We Are Not Okay: Social Distancing and Mental Illness

Our lives have changed drastically in the last couple of weeks and the impact will undoubtedly be staggering. News feeds are constantly addressing the toll this global shutdown is having on the economy and our health care systems, but as the Church we would be remiss if we did not also address mental health and how people will be affected by such unprecedented social distancing.

The Church has historically dropped the ball on addressing mental illness and there is no time like the present to take a stance of humility and learn from someone who sits at the intersection of faith and mental health.

We virtually caught up with Dr. Deborah Gorton, a clinical psychologist who serves as the Gary D. Chapman Chair of Marriage and Family Ministry and Counseling at Moody Theological Seminary and Graduate School. She is also the Director for Moody’s Clinical Mental Health Counseling Center, is an associate professor and runs a private practice. Her accomplishments are even more extensive, but you probably get the picture. She has a lot to lend to this conversation about mental health and how we can care for our congregations, our social circles and ourselves in the midst of isolation.

TLA: Dr. Gorton, can you tell us what the last week has been like for you as a leader of a program, a professor and a psychologist with individual clients?

Dr. Gorton:  I won’t lie, this has been one of the most bizarre weeks of my life! We moved to a fully virtual campus one week ago. Prior to that we were on Spring Break so there was no opportunity to soak in the experience and in-person presence of my students before we made the transition. The details and demands of the week forced me to focus on what my students and clients needed. In my clinical role, I worked with my fabulous team of counseling staff to review state laws for telemental health and provide adequate training for our counselors (licensed and intern alike) to prepare for shifting to a virtual office. All of this took place while continuing to ensure continuity of care for our clients, the ability to maintain confidentiality in new environments as our counselors and clients began to work remotely, and ensuring our office could fully function (think taking calls, scheduling clients, running the day-to-day financials, conducting supervision) virtually.

Additionally, as our students prepared to become virtually learners, I struggled to take crash courses in on-line instruction. I’m teaching Counseling Techniques and our Practicum and Internship courses this term. These are the most hands-on classes we offer. Students are learning the intricacies of counseling, how to sit with clients, listen, validate, diagnose, and come alongside clients in their transformation journey. As a firm believer in the beauty and necessity of in-person connection as part of this process, shifting and adapting my own mindset and perspective has been challenging. However, I’ve continued to see my own clients in this process (I have a very small practice with 4-5 clients I meet with weekly), so my learning experience parallels my students, which has been helpful!

TLA: Before we talk social distancing and the effect it is having on those with mental illness, can you speak briefly to the rough statistics of how many people are dealing with things like depression, anxiety, eating disorders, even Posttraumatic Stress Disorder? And what about within the church?

Dr. Gorton: Research from reputable organizations like the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) and theNational Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) indicate one in five people experience mental illness. Those numbers seem to be consistent among adults and children. Anxiety disorders have the highest rate of diagnosis with approximately 19% of the U.S. population affected each year, followed by depression at 7%.

Lifeway conducted research in 2013 on how Protestant pastors and churches navigated mental health and found that while the majority of pastors believed their role and the role of the church at large was to care for people struggling with mental illness, less than 50% said they actually spoke about mental illness from the pulpit or among larger gathering in their congregations.

 TLA: Is there an estimate of how many clergy deal with anxiety, depression or other forms of mental illness?

Dr. Gorton: We’re definitely seeing more pastors talk publicly about the reality of navigating anxiety, depression, burnout, and stress. However, I’m seeing this come as a result of tragedy and reactive necessity instead of proactive measures designed to address the problem before it starts. For example, Jarrid Wilson was the Associate Pastor at Harvest Christian Fellowship in California when he took his life this past fall at the age of 30. He was also a huge advocate for mental health in the church and talked frequently about the need to take our growing epidemic of suicide (now the 2nd leading cause of death for people ages 10-34) seriously. Pastor Howard John Wesley of Alfred Street Baptist Church recently went viral for a sermon he delivered on pastor burnout prior to taking a six month “critical” sabbatical from his church due to his own stress levels and anxiety that had begun to impact his physical health as well.

TLA: We are obviously in uncharted territory with COVID-19 and social distancing. What should pastors be aware of in a situation like this? Does this physical isolation exacerbate mental illness?

Dr. Gorton: The emotional and psychological experiences that could result from the impact of COVID-19 and in particular from social distancing can easily include the following:

· Uncertainty
· Anger
· Anxiety
· Fear
· Depression
· Confusion
· Posttraumatic Stress 

Based on a study of post-shelter-from-home individuals from the SARS epidemic in 2003, with an average quarantine time of 10 days, 29% of those surveyed reported posttraumatic stress and 31% reported symptoms of depression. The majority indicated this was due to reduced physical and social connection with friends and family.[1]

Further, if someone experienced or was vulnerable to emotional and/or psychological symptoms (anxiety, hopelessness, increased stress, suicidal thoughts) pre-COVID-19, they might be susceptible to heightened distress during this time.

TLA:  Why do you think mental illness has such a stigma within the church? 

Dr. Gorton: I believe the church has historically misunderstood mental health. It’s seen as a lack of mental discipline/willpower, or trust in God. People who struggle with mental illness are encouraged to pray more, enhance their practice of spiritual disciplines to grow their faith in God, or tough it out. However, as we gain greater access to the mind/body connection through advances in technology – we’re learning that it’s impossible to separate out the psychological from the biological. Our thoughts absolutely impact our behavior and the pattern of our thoughts can also change the structure of our brain. Further, mental illness such as depression and anxiety can actually shift and transform the structures of our brain. But our God knew this! It’s why, I believe, He called us to take every thought captive (I Corinthians 10:5), to practice gratitude in times of worry (Phil. 4:6), and to seek physicians [and counselors] when our personal practices are not enough to transform the challenges we’re facing (2 Kings 20:1-7).

TLA: How can we take advantage of this unique time to make a change in the church and care for our folks better in the future? 

Dr. Gorton: These conversations are an amazing starting point! Pastors who are willing to talk about mental illness from the pulpit and possibly even share their own struggles serve to de-stigmatize the experience of mental illness. The more we share the narrative the more we normalize the experience. 

Dr. Gorton’s new book, Embracing Uncomfortable, will be published on June 2, 2020 and is available for preorder now on Amazon and Barnes and Noble.