In my day job, I work as a professional development trainer, teaching people about trauma-informed care and ACEs and resilience, among other things. I teach professionals how to understand and better support people who have experienced traumatic events. I love it. I love to teach, and I love to talk about trauma. It's a passion of mine.
Since I started seminary, I've been asking myself how I might combine the work and studies I've done around trauma with my other passion - a passion for apologetics and for the Church. Seminary may lead to a pastoral title, but mostly I want to use my degree to teach and to write. I want to encourage those who have walked away from the Church that their faith is worth fighting for. That Jesus is worth fighting for. I want to help Christians be less afraid of social justice movements. I want to help Christians see we should be at the frontlines of social issues like poverty, immigration, racism and sexism, and protecting children, rather than standing on the other side with our protest signs.
Mental illness and trauma could be seen as another social justice issue. We lose nearly 2 million people a year in this country to suicide. Nearly 1 in 5 adults live with a mental illness in any given year. Depression is the number one reason why people go on disability leave from work. It is a multi-billion-dollar problem, and a lot of mental illness ties directly back to trauma.
Out of curiosity, I did a search to look into books or other resources on trauma and faith. What I found was incredibly discouraging.
I mentioned once before how I attended a church here locally last year where the pastor during his sermons said from the pulpit that no Christian should be seeing a psychiatrist or a "secular" therapist. Christians who felt depressed needed only to read their Bible more and pray. This is a fallacy in thinking that has failed many. After all, we don't tell someone with Stage 4 cancer or diabetes or heart disease to merely "read their Bible more and pray". We are okay with them going to doctors and receiving medicine and treatments while they are reading and praying. In fact, in the best Christian communities, we surround them with support and meal trains and prayer.
Why can't we do the same for those struggling with mental illness?
There are plenty of Christian counseling books to help people with relationship issues, general life stress, or grief and loss. Christian counseling books related to trauma are often focused on forgiveness, reconciliation, and/or how becoming a better Christian will help you get through it. Very few deal with mental illness as a real illness nor those who struggle with the long-lasting negative impact of trauma.
Many of the resources I looked up either ignored or discredited the science of trauma altogether (fits with the Christian worldview fear of science). One article in particular on a well-known website, stated the trauma research we have comes out of evolutionary science, and therefore must be discounted entirely. They based this statement on the fight-flight-freeze response to trauma, which some psychologists have stated comes from the "reptilian" or oldest part of the brain, a part of the brain which evolved to keep us safe from predators. Because of that one idea, the author concluded all science about trauma needed to be discarded.
As someone who has studied trauma and has worked with trauma survivors for nearly fifteen years, as someone who has read hundreds of books and articles but furthermore has seen the research play out in individuals, I must disagree. The science of trauma can teach us a lot about how the body responds to high levels of stress and life-threatening situations, and what we can do about it in order to support those who have been through it.
It kind of made me angry to see how many Christian resources out there for trauma survivors echoed this article's sentiments, if not directly then indirectly, encouraging spiritual practices to combat PTSD and depression and anxiety and the like, without also encouraging modern medicinal approaches or therapy or other ways of managing symptoms.
All because of a fear of science?
Science is merely the study of the physical and natural world. A world God created. Science helps us understand the world better. I think science is fascinating. The more I learn, the more I am amazed at God's creativity and intelligence. A lot of scientists believe in God - they see Him in the work they do. Merely because some use science to justify their denial of God is not a reason to throw all science out, like the baby with the bathwater. Science can point us to God, if we allow it to.
If we believe in a literal Genesis 1-11, with a literal Adam and Eve in the garden, then we believe everything was at first peaceful for them. They had no need to fear anything in the Garden of Eden. However, when they had to leave the Garden, life was suddenly unsafe. There were predatory animals, unpredictable climates, anger and murder within their fellow human beings. It must have been terrifying. It would make logical sense part of the brain "evolved", or adapted, if you prefer, to keep them safe from these dangers. Or perhaps, that part of their brain was always there, since God fore-knew what would happen - it was only then activated. Either way, that change or activation would have been passed down genetically to their offspring.
Genetics is another subject which I find completely enthralling. Even just looking at my kids - who came from the same two parents, and yet are so different from one another. Who have a few things from me, a few from my husband, a few from an aunt or uncle or grandparent, and other things that are uniquely theirs. Even looking in the mirror I see genetics at work - I came from two blue eyed, left-handed parents, yet I am green-eyed (inherited from my great-grandmother, apparently) and right-handed. I have the texture of my dad's hair but the color of my mom's hair when she was young.
Strange thing.
Studies in genetics, and especially epigenetics, are now showing us how trauma can be passed down through generations, too. Trauma can physically alter our brain chemistry, our immune systems, and even our genes - not the genes themselves, perhaps, but how those genes are expressed or turned off and on. This is important, and we should be paying attention.
I have decided to at some point to write a book on the balance between the science of trauma and faith. I believe the two can go hand in hand. I believe they must, if we truly want to support those who are struggling.
Here's what I find most interesting about the science of trauma. Over and over again, those studying trauma, the effects of trauma, and how people become resilient or experience post-traumatic growth, are discovering a few key takeaways. One, the most central protective factor to helping people overcome traumatic events is supportive relationships. Two, resilience is often associated with faith and spirituality. Three, the people most likely to experience post-traumatic growth are those who have a sense of purpose and hope for the future.
Do you see? These are all things the Church could do! The Church could be the supportive relationship people need to overcome trauma. The Church could be a place that helps people grow in their faith and spiritual practice. The church could give people a sense of purpose and hope for the future. The Church could come alongside those who are suffering from mental illness or trauma-symptoms, make sure they get the help they need from the professionals, and give them the full support of the faith community as well.
Ultimately, even science is saying - people need God. People need the community of God.
Not a community who will judge them and shame them for suffering from depression or trauma-symptoms (or diabetes or cancer). A community who will welcome and accept and support them where they are. A community who is willing to admit that we all struggle. A community committed to doing good, as well as committed to avoiding doing harm.
This is the Church our culture, our country, needs.
And it starts with me and you.
Add comment
Comments