Faiths panel discusses mental health
Depressed: the Home Secretary, Theresa May, refused a
request from US investigators, on Tuesday, for Gary McKinnon, a
computer hacker (above), to be extradited. Mrs
May told the House of Commons that, "There is. . . no doubt that he
is seriously ill. He has Asperger's syndrome and suffers from
depressive illness. . . I have concluded that Mr McKinnon's
extradition would give rise to such a high risk of him ending his
life that a decision to extradite would be incompatible with Mr
McKinnon's human rights." Mr McKinnon's MP, David Burrowes, who is
Parliamentary chairman of the Conservative Christian Fellowship,
praised the "compassionate" decision
Credit: PA
Depressed: the Home Secretary, Theresa May, refused a
request from US investigators, on Tuesday, for Gary McKinnon, a
computer hacker (above), to be extradited. Mrs
May told the House of Commons that, "There is. . . no doubt that he
is seriously ill. He has Asperger's syndrome and suffers from
depressive illness. . . I have concluded that Mr McKinnon's
extradition would give rise to such a high risk of him ending his
life that a decision to extradite would be incompatible with Mr
McKinnon's human rights." Mr McKinnon's MP, David Burrowes, who is
Parliamentary chairman of the Conservative Christian Fellowship,
praised the "compassionate" decision
DENIAL, nervous laughter, and "thinly veiled contempt" were ways
in which people revealed that they felt threatened and
uncomfortable when confronted with mental ill-health, the
Archbishop of Canterbury said this week. But the Bible provided
examples of people who had experienced depression, including Job
and Jeremiah; and Jesus himself had "sweated blood".
Addressing a conference held in Lambeth Palace on Wednesday to
explore how religious communities could work to reduce the stigma
and discrimination associated with mental illness, Dr Williams said
that, while "massive legal discrimation" might not exist in the UK,
people experiencing mental ill-health continued to face "massive
prejudice and a failure, sometimes refusal, to understand".
A 2011 survey of 2770 people conducted by Time to Change, a
programme run by Mind and Rethink Mental Illness, and funded by the
Department of Health and Comic Relief, which seeks to end the
stigma and discrimination faced by people with mental-health
problems, found that 60 per cent of respondents said that the
stigma that they faced could be as bad as, or even worse than, the
mental illness. Twenty-seven per cent said that stigma and
discrimination had made them want to give up on life.
Dr Williams, who admitted that two of his godchildren had "faced
very serious mental-health issues" in recent years, said that
simplistic claims that those with a faith enjoyed better mental
health were "an unhelpful take on the question, as if mental health
was just something which you could have with the right ingredient
mix".
People in faith communities "face the challenges of mental
health just as much as others do"; and people of faith had "the
profoundest possible obligation to show our faith in all those who
are part of our community", including those with mental-health
problems. "If people of faith are not able to say 'Don't be
afraid,' then who is?"
The conference heard from a panel of speakers: the Care Services
Minister, Norman Lamb MP; Bhai Sahib Mohinder Singh, a Sikh leader;
and Imam Abdul Qaiyum of the East London Mosque. Bryony Bratchell,
a 19-year-old diagnosed last year with bipolar disorder, said that
"attitudes have been the biggest barrier I have had to face." She
now works with Time to Change.
Bhai Sahib Mohinder Singh suggested that it was important to
have "more faith in faith" (he had never been to the doctor with
his own mental-health problems). Imam Abdul Qaiyum emphasised that
those suffering from mental ill-health should not be blamed, but
treated with compassion. "This is a test for us. . . . How do we
help them?"
Panel: left to right: Bhai Sahib Mohinder Singh, Iman Abdul
Qaiyum, Sue Baker, Bryony Bratchell, Norman Lamb MP
Credit: LAMBETH PALACE
Panel: left to right: Bhai Sahib Mohinder Singh, Iman Abdul
Qaiyum, Sue Baker, Bryony Bratchell, Norman Lamb MP
The director of Time to Change, Sue Baker, said that having a
strong faith, which could give "purpose and meaning", was
"well-known to support health and well-being". She also spoke about
a programme with the South Asian community in Harrow, where mental
ill-health could be seen as damaging to marriage prospects and was
a source of "shame" in families. This perpetuated a "cycle of
silence". Volunteers who had experienced mental ill-health had been
recruited to speak about it, and local faith leaders had been
engaged in an education process.
"There is a very fine line between saying faith is very
important to well-being. . . But the other side of that is that, if
faith leaders do not understand mental-health issues, and attach
blame to people when they experience them, then that is going to
undermine people's ability to cope," she said.
After addressing the event, Dr Williams said that it was
"absolute nonsense" to suggest that the Bible said that believers
did not get depressed. He spoke of Job, Jeremiah, and Jesus. It was
"very dangerous if you give the message that you have to be
cheerful". Seeking medical help for mental-health problems was "not
inconsistent with prayer". Christians always assumed that prayer is
part of healing, but people found help through many avenues, "not
least through professionals that know about these kinds of
issues".
Letter