"The entrance of thy words giveth light (Psalm 119:130)."
Jesus & Mental Health
"Even though Jesus was God’s Son, he learned obedience from the things he suffered (Hebrews 5:8 NLT)."
When we think about Jesus, probably the last thing that we might think about is Him having to cope with mental health issues. But prophetic Scripture made it clear that Jesus would have to cope with mental suffering long before He was born: "He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering (Isaiah 53:3 NIV)." The word translated "sorrows" means literally "anguish or grief."1 So, it is clear from Scripture that Jesus' suffering included mental suffering.
However, Jesus was not defeated in His ministry. He was not considered as disabled. There is nothing in Scripture that indicates that he relied on drugs to correct a "chemical imbalance." Rather, he learned from his pain how to keep his emotions under control: "he learned obedience from the things he suffered."
The same thing is true with us. We learn the accuracy and efficacy of Scripture when we apply it to cope with the emotional pain that we experience.
My own experience includes success in dealing with anxiety and depression using Scripture alone. I could not have learned this had I been on psychotropic medication.
That doesn't mean I didn't try this approach.
I remember when I tried it: All of a sudden, there was no reason to study the Bible anymore. It became the medication's job to take care of my emotions. When I related this experience to a client who was still taking psychotropic drugs for depression, he assented that this was his experience as well: "Exactly, you're right," he said, "It's the Scripture's job when you don't take medication."
In case you're wondering how well these medications work, I'll give you another quote from this same client: "I'm tired of changing medications and being disappointed."
As for myself, I hated the side effects of the medications—even when they did work.
As a general rule, it is a big mistake for Christians to be taking psychotropic medications.
Jesus needed suffering in order to learn how to apply Scripture to cope with emotional pain. And not be defeated by it. The same is true for us.
But there is a silver lining. The Bible states: “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free (John 8:31-32 NKJV).”
1 Walvoord, John F. & Zuck, Roy B., The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures by Dallas Seminary Faculty Old Testament, (Colorado Springs: Chariot Victor Publishing, 1985) 1107.
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