Under stress on the cross

THIS month, we will hear again the biblical accounts of the Crucifixion, and the days leading up to it.

We will hear of Jesus weeping over Jerusalem, and exhibiting sadness and anguish in the Garden of Gethsemane. We will see him showing uncharacteristic, arguably disproportionate anger in cursing a blameless fig tree, and being borderline violent in driving the money changers from the Temple.

Is it offensive or upsetting to suggest that this is the behaviour of a human being under great stress (with good cause, I might add, given what’s to come)?

After all, the signs and symptoms of stress (as listed by the mental health charity Mind) include feeling a sense of dread, being depressed, and being irritable, angry or impatient.

This is not a new proposal. In 2011 the Church of England published a service for World Mental Health Day which suggested that not only Jesus but other biblical figures, including St Paul, John the Baptist and King Saul, may have struggled with mental health conditions.

The resources were written by the Rev Eva McIntyre, an Anglican vicar (since retired) with her own experience of mental health problems. Pointing out that at one stage even Jesus’ family worried he was ‘out of his mind’ (Mark 3:21), she wrote: “Some may find these suggestions disturbing or offensive even.

“Perhaps we need to ask why it would be so terrible to think that some of our most inspirational forebears might have experienced mental health illness.

“Do we mistakenly believe that God cannot or will not work through people with mental health illness?

“Do we think that mental illness is one condition that makes people less able to do God’s work, more unlikely to be able to articulate spiritual truth, and unable to participate meaningfully in worship?”

It has long been known that at least one in four people in the UK seek help from their GP for a mental health problem once in their lives, while one study showed that 10% of people in Scotland had two or more symptoms of depression and anxiety in 2012-13. People living in deprived areas are at twice the risk of those in the most affluent areas.

And it is worse among young people. Research shows that around one in ten people aged 5-16 in Scotland have a clinically diagnosable mental health problem, and 20% of adolescents may experience such a problem in any given year. Again, living in a deprived area puts you at greater risk.

However, the Scottish Children’s Services Coalition warns that these figures are out of date and fail to take into consideration the Covid-19 pandemic and cost of living crisis, both of which have made the situation worse. Meanwhile, mental health services are struggling. In Scotland, the latest figures at time of writing showed that the proportion of people starting psychological therapy within 18 weeks of referral had dropped from 87% in 2021 to 80% last year (the target is 90%). A Care Inspectorate report released in December showed that the waiting list for Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services in the Highland region is three years.

Despite all this, and growing awareness of mental health issues, the Scottish charity See Me reports that more than half people with mental health conditions experience stigma and discrimination. Despite all the hashtags and campaigns, it is still difficult to persuade the traditionally hard-to-reach groups – in general, older people and men – to open up about their struggles.

This can also be a problem among faith groups. In 2011 the Church and Society Council produced a report on mental health in the church which stated: “There is… a lot of ‘spiritual stigma’ attached to mental health: churches in general are not seen as being good at addressing mental health issues. There is a perception of Christianity among some which perpetuates a pressure to appear ‘fine’: a sense that if you reveal your mental health issue, your faith is judged, because as Christians we should be relying on God…

“Mental health impacts on all aspects of life, including our social status, our employment status, our relationships with those round about us and on our status within the church. One of the best ways of dealing with mental health issues is through healthy relationships: our churches should surely be a place where everybody can be sure of having someone to listen, somebody who cares.”

Working with Dr Rob Waller of the Mind and Soul Foundation, a charity which works with churches on issues of mental health, they produced a list of attributes for ‘mental health friendly churches’, which include people with difficulties feeling they ‘belong’ and are able to take part in church activities; the church having a named individual or team to ‘champion’ health issues; information being available to people in different formats for varying needs; and ‘the culture/ethos of the church is one of an on-going journey of valuing all, addressing their needs and enabling them to use their gifts and contribute’.

“ Mental health impacts on all aspects of life, including our social status, our employment status, our relationships with those round about us and on our status within the church.

The Very Rev Dr Martin Fair made mental health one of the themes of his year as Moderator, which coincided with most of the first year of the Covid-19 crisis. He called on churches and communities to ‘look out for one another’ as mental health problems mounted.

He wrote: “There’s nothing new about it; it’s been with us for far too long. Way back, the writer of the Old Testament Psalms clearly knew the struggle from the inside, causing him to cry out in despair, ‘darkness is my only friend’ (Psalm 88:18b)…

“When communities are functioning properly then a vital layer of support is readily available to all of us. No, not necessarily specialist, professional intervention (although we must ask politicians to continue to look for ways to secure more funding for that) but neighbours whose doors sit ajar, friends who pick up the phone night or day – people looking out for one another as we go through life together.”

Whatever you think of the proposition that Jesus or other biblical figures may have suffered mental health problems themselves, Christians can return to the hope offered by His life, death and resurrection. Dr Fair wrote: “The Psalm writer might have felt as if darkness was his only friend. But later in the Bible we hear of the One who came as the Light of the World (John 8:12.) Wouldn’t it be a step forward if we each opened ourselves to that light then allowed it to flow through us and there to illuminate the way for those around us?”

And Dr Waller, in an Easter reflection for the Mind and Soul Foundation, said: “We can learn many pastoral lessons from the ‘immanence’ [the immediacy] of Jesus – the way he became flesh, became fully man. He knows our struggles and temptations… At this time of year especially, it is good to remember the journey of Jesus... He shows that ups and downs are part of life – but also that it all ends with everything coming together.”