I am a chaplain in a psychiatric hospital, who ministers to people with all types of mental illness, including depression. I have been reading the letters to the editor in response to the February article, Breaking The Silence, and felt compelled to add my thoughts. It is unfortunate that your readers, as well as clergy and church members I have spoken to, are focusing on the pressures of the ministry as the cause of depression. Actually, clinical depression is not caused by the stresses of life, whatever they may be. If this were the case, most of us would be clinically depressed. Depression is caused by a biological imbalance in the brain, which may be hereditary, and may leave the person vulnerable to the illness. It may or may not be exacerbated by a painful life event or an ongoing stressor in the person’s life. Clinical depression therefore is primarily a mood disorder of the brain, which affects ten per cent of the population at any given time. One in five people have some form of mental illness in Canada. With treatment, either with medication or cognitive behavioural therapy or a combination of both, most people are able to recover and function well again.
I am well-acquainted with the challenges of congregational ministry, the long hours, being on-call 24/7, and church conflict. However, ministers need to set boundaries with their congregation, practice good self-care (mentally, physically and relationally), and take care of their own spirits. Ministers are not super-human, they are frail human beings with vulnerabilities like the people in the pews. We all need to seek medical treatment if we experience symptoms of depression which lasts longer than a few weeks, just the same as if we were diagnosed with heart disease or diabetes. Thankfully, medical treatment from a physician is covered by our provincial health plans.
Let’s not confuse clinical depression with the inability of some ministers to honour their calling to Word and Sacrament by trying to meet all the expectations of those among whom they serve. There’s no room for playing the blame game when it comes to someone who suffers from a mental illness.
The real question is: Are churches understanding and accepting of the minister who becomes mentally ill? Do they offer him or her the same support as they would hope to receive themselves when they become ill?
