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Mental Health Ministries e-Spotlight – Winter 2013
The New Year – A Time of New Beginnings
Every Day is a New Beginning
January 1 became generally recognized as New Year’s Day in the 1500’s when the
Gregorian calendar was introduced. It became a holy day in the Christian community
and initially parties were not allowed on this day. Other cultures and faiths celebrate the
“new year” on different dates. The Jewish New Year, Rosh Hashanah, is celebrated in
late September or early October and concludes with Yom Kippur, the most important day
of the Jewish calendar. Muslims celebrate the New Year (Amon Jadid) during Muharram,
the first month of Hijrah. The Chinese have used the lunar calendar for 4000 years.
While different cultures and faiths celebrate the “new year” at different times of the year,
they all mean starting over and looking toward the new. A theme shared by these major
faith traditions is the retelling of their “story,” a time to examine one’s personal life
including relationships with family and friends and a time to make amends and seek to
reconcile differences.
Brochure: Transforming Psychological Trauma: How Faith Communities
Can Respond
We are still a nation in mourning following the tragic shootings at Sandy Hook
Elementary School. Houses of worship opened their doors and became sanctuaries for
persons who needed to pray, to grieve and to find comfort. Even President Barack
Obama brushed away tears as he spoke the day of the shooting. In his struggle for
composure, he joined the rest of us, stunned and sorrowed by the news. Like Job, we
struggle with why this happened and what God has to do with suffering. News
commentators filled the airtime with speculations on the motives of the shooter.
Hopefully this will result in awareness and accessibility to help for all kinds of brain
disorders.
We also watched the devastating results of Hurricane Sandy and the ongoing after
effects that continue in the devastated communities. Again people came together for
comfort and support and many people of faith asked “why.” There are no easy answers
to why we suffer. But I believe God is with us in the midst of our despair. God is
present with us in the midst of our suffering. God is present when people come together
to share their grief. God is present when we offer the “ministry of presence” to just “be”
with someone in pain rather than trying to offer answers. God is present when people
are moved to reach out to others in acts of kindness.
Mental Health Ministries has a brochure to address the psychological effects of trauma,
Transforming Psychological Trauma: How Faith Communities Can Promote Healing. This
brochure helps congregations recognize symptoms and provide support to person dealing
with psychological trauma from interpersonal events and other traumatic events like
natural disasters, traumatic events like Sandy Hook and the other senseless shootings as
well as the effects of war. I hope it can be used as a way to begin a discussion about
how faith communities can support those who have experienced trauma of all kinds. It
is available at
http://www.mentalhealthministries.net/links_resources/brochures/trauma_ptsd.pdf
We also have a video, Out of the Ashes: Transforming Trauma, based on the experience
of a member of the Mental Health Ministries Advisory Committee who lost her home to
one of the devastating fire storms in San Diego.
Click here to view the video, Out of the Ashes: Transforming Trauma.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cngubLeFfBU
Article: Losing Faith, Finding Hope: A Journey with Depression
As we all continue to reflect on the events at Sandy Hook Elementary School in
Newtown, CT, issues of mental health and access to care are coming into national
conversations. Rev. Monica Coleman writes and speaks about faith and depression. Her
most recent article written for The Huffington Post is available at “Losing Faith, Finding
Hope: a Journey with Depression.”
Mental Health and Faith
A scholar and activist, Monica A. Coleman is committed to connecting faith and social
justice. An ordained elder in the African Methodist Episcopal Church, Coleman has
earned degrees at Harvard University, Vanderbilt University and Claremont Graduate
University. Coleman is currently Associate Professor of Constructive Theology and African
American Religions and Co-Director of the Center for Process Studies at Claremont
School of Theology in southern California. She is also Associate Professor of Religion at
Claremont Graduate University.
Coleman’s writings focus on the role of faith in addressing critical social issues. In her
most recent book, Not Alone: Reflections on Faith and Depression, Coleman offers a 40day devotional wrestling with depression in a spiritual context. For more information on
Rev. Coleman’s work and writings, visit her website at http://monicaacoleman.com/
Not Alone: Reflections on Faith and Depression
by Monica A Coleman
Public Access TV Shows: Mental Health Matters
Rev. Barbara Meyers, a Unitarian Universalist pastor, has produced a monthly show on
mental health issues called “Mental Health Matters.” It is shown on cable television and
individual shows can be purchased. All are available online. Congregations have used
the programs, augmented with local speakers, for an adult religious education offering
focused on mental health. Suggested questions for discussion and resources for further
information are found on-line accompanying each show.
Below is a note from Barbara describing some of her work and providing permission for
faith communities and others to access and use these shows.
I'm delighted to announce I am now producing a new series of short YouTube-based videos Stories
of Recovery featuring real, honest, and inspirational stories of mental health recovery - all told from
consumers or family members themselves, and each told in just 5-7 minutes. Once per month,
viewers will learn how a different person has defied the odds and thrived in spite of mental health
challenges.
In the video series debut, renowned advocate Jay Mahler shares his decades-long relationship with
the mental health system. Hear about his first encounter with treatment and how that experience
catalyzed a lifelong commitment to consumer rights activism. Here is the link:
http://www.mpuuc.org/mentalhealth/mentalVJayM.html
Archive: If you want to see any previous episodes of this show, go to:
http://www.mpuuc.org/mentalhealth/mentalVideos.html
You have my permission to copy this notice to others in your agency or congregation who may find
it useful.
Rev. Barbara F. Meyers
Community Minister
www.mpuuc.org/mentalhealth
Crossroads: Ten Articles on Religion, Spirituality and Depression
A special issue (Sept 2012) of the peer-review journal Depression Research and
Treatment includes 10 articles on religion, spirituality and depression: an editorial, a
review article, and eight articles (seven original data-based reports) on this topic.
Research and articles are a publication of the Duke Center for Spirituality, Theology &
Health.
Being an open-access journal, all papers are downloadable as PDF files for free. I
encourage you to subscribe to Crossroads as they often have excellent articles related to
spirituality and health. To view the articles as a group, go to our website at:
http://www.spiritualityandhealth.duke.edu/publications/research-publications.html
To view a specific article, use the links below.
1. Religious and spiritual factors in depression: review and integration of the research (by the editors)
2. Does death of a family member moderate the relationship between religious attendance and depressive
symptoms? The HUNT Study, Norway (Sorensen et al)
3. Late life depressive symptoms, religiousness, and mood in the last week of life (Braam et al)
4. Prospective associations between religiousness/spirituality and depression and mediating effects of
forgiveness in a nationally representative sample of United States adults (Tousaint et al)
5. Influence of spirituality on depression, PTSD, and suicidality in active duty military personnel (Hourani et
al)
6. Longitudinal relationships of religion with post-treatment depression severity in older psychiatric patients:
Evidence of direct and indirect effects (Hayward)
7. A pilot survey of clergy regarding mental health care for children (Blalock & Dew)
8. Spiritually integrated treatment of depression: A conceptual framework (Peteet)
9. Religious vs. conventional psychotherapy for major depression in patients with chronic medical illness:
Rationale, methods, and preliminary results (Koenig).
Permission to Use Mental Health Ministries Resources
I get many requests to use the Mental Health Ministries in some way. I appreciate that
these people respect and acknowledge copyright issues as it is common to “borrow”
material from others. You do not need permission to use the Mental Health Ministries
resources for nonprofit educational activities. Our mission is to provide a wide variety of
resources for you to use in your setting. It is a gift when you share how the resources
were used and the response. I may ask some of you to share your ideas in the Models
of Ministry section on our website. And feel free to pass on our Spotlight e-newsletter to
others.
Mental Health Ministries You Tube Clips
In addition to using our print resources, our hope is that you will find our 14 You Tube
video clips helpful in your work. We hope to produce two more shows this year…one on
suicide and another on the challenges of caring for an adult child with a mental illness.
If you are interested in helping to sponsor one of these shows, contact me at
[email protected].
Interfaith Intro
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OejDMSVDPS0
Coming Out of the Dark Intro
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9w0602fuNto
Teenage Depression and Suicide
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NDImUMPGV5U
Overcoming Stigma Finding Hope
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HVhnL0rp1jY
Understanding Depression
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sz5szf6uRyY
Addiction and Depression
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lXpM6BdagjM
Creating Caring Congregations
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CMbj5K2Du4s
Mental Illness and Families of Faith
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7vwvHB9deXU
Jewish Families of Faith
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=js0MbIknaRc
Out of the Ashes: Transforming Trauma
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cngubLeFfBU
Mental Illness and Older Adults
http://youtu.be/pccmWjdLNSY
Gifts of the Shadow
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m3E5jh1VvoY
PTSD: Healing and Hope
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yP08jh6LK48&list=UUdfNQPK00uznkHP1Sq8w_Ew&index=1&f
eature=plcp
For Better or Worse: A Couple’s Journey with Mental Illness
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SxTDTqo0qS4&feature=channel&list=UL
DVD from Mental Health Ministries: Creating Caring Congregations
The sharing of personal stories and experiences provides a way to give voice to those
who have suffered in silence, and allows churches to begin the process of reaching out
and providing compassionate care to those affected by disorders of the brain. A
Discussion Guide is included that provides a brief overview of each segment and some
questions to help generate discussion among group members.
Click here for more information about this resource or to purchase.
Mental Health Ministries on Facebook
You are invited to visit Mental Health Ministries on Facebook.
Mental Health Ministries in now on Facebook
Snippets from Susan
The Future Comes One Day at a Time
By now many of you have seen the excellent movie, Lincoln. While the movie only
covers the last few months of Lincoln’s life, Daniel Day-Lewis’ thoughtful portrait of
Abraham Lincoln gives a glimpse of how his political strengths were rooted in his most
personal struggles.
I recommend Joshua Wolf Shenk’s book, Lincoln’s Melancholy: How Depression
Challenged a President and Fueled His Greatness, because it gives insight into Abraham
Lincoln as a man who suffered greatly because of his depression. We know Lincoln as
the emancipator of slaves and as the man who held our country together in its darkest
hour. But few of us know the full extent of his depression, his suicidal ideations and how
he lived with a tortured mind.
Yet it was Lincoln’s creative use of his personal suffering, his perseverance, his sense of
humor, his desire to help others, and his friends who stood by him in his emotional pain
to remind him that he was not alone, that allowed him to achieve greatness. He was
also a man of religious faith and Shenk’s book shares how these beliefs allowed Lincoln
to use his faith as a source of comfort and hope.
People often think that those of us who live with a chronic mental illness are unable to
function. Lincoln modeled one way to live in that tension between accepting and living
with his illness while losing himself in service to others. Lincoln’s dedication to his work
kept him going even though he felt he was a personal failure. By holding together his
emotional turmoil and his dedication to his work for others, he was also able to hold
together a hurting country. Shenk writes, “The hope is not that the suffering will go
away, for with Lincoln it did not go away. The hope is that suffering, acknowledged and
endured, can fit us for the surprising challenges that await.”
Sometimes circumstances in life can feel overwhelming. I hope we can begin the New
Year remembering Lincoln’s words, “The best thing about the future is that it
comes only one day at a time.”
Rev. Susan Gregg-Schroeder
Coordinator of Mental Health Ministries
www.MentalHealthMinistries.net
NAMI National FaithNet Advisory Group
www.nami.org/namifaithnet
6707 Monte Verde Dr.
San Diego, CA 92119
[email protected]