From Brandon Cox in CHURCHLEADERS:
It’s inevitable. If you’re in ministry long at all, you will absolutely find yourself ministering to people who struggle with mental health issues. And rather than there being clear boundaries between the mental and spiritual parts of us, we are, instead, whole beings. We think thoughts. We feel emotions. We make decisions. Our bodies and our brains are made of matter and exist in a real, physical dimension. And it all relates. It all overlaps. The church can encourage mental health. More Here
The statistics are startling. Between 2007 and 2019, adolescents reporting a major depressive episode increased 60 percent. Tragically, during a similar time frame, the suicide death rate among 10–24 year olds increased 56 percent. This issue isn’t confined to young people. In 2020, anxiety and depression increased globally by 25 percent. Depression and anxiety rates exploded so rapidly that, at the end of 2021, the U.S. Surgeon General declared a “devastating” national mental health crisis. More From Abilene Christian University Here