Approaching Mental Illness from a Catholic Perspective

There was a time in history, biblical and otherwise, that those who exhibited signs of mental illness were considered to be possessed by evil. One example that I clearly remember was how the Church and society in general looked upon suicide. As a result, those who had taken their lives were refused a Catholic funeral. I remember a woman in our neighborhood when I was a child who chose death over life, and out of ignorance for the illness that was hers, people looked upon her family with a sense of shame.

Sadly, mental illness has touched many of our families. Most of us do not have the tools to help them, and in our frustration we give up. I had an aunt and a grandmother who both suffered from manic depression. People would alienate them, put them away in asylums, wash their hands of the sickness with which they suffered.

One of my closest priest friends, in fact my mentor in the seminary, took his life, which he claimed was due to his depression. It’s not all about suicide though. Many people suffer from depression and anxiety, and any number of mental health issues that prevent them from functioning normally.

Reading the Scriptures, I am often touched by the tremendous affinity that Jesus had for those who were sick: physically, spiritually, and mentally. He approached such people with love, He laid hands on them, He drove out demons from them, He was absent of any fear in their presence. When I read these encounters I immediately become self-reflective of how I treat those with mental illness. Sometimes, even with the best of medical care, total relief is often a distance from them. I have to ask myself if this is the way to treat those, through no fault of their own, to suffer needlessly.

There is a page on Facebook called “Remembering Port Richmond.” Port Richmond is the neighborhood in Philadelphia where I grew up. And while most of the postings are photos of buildings, churches and schools, occasionally someone will post something about one of the “characters” who lived in our neighborhood. A couple of weeks ago, someone wrote about a man named, “Gussie.” He was an innocent man who exhibited signs of being, well, of being “off.” And while he had not one evil bone in his body, and was loved by his neighbors, he was also teased or shunned by many people. He had a mental illness, we believed, that prevented him from living what most of us who call a “normal life,” and he was treated that way by many.

The point of all this is that when the discussion of mental illness surfaces, we, as disciples of Christ should always and immediately ask ourselves the question about who they encountered when they encountered us. Are we like Jesus to them? Do they benefit from our love, our prayers, our gentleness, our understanding when it is a challenge to do so?

I invite you to search the Scriptures, the Gospels in particular, and read those passages where the mentally challenged encountered the Lord, and then ask ourselves what these same people see and hear when they encounter us. Is it Jesus they see?