A Call to Action

I am often asked by pastors and people of faith if mental illness occurs at the same rates in the church as it does outside the church. An estimated 26.2% of Americans (57.7 million people) ages eighteen and older (one in four adults) suffer from a diagnosable mental disorder in a given year. In our most recent study of mental illness and the church we found that in a sample of 5,899 congregants, representing 24 different protestant churches, 27.1% reported that they or a member of their family suffered with a mental illness during the previous year. Clearly, mental illness is occurring at the same rates both inside and outside the church.

Those families struggling with mental illness also reported that they had significantly greater relational conflict, more financial problems and increased difficulty connecting with both God and the church when compared to families who did not deal with mental illness in the previous year. A quarter of our families in the church are struggling to survive on a daily basis. It’s time that the church stopped abdicating its role in mental health and started leading.