Imagine with me for a moment that for the past few months you have been struggling with sleep. It seems to be inconsistent, sometimes you just want to sleep all the time. Other times you seem to barely get any sleep. Additionally, you feel like you lack the motivation to do anything. You don’t have energy to go out with people, and yet you hate sitting home alone doing nothing. Your appetite feels off and you aren’t very hungry. You’ve been losing weight as a result. You feel a degree of sadness but for no particular reason that you can pinpoint. Your life is NOT enjoyable whatever it is. You feel a measure of guilt for all of this at times and in general don’t feel like you’re going anywhere in life.

Someone tells you to make an appointment with your primary care provided, a medical doctor, and you take them up on it. After a series of questions from the doctor, they recommend you to a Psychiatrist for treatment since you are showing signs of depression (or they may even issue you the prescription without seeing the psychiatrist). Either way you leave with a prescription for Zoloft or Lexapro in hopes of treating this illness.

What might that practitioner be thinking as you spoke with them or after you left?

Here’s an excerpt of one psychiatrist’s very honest and surprising admission: “…despite my training at Harvard’s Massachusetts General Hospital, I have no idea how Lexapro works to relieve depression, nor does any other psychiatrist…the term “chemical imbalance” is commonly used by laypeople as a shorthand explanation for mental illness.  It is a convenient myth because it destigmatizes their condition…Psychiatrists go along with his shorthand, because it gives us something to say when patients ask us questions about pathophysiology.  After all, no doctor wants to admit ignorance about the very problems he or she is trained to manage.” 

In the first 3 parts of this series, we saw some shocking admissions from leading practitioners in the industry of psychology and psychiatry. Truly, the term “mental illness” may not be as clear as we think nor are the treatments for it backed by genuine hard science, as much as many would like it to be and give the impression that it is.

In this last part of this mini-series, you will find the rest of the statement above from psychiatrist Dr. Daniel Carlat, with additional surprising details. Check it out:

The Spiritual Nature Of Mental Illness

At the end, you will be challenged to consider that there is truly only 1 Person who can offer rest for a troubled soul, and there’s 1 Person who knows the unknown. We’d love to introduce you to Him and help you to see the treasure trove of wisdom, knowledge, and hope that the Scriptures alone can offer. Reach out to us at the Biblical Counseling Center of Maui for more information.

Ministries
Biblical Counseling Center of Maui