How This Mental Health Advocate Pushes For The Faith Community To Be Knowledgeable On How to Address Mental Health Issues
The stigma surrounding mental health has created significant barriers among faith-based communities. Some view mental health issues in the faith-based community as indications of sin, demonic activity, God’s wrath, or a lack of faith. This leads to some people avoiding seeking help, ignoring professional advice, feeling ashamed, or abandoning the faith altogether. For this reason, faith-based mental health advocate D’Andrea Bolden, founder and director of Faith + Mental Health, believes it’s important to keep advocating, educating, and sharing about mental health.
D’Andrea shares how God uses her to disrupt the stigma around mental health in the faith-based community. “The Lord is allowing me to push an initiative to bring awareness to the Church about mental health,” D’Andrea says. “Over the years, I have lost count of leaders afraid to seek professional mental health services due to fear of being judged. And the lay members that have discarded professional advice and found themselves amid a mental health crisis. Also, there have been a number of ministries that outright forbid their congregants from seeking mental health services. I am trying to use my platform to share resources, facts, and other information that can help combat stigma and false beliefs in the faith-based community.”
D’Andrea and many others are working diligently to get the ear of the faith-based community to help them understand the importance of mental health and the role that faith can play in someone’s healing journey. She is dedicated to bridging the gap between faith and mental health with her organization, Faith + Mental Health, based in Kalamazoo, Michigan. The organization offers quality training, community and professional partnerships, educational events, writing, and videos. She also hosts the Faith + Mental Health podcast and The Merge: Faith + Mental Health summit.
“We are strong believers in holistic health and will continue to advocate for integrative holistic mental health care for everyone. Our vision is to see a safe space where faith and mental health can operate together for the good of the individuals needing traditional or integrative professional services down to the community level,” she adds. “Ultimately, we will continue to work aggressively to kill stigma and misconceptions that disproportionately cause minorities and the faith-based community to shun professional mental health services,” she says.
D’Andrea believes people will continue to suffer needlessly without appropriate professional and spiritual support. “Many families and marriages will suffer when loved ones do not get the help they need. In some cases, mental health issues can cause an individual to struggle with work and academic performance, which could lead to someone losing their job or even failing out of school,” she adds. “In the worst-case scenario, a loss of income could lead to homelessness. Mental health is just as important as your physical health.”
Furthermore, she points out that anxiety disorders affect upward of 30% of adults, according to the American Psychiatric Association (APA). “I have heard many personal stories from women in the church expressing how they struggle with anxiety and depression,” she adds. “Many women of faith have survived sexual abuse, addiction, childhood trauma, domestic violence, and other scenarios that play a role in their current mental health challenges.”
To deal with these issues, D’Andrea says the individual must acknowledge their mental health challenges and understand that they do not have to navigate them alone. “Professional mental health providers and trained peer coaches are waiting to help these women to heal, find their voice, and walk in their God-ordained purpose.” She continues, “Some practical things you can do on your own are resting, meditating on scripture, exercising, and doing enjoyable activities that allow you to express yourself. Examples are painting, cooking, writing/journaling, singing, dancing, and traveling.”
Toward the end of our conversation, I asked the wife, mother, author, speaker, and mental health advocate if there were anything else she would like to share. “On May 4-6th, the Faith + Mental Health Hybrid Summit will convene. Participants can listen to a dynamic lineup all three days, with only May 5th being the live event in Kalamazoo, Michigan. For more details www.faithandmentalhealth.net .“
