mental illness
J. Dana Trent turns her drug-dealing childhood into a podcast about poverty and faith
By Yonat Shimron — September 24, 2021
(RNS) — ‘Breaking Good,’ a four-part podcast, tells a complex story of a dysfunctional churchgoing family living in a fading railroad town beset by poverty, addiction and mental illness.
Friends mourn Steve Austin, former pastor and author who wrote about suicide and mental health
By Bob Smietana — June 10, 2021
(RNS) — Author and speaker Steve Austin had spent years trying to reduce the stigma of mental illness. A survivor of abuse and of a suicide attempt in 2012, he was open about sharing his own struggles.
‘Silence is not an option’: Harold Braswell on Canada’s new assisted suicide law
By Charles C. Camosy — March 12, 2021
(RNS) — The law, passed this week, extends the right to physician-assisted suicide (PAS) to disabled people.
Pope Francis to Belgian Catholics: Stop offering euthanasia
By Jerome Socolovsky — August 10, 2017
LONDON (AP) — In May, the Brothers of Charity group announced it would allow doctors to perform euthanasia at its 15 psychiatric hospitals in Belgium, one of only two countries — along with the Netherlands — where doctors are legally allowed to kill people with mental health problems, at their request.
When the homeless and mentally ill wander into church
By David P. Gushee — July 11, 2017
(RNS ) — I admit my own discomfort about our homeless and mentally ill visitors.
Suicide leaves scars, not the stain of sin
By guest — September 29, 2016
(RNS) When it comes to suicide, I believe in a God who grieves with those of us who crumble under the weight of chemical imbalance, the side effects of medication, life crises, abuse or deep depressions.
Kenyan program recruits faith healers to help identify mentally ill
By Fredrick Nzwili — April 8, 2016
WOTE, Kenya (RNS) Rather than undermine traditional healers, a new program seeks to enlist them to gain direct access to the Kenyan rural population in need of mental health care.
The 10 most read ‘Faitheist’ stories of 2014
By Chris Stedman — January 1, 2015
As we begin 2015, here's a look back at the most read 'Faitheist' posts from last year—from whether or not atheists can be fundamentalists to why atheists shouldn't call religion a mental illness.
Supreme Court seems increasingly wary on death penalty
By Richard Wolf — December 3, 2014
WASHINGTON (RNS) On top of drug protocols, developmental disabilities and lawyers' mistakes, justices must decide if mental illness should be a reason to keep prisoners such as Scott Panetti alive. An appellate court gave him last-minute reprieve.
Mental illness rarely addressed by churches
By Adelle M. Banks — September 22, 2014
(RNS) Most Protestant clergy rarely preach about mental illness to their congregations, and only about a quarter of congregations have a plan in place to assist families of the mentally ill, a new LifeWay Research survey found.
Suicide a risk even for beloved characters like Robin Williams
By Karen Weintraub — August 12, 2014
(RNS) Advocates for people with mental illness say they hope Robin Williams' death will motivate more people to get help for depression and spur the nation to treat suicide as a public health crisis.
Rick Warren to pastors: ‘There is no testimony without a test’
By Adelle M. Banks — June 9, 2014
BALTIMORE (RNS) Speaking of mental illness, Warren said: “If your brain doesn’t work right and you take a pill, why are you supposed to be ashamed of that?”
5 reasons atheists shouldn’t call religion a mental illness
By Chris Stedman — February 24, 2014
A number of prominent atheists have equated religion with mental illness. Here are five reasons atheists should avoid this problematic parallel.
Video: President Obama calls for end to mental illness stigma
By Sally Morrow — June 3, 2013
President Obama says he is convening a conference on mental illness to bring the issue “out of the shadows.” Obama spoke Monday (June 3) at the opening of the daylong White House conference, which included faith leaders, mental health advocates and members of Congress.
Can grief be a mental illness? With new diagnostic changes, maybe
By Tim Townsend — May 20, 2013
(RNS) In a move that could add to the tension between religion and science, the American Psychiatric Association changed a controversial diagnosis regarding how grief relates to mental health, rekindling a debate about whether spirituality or medicine offers the best pathway out of bereavement.
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