in treating them medically. But I think of all the generations that came before and how closely emotional health would have been to spiritual health - for many, one in the same. For what we pop pills for, people in past generations felt was spiritual need that had to be addressed. The idea of "self esteem" was not considered important; one's relationship to God is what made one happy, satisfied and at peace. If one felt guilty, he needed to repent before God. If one felt anxious, he needed to make his life right before God.
Many religious figures thoughout time are now believed to have suffered from what is now considered medical mental illness. I've heard it said, for instance, that Martin Luther suffered from OCD (spiritual scrupulocity) which is why he couldn't accept God's forgiveness through the Sacraments...eventually he decided that the Sacraments were no longer needed (how interesting if all of post-Reformation theology was based on a belief that came about due to a mental illness!) (Please, no flames...I am not trying to be disrespectful of ML here; though I disagree with his theology, it is clear that his views resonated with many and he had legitimate gripes with the church of the day...but it is something to think about). If ML lived today instead of in the 1400s, he would have been given Prozac or Zyprexa to stop obsessing. And where would the Protestant movement have been?
Are we medicating things today that would have been treated spiritually in the past? How do we know today if our problem is emotional or spiritual?
poster:Tovah
thread:291754
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/faith/20030908/msgs/291754.html