A conversation I had with a college student has been bothering me for the last couple of weeks. My interaction was indicative of the challenges churches will need to overcome if they are to truly become effective at welcoming and ministering with teens and young adults with mental health concerns. I have the patient's permission to share their story - some non-essential details have been changed to protect confidentiality.
This is a kid who has struggled for years with ADHD and anxiety and most recently experienced an episode of depression. She reported some improvement in her depression after initiating treatment at the end of last school year and was checking in at my request while home for a long weekend from her Christian college in the Midwest.
I was asking her a series of questions to assess whether her depression was an issue for her this school year. She told me that she'd found a circle of friends and that she was getting out at least once a week. They'd go out to dinner or check out musician friends performing near her school. I asked her if she'd joined any organizations or connected with a small group or Bible study, either on campus or at the church she attends while at school. She told me a number of her friends were involved with the LGBTQ organization on campus. That wasn't a fit for her because she's straight. As for becoming more involved at church, here's what she said...
"I'm afraid that the church people won't accept someone with my mental health issues. My LGBTQ friends are accustomed to feeling like outsiders. They seem more willing to accept me when I'm struggling."
This is a kid from a family who did pretty much everything Christian families are supposed to do to pass their faith down to the next generation. Her parents took her to church every week while she was growing up. She went on a mission trip. Her older sister was very involved with the campus ministry when she attended college in a different part of the country. She wasn't very involved with her church's high school ministry for a variety of reasons - her extracurricular activities and schoolwork took up a great deal of time, cliques were an issue in her youth group and she wasn't sure how to deal with unwanted attention from a boy at church. I'm sure it bothers her parents that she's not more involved with the ministries that operate on her campus.
I've written before about the importance of changing perceptions regarding the church's receptiveness to persons with mental illness. One of the most striking findings from Lifeway's study of Mental Illness and the Church was that a majority of adults who don't regularly attend worship services believed that persons with mental illness wouldn't be welcome at church. But 21% of weekly churchgoersdisagreed with the statement that most churches would welcome them if they had mental health issues.
One kid's experience isn't necessarily indicative of a larger trend. But it's still incredibly sad when a kid raised in the church who is working through some mental health issues avoids getting connected with Christian community in a new town because of fears she won't be accepted.
We have a lot of work to do.
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