I've been married to my beautiful wife Nicole for nearly 23 years. Nicole hasn't hidden from the fact that she has suffered from clinical depression since she was a teenager. During our years together she has had good days and bad days, good years and bad years, with respect to this disease. At times, she hasn't needed any medication or counseling in order to live her life normally, we thank God for the blessing of those seasons of relief. But at other times, some brief and some long, she would not be able to go about her day-to-day responsibilities without support beyond her own willpower, prayer, and a husband who tries his best to make things easier. She can't do it alone, and her husband doesn't have the power to fill the gap. Why not? Because clinical depression is real, and you can't overcome it with hard work or determination. {National Institutes of Health: Depression}. When things have been bad, my wife has needed the health of both medication proscribed by a physician, and counseling from a trained professional. These supports are not an admission of weakness, they are choosing a wise path.
This is reality, and it is one that millions of families in America, and hundreds of millions of families around the world, know to be true.
Pastor John MacArthur begs to differ.
After watching John MacArthur deny the danger of Covid19 four years ago {John MacArthur jumps the shark with COVID-19 response } and then later in the year declare that true Christians must vote for one party, and one party only, in America {Beware of the Political Church: John MacArthur declares, "any real true believer" can only vote one way. }, I'm not surprised that he's continued to say things that are both untrue and dangerous to the Church. By proclaiming that mental illness is a fabrication, and that neither medication nor psychological counseling are of any value, John MacArthur has once more tarnished his own reputation and put his considerable authority (in some circles) behind ideas that will bring real harm to Christians and non-Christians alike.
“The major noble lie is there is such a thing as mental illness."
This pronouncement from MacArthur is made without any offer of proof, any data or studies, he simply asserts it as fact, but it isn't a fact, it is a lie (or a self-delusion).
"There's no such thing as PTSD. There's no such thing as OCD. There's no such thing as ADHD. Those are noble lies to basically give the excuse to, at the end of the day, to medicate people. And Big Pharma is in charge of a lot of that,”
This is a slap in the face of every veteran, police officer, nurse, abused spouse or child, assault survivor, and on and on who has suffered in the grip of PTSD. One would have thought that we've moved past the days when General Patton felt free to slap a soldier in the face who was suffering from, "the shakes," but in reality there still is a huge stigma attached to mental illnesses, one that contributes to the woefully high suicide rates among those who suffer from them. John MacArthur's conspiracy theory laden words will make things worse.
Is there a conversation to be had, rationally and with evidence, about the dangers of over-medicating, especially with kids? Absolutely, but this isn't that, not by a long shot.
“We are trying to make clear to parents that behavior is essentially the result of choices that kids make and if you parent them properly, they’ll make right choices,”
Now the circle of harm grows wider. Parents who listen to John MacArthur and ignore sound medical advice when their child has a real mental illness by refusing to allow them to be treated will also carry with them undeserved guilt when things go awry (as they almost always will because mental illness is real) because he has told them that good parents will teach kids to make choices that lead to good outcomes. This is dangerous with respect to parenting even without the topic of mental illness attached. Parents lead by example, they offer wisdom and boundaries, but children are not a math formula, sometimes loving parents who do their best have kids who struggle in life; that too is a fact.
“literally turning your child not only into a potential drug addict, but maybe a potential criminal because they never learned how to negotiate and navigate life in a socially acceptable way.”
Once again, a bold statement without any evidence or proof.
In the end, MacArthur paints a picture of those who suffer from mental illness as weak people who make all of their "bad choices" in a vacuum. Thank God that our Heavenly Father doesn't judge us in this black/white way without compassion.
How does this pronouncement from John MacArthur about mental health make me feel as a pastor, a husband, and simply as a human being that has compassion on those who suffer? Honestly, it is a mixture of sadness at seeing a man degenerate this far into self-destruction of his reputation and ministry, and anger because I know that people who fight each day against mental illness will be harmed needlessly by this nonsense. The cult of personality around famous pastors enables foolishness like this, the Church is worse off because of it.
As a pastor, I also want to say this: If you suffer from mental illness, please don't hold back from seeking help, every pastor I know will respond to you with compassion and understanding to help you, and we all are willing to admit that we need the help of healthcare professionals to assist in the areas in which we don't have training and expertise.
Please seek help if you need it, don't suffer alone, don't suffer in silence. God bless all those who, like my wife and I, and so many others, know that mental illness is all too real.
