Personal and historical observations of mental illness from a Christian perspective.
If one reads the Gospels and analyzes the healings that Jesus did, approximately a third classify today as some form of mental illness. That was a large part of His ministry.
If anything, the copious narratives that resemble mental illness 2000 years ago are similar in percentage to the overall health of humanity today. The Canadian Mental Health Association has calculated that 21.3% of Canadians will have a mental health issue in their lifetime.1 It is an essential topic for the Christian community to address.
What exactly is mental illness and how to deal with it within a Christian framework is difficult to answer. Some say it is a demon, others that it is a biological problem, and most ignore the subject. A vast majority of ministers refer the mentally ill to skilled practitioners.