Why Psychiatry Needs to Get Right with God
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 20 ส.ค. 2024
- Friends, modern psychiatry tends to downplay spirituality, but in today's episode of "The Word on Fire Show," Brandon Vogt and I discuss a new Scientific American article suggesting that "Psychiatry Needs to Get Right with God."
The author explains how belief in God is associated with significantly better treatment outcomes for many patients, and therefore patients should have the option to include spirituality in their treatment.
A listener asks, where does one go to get the Catholic Church’s official interpretation of Scripture?
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I am a clinical psychologist. From my PhD training up until the present day, religion and spirituality has been verboten in both the academy and in clinical practice. It’s tragic. Psychology has betrayed millions of suffering souls.
Recently I was "punished" in an academic space for saying that we needed to speak the same language as a Cristian patient, cause she wouldn't understand scientific facts (it was an elder woman). I agree with you.
Amen
How do I respond to my psychologist when it comes to “irrational should statements”. I’m confused because it seems to me scripture indicates there are things we should or should not do and so how do you bridge that gap between an irrational should statement and a rational should statement? My therapist seems to be confused by my question but hopefully you see this and can give me some sort of answer I would appreciate it so much.
Same in Ireland...your a witchdoctor or a head bin. God Bless the Young people.
@@jaymonpauling4835 the difference is in the functionality of the thought... I work from a different but similar approach (behaviorism), and it states that your thoughts are nor good or bad, rational or irrational, but useful or not useful... If your thoughts are not useful for your values (what you really want to be in your life) then you have to let them go and focus on what really matters to you. I hope that makes sense to you!
Bishop Barron, I once went through a depression and ended up at a mental hospital. The psychiatrist who saw me was Muslim and when I talked to him about finding hope in my faith (Catholicism), reading the bible, receiving the sacraments, he told me it's all useless and that it won't help. That shattered me, as you can imagine. I fell even deeper into the depression.
Later, I found out that he was breaking professional ethics by not respecting the patient's cultural and religious beliefs. Nowadays, I am a psychology graduate, work as an assistant psychologist and definitely will continue my studies to become a licensed psychologist. And I will make it my vocation to genuinely help others. God bless and keep up the good work!
The Muslims are lost. He had no idea what he was talking about and tried to pass that onto you.
@@nmp3132 I appreciate the comment. God bless!
@@nmp3132 I think this psych was more probably just woke.
He didn't say that because he believed in Allah, he said it because he believes in science. Religion might help you to find hope, but it won't cure your mental disorder.
@@kadirm.4047 I appreciate the comment. You didn’t understand my point, with all due respect. This was not about Christianity vs. Islam but respecting an other person’s cultural (religious) belief, which is part of professional ethics (that he broke).
Of course, medication and therapy were important. But destroying someone’s faith is unacceptable and he as a psychiatrist also has no spiritual / religious competence whatsoever to discuss such things. He also stepped outside his professional competence. Like telling anyone of any faith that it is useless praying to their prophet or God. It is greatly disrespectful and could actually lead to even more mental illness and, perhaps, even suicide. Nowadays, like I said, I am on my way to becoming a psychologist. We train to respect people’s beliefs and tell them to continue practising them if they feel better with them. Have a nice day, peace be with you.
I wasn’t Christian during the 2020 lockdown in Melbourne. I was alone without seeing anyone I knew for 6 weeks (aside through a screen), it was very hard.
In 2021, I had an experience of God and came to Christ. This years lockdown was a cakewalk this time round and I feel like I’ve blossomed if anything. I prayed a lot, read the Word and attended online services.
I have previously had a BPD diagnosis in my younger years, in hindsight I was having a crisis of meaning in my life. I was suicidal and tried many times, I was addicted to pornography, alcohol, sex and self mutilation. It has been through finding God that has brought me the most healing and those temptations have been reduced to nothing when I walk with Christ.
What an incredible testimony! I'm from Brisbane and I can only imagine how tough your lockdowns have been!
Thank you, praise God! The lockdowns have been tough on everyone, even for you guys in Brizzy. The isolation has been very hard but this time round, God really has been so faithful in my life and it’s been so much easier mentally.
Do you mean you came to Christ through baptism?
This why we should be opposed to knockdowns. It disrupts the natural social order.
Dear Becky,
I am so happy to read your how your life turned around in lockdown.
My children have been through much of what you lived. I pray for them constantly. Your story gives me great hope.
BPD is so often applied to someone when the Doctors don’t know what is really going on.
I was bedbound for 2 years before Covid and it continued for 2 more years. So I can’t say Covid has affected my life much. My husband has been my caregiver since the start of my illness - 7 years ago.
I have just recovered about 6 months ago.
But I did increase my prayer life greatly ( not much else to do when bedbound ) and feel so much more hope and the great love of our God.
Cheers, Paula 🥰🙏✝️
As a practicing doctor dealing with anxious people this video clarified what I have been looking for! Thanks for your work Bishop Baron! 🙏🌟
I’m so grateful to God for doctors like you ma’am! Blessings!❤️😃
@@user-wn1un7xx6i this isn't the actual Bishop Barron. Look at all the accent marks. That's scummy, dude.
Good!!
Fr Vincent Lampert is an exorcist who said some psychiatric patients are demons possessed
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I am from Cameroon and a fully trained Clinical Psycho-Spiritual Therapist and this is now the breakthrough approach in clinical practice, especially in our African Context in which the pillars of psychology, Spirituality and Cultural Dynamics are integrated in the therapeutic processing and treatment of underlying issues bringing about distress in the life of our Clients.
I've struggled with personality disorder, anxiety and depression and drug addiction since I was a teen. I've seen psyche doctors off and on again through my life. I get a diagnosis and some medication and nothing progresses. My heart was truly restless untill I rested in the Lord. I've never felt any type of change nomatter how hard I tried untill I came to the Lord and repented. Untill I looked inward and truly saw myself. I needed to let go of my control and learn to trust God. I've always believed in God.
But I can say the best medicine I've received in my life is the Cross of Christ.
It's interesting how psychoanalysis and Christian asceticism can mesh perfectly. Christ crowns everything
As a psychiatric therapist, I can totally support what this article says, Body, mind, and spirit are
all interconnected, When I do an intake on a patient, I always inquire about spirituality,. It is a valuable resource
for a patient to utilize. Thank you for your insights on this subject Bishop Barron.
Please tell me that you don't consider yourself a medical professional.
I doubt that you would be dealing with delusional patients.
They require the help of a Psychiatrist who can prescribe medication.
@@CatholicismAppreciator OK, Idiot.
I've been asked about religion/spirituality during intake appts and I found it off-putting. The subject of religion is a touchy one for me and I was not comfortable discussing it with someone I had just met. The way that I received the question was: I'm dealing with a spiritual person (one who likely does not practice the faith in which I was raised), so they're not going to be sympathetic.
I agree with much you have to say. I have suffered from quite a severe mental illness since I was 6. I was an atheist most of my life and was suicidal when I converted to Catholicism, which saved my life, or I should say my friendship with a priest (who is a big fan of yours) saved my life. Because the problem is that many people can come seeking truth and healing from the church and instead get shallow platitudes and judgement. This is not the fault of the church itself but of us individual Catholics who aren’t always her best representatives. I was lucky I met the right Catholic, but it so easily could have gone the other way.
Since converting three years ago I have experienced the terrible division within the church and been unfairly judged for being not traditional enough or too traditional, depending on who’s doing the judging. I have felt weak for not being able to pray enough or do enough penances due to my illness. I feel bad that despite the fact I go to daily mass and study the faith, I have not seen much improvement in my mental health. Despite my faith, like most millennials I have come out of the pandemic wounded after being socially isolated and losing most of my income. My disease is likely genetic and can only be managed, not cured. Being Catholic helps me manage it and stay alive, but it is unrealistic to expect a return to full health. This is similar to physical illnesses-prayer helps one cope but doesn’t necessarily cure. This is important to remember.
Much of my problem with modern Catholicism and Christianity in general is the emphasis on self betterment and a squeaky clean, healthy, often quite middle class image of holiness. And I’m afraid you focus too much on holiness as health or solace in this video. But in truth many of us are ‘suffering souls’ who because of disease, disability, poverty, temperament, and harsh external circumstances cannot expect to live up to what most would define as health, wholeness or happiness. But that doesn’t mean we can’t be saints. Offering up suffering is how I give it meaning and helps me cope, but as I said before, it is unlikely I will ever be healthy. I just wish that more Catholics in the church would acknowledge this fact and accompany people like me as we suffer rather than telling us we should be joyful or healthy or productive or free from anxiety because we have faith. But because I have faith I have Christ as a friend to accompany me in my suffering. But that doesn’t take away the fact that I suffer or that it’s difficult. I just hope anyone who reads this comment will know that it’s ok not to be ok, you can still be a saint; God never stops loving you even at your worst, so never, ever give up hope.
Edit: I should also add that I am receiving psychiatric treatment and am on medication to help manage my illness. There’s no shame in seeking medical help since there often is a biological basis for mental illness.
Many good points and perceptions! I have suffered too! I have found healing in Christ. This started with reading the scripture and prayer, but healing finally came through the eucharist, anointing and prayer. Everything changed for me! The focus is always Jesus! Jesus drew me deeper into the loving embrace of the Father, and fired me with the Holy Spirit! Later, he directed me to build a deeper relationship with his mother Mary. It takes years and by the grace and mercy of God it can happen. Praying for you! Blessings...
@@sharonmann8885 thanks! Yes! A closer relationship with the sacraments Jesus and Mary brings so much grace. The point after all is the salvation of our souls! Managed properly all types of suffering, including mental suffering, can be joined to the suffering of Christ and Mary and offered up for the salvation of souls. Suffering, however, is still painful and some people may never achieve comfort, health, and ‘happiness’ on earth. But that doesn’t mean nothing good can come from it or that it’s without hope or love. Those who suffer now will be showered with God’s love in eternity! But I think it’s important as Catholics to love and accept those who suffer without always trying to fix them or telling them to pray more, etc, which can actually be very discouraging since most of us are trying our best. Many saints can be formed in the fiery forge of mental suffering if we drop the stigma and shame around having an incurable mental illness. God Bless!
Thank You for sharing Your such sincere thoughts! I have also experienced that people with mental health problems were completley rejected by most christians around them.
It seems that talking about mental health problems is still a taboo in most of christian communities.
Almost no empathy for suffering souls.
Please, remember me when You suffer even a little bit, give one of Your suffering to Lord for my soul🙏
I think mother Teresa addressed this, at least in part, when she reconized the spiritual starvation of the west. We are starving for God, for his holiness, purity and goodness to touch us in our hurting, fearful places of life, even as we rebel against it. For some that place is in the church, for too many that place is in the secular world that is filled with 'false christs' ... idols, masking as help. We need a church that emulates of love of christian brother and sister as it was in the persecuted Acts church. They overcame by joining together, helping each other, walking together, reasoning together ... as they love one another in Christ. This is a mission for today's church! Let me be clear ... there is opposition to it, too many in medicine opposes it, to say nothing of the fierce opposition prevelent in the world! Now, that I have suffered for with Jesus and Mary!
@@sharonmann8885 very true! Well said.
Bishop Barron; your sacrifice of your life to God for our behalf is having wonderful and frankly incalculable results .
Thank you you both for this conversation. As a clinician, I know how important spirituality is in the mental health healing process. I see the difference between those who believe in something higher than themselves and those who do not. Spirituality is the greatest asset in the mental heath recovery. Believing in God brings the person to completeness
I am so glad you are speaking about this. My faith has strengthened 100x since the beginning of the pandemic.
100x, Really? What unit of measurement did you use for prayer strength. My disbelief in God increased by 100x because of the suffering caused by God and Covid that he allowed to continue.
I am proud to say I did influence my psychiatrist even just to a small degree that treatment/ healing could include the spiritual aspect of my life. I always think now that anxiety and depression could be diminished or completely healed even by a very strong Faith in God. I believe in God being the one and only true healer. And that if doctors considered the need for spiritual healing - therefore, healing body, mind and spirit.
The therapist that I found was not a Christian . As I returned to Catholicism, he was very encouraging and accepted my deep conviction that God was leading me back to the Church. He also noted the improvement in my overall mood and outlook as I became more actively engaged in my faith. There are many therapists out there who are open to the spiritual side of the psyche. If you are a believer or coming into faith, it’s important to find a therapist that understands that humans have a material and spiritual dimension. There are many of them out there who will help you deepen your faith.
There certainly are psychologists and psychiatrists who are open to addressing the spiritual side of clients. The problem is that at least half of psychotherapists are atheists, and on the coasts, this proportion is even higher. It can be very tricky to find a good therapist who appreciates the need for the transcendent.
Truth, excellent! I remember when I started going to Church again about 12 years ago, at Mass, during the confiteor, experiencing love all around me, that we were all praying for each other and ourselves, with all the angels and saints at God's alter in heaven, and that it is God who heals us. Things quickly flashed through my mind, that the sacraments, especially confession and communion, are the best "self help" program ever invented. I wished Hollywood people, especially, could know this. I thought of all the self help books I'd read to gain a little of what I though was feeling better about some things, that would vanish almost immediately after I finished the book. When I got into my car after Mass that day, I remember taking a deep breath and realizing so much emotional pain I carried with me my whole life was gone, and it has never come back.
Theodore Dalrymple, himself a retired psychiatrist, wrote a great book called “Admiral Evasions: How modern psychology undermines morality.” While psychiatry and psychology have the flavor of science, they aren’t at all scientific fields, and the replication of results is nearly impossible. I encourage people to search up “the replication crisis in the social sciences.” Sadly, people are turning to these “secular gurus” for answers to the tragic dimensions of life and find themselves wanting. The Bible offers some of the best psychology around: as the Good Book says, there is nothing new under the sun, at least where human behavior is concerned.
My anecdotes are that having faith kept me ALIVE whilst suffering mental health issues, but it certainly didn't heal me. Getting a proper and thorough psychological assessment and learning I had PTSD from trauma, specifically Narcissistic abuse, opened up the path to recovery.
I want to be very clear here, as a cautionary tale, having Christian values most definitely set me up in a sense, for this abuse. If you are empathetic, forgiving, a rescuer, an overly optimistic person or kind person, or have a parent with Narcissistic Personality Disorder, your probability of attracting these people is higher. Their damage is exhausting. They tend to seek out these kinds of people, because they are easier to manipulate in a sense. Often times, what we are called to serve as Christians, our values consequently do not afford us the protections we need.
These are very broken, manipulative and deceptive people. You can't love them, fix them, forgive them or pray them out of their dysfunction and personality disorder. Best you can do, they can do for themselves, is to become aware and to not weaponise their abusive tendencies. Would having faith help them ? Some yes, Would prayer help them ? Some yes, but they rarely see they have an issue, and their very specific pathology also attracts them to power and prestige, so I dare say the Church would not be immune to them either.
To be clear, I do not in anyway begrudge my values or the values of the church, nor am I giving them up, but I can see with clarity, how I was also vulnerable to abuse from these people. I urge others who may suspect there is something going on with themselves or someone close to them to get a psychological assessment, it is worth every cent spent.
My experiences were such that I felt God was with me the entire time and that was a great comfort. Learning and leaning into Catholicism, Gregorian chants, Homilies by Father Mike Schmitz and Bishop Barron at the same time I received a diagnosis, (not a Catholic) also lightened the load considerably. It also helped me feel hopefulness and confidence that I will heal and go on to live life as we are called to live, sometime very soon. But wow did I go the long route. I have regret about that. I want to say that personality disorders and mental health are two different beasts. I highly encourage anyone suffering to get an assessment. I suffered and struggled for a decade, with only my faith, before the light came in the room, and I had a path to navigate out of it for the first time. Was God instrumental in that ?, absolutely. Could I have turned a corner without psychological help ? Well ten years tells me maybe unlikely 🤷🏼♀️
I wish I had sought psycholocal help sooner.
I will heal, I can now seek out the appropriate treatment, and my faith and prayer will support me in that process and journey. They compliment each other and are two sides of the coin. There was a lot of great information here, I think it important to differentiate causation and correlation, and to encourage people to be holistic in their approach to mental health. Body, mind AND soul. Do not forsake one for the others, it matters.
Good luck to all those suffering from mental health or personality Disorders, prayers and hugs your way 🙏❣️
I always get so excited when I see a new Word on Fire show pop up! Somehow I managed to end up with both a therapist and a psychiatrist who were raised Catholic, loved the faith, but have lapsed. So now that I am converting, I feel free to discuss how my faith is playing a huge role in my recovery, and they actually understand and support me. I think it might be rekindling their faith. Thank you, Brandon and Bishop Barron, for another great show.
As a hospital social worker, majority of the time, the most miserable people are the ones who aren't affiliated with any religion. God certainly heals, thank you Bishop Barron, I'm sure this will help my profession.
I think Bishop Sheen was always the mastermind of seeing the spiritual suffering at the heart of many psychological stresses in some people.
Carl Jung has a chapter called “the priest or the psychologist” in his book “Modern Man in Search of a Soul”, and he essentially talks about this. He even said that in his practice as a psychologist, he has more Protestant and Jewish patients than Catholics and he suspects that is because Catholicism still has a bridge to the collective unconscious through rituals and the sacraments (he thought highly of the mass and the practice of confession).
I suspect your right about catholics having a bridge ... anglicans that have held to the liturgy and sacrament have some of it too.
i am encouraged by hearing Bishop Barron talk about Jung's theories about the unconscious. Jung was a great medical psychologist and philosopher. I look forward to hear Bishop Barron speak more about "what Catholics abd spiritual people" can learn from Jung.
I majored in psychology at a Catholic college. The first thing I realized for myself: Jesus was the greatest psychologist.
That smile on Bishop
Barron’s and Brandon’s face when showing the Bible. Priceless 😌
"... and the Word was God." He is His Word and it brings light to people. John:1
Was thinking the same thing , Christ within. God bless them always
A healthy soul... a happy body! A sense of being loved from above! Through these difficult times... a loss of meaning and direction in life... you said it well with a few words Bishop Barron, "the soul envelops the body" I love this image! Imagine yourself... everyone... walking always within some kind of invisible and holy protection... others will notice (if they are not hypnotized by the cell!)
Bishop Barron, you are my hero. You inspire me and educate me as well. I learn a lot from you. The quality of my homily has improved tremendously. God bless you so much.
Brilliant! Thank you for hi-lighting this. The love of God saves me. Stops me from being self obsessed, becoming depressed. Praise God. What would I do without you Lord. 😊🙏
I am a Catholic psychologist, who has been in private practice for 37 years and have advertised myself as a Christian psychologist throughout my career. When I first started out, there was a cautiousness about blending Christian and psychology. I am pleased to report that the field is much more open to bringing spirituality and faith together. I have many colleagues that do the same work now and the field is much more open to that. I live in Massachusetts and most insurance companies have a list of the Christian therapists and recognize it is a viable treatment that they cover. I have not experienced the defensiveness as strongly in my circles as the author of the article talks about. My perception is that the merging more and more. If you are interested in reading more about research on God and the brain, the work of Andrew Newberg, MD from the University of Pennsylvania is very interesting and fits with what Bishop Barron was communicating so well in this video
As a Psychiatrist, I found this very interesting. I agree with most, or even all, of what you said.
I began to write a longer comment. However, I thought of so many nuances that I would have likely run out of space.
My hope is that mental health once again encourages inclusion of spirituality. My fear is that unskilled practitioners might see it as an opportunity to proselytize (which I have seen). Nonetheless, I have found inquiry about spirituality and faith helpful many, many times. Offhand, it's especially helpful in assessment and treatment of suicidal patients, grieving patients, and patients suffering from PTSD.
By the way, when discussing with patients their spirituality, I always emphasize that my role is not that of their minister. However, any attempt to understand a patient should theoretically include inquiry about their spirituality.
When it’s grounded in a Christian anthropology, psychology/psychiatry are amazing tools for human and spiritual formation!
Who needs Psychiatry when we have Word on Fire! Thank you, Bishop Barron and all the staff - artists and articlests, authors and contributors to the Word on Fire.
We need both.
I just saw the title and thumbnail and I completely agree with you. Psychiatry can only move so far without God.
This is my second time to listen to this wonderful dialogue. It brings back memory of my retirement planning when I attended a seminar for retirees several years ago. I was very surprised when the financial advisor added spirituality as one of the pre-retirement considerations, along with finance and physical wellness. Getting right with God also applies to retirement.
*Such a pleasant and refreshing session!* When praying is done sincerely, however and by whoever it maybe, it uplifts the morale of individuals and communities *by linking them to God,* consequently shielding them from the influences and powers of evil, and thus eventually protecting society and the world at large from peril.
"Cure for Souls"-beautiful! Glory to God! Praise the Lord Almighty! Bless the Lord, O my Soul!
The bad in our lives ultimately turns into good. Thanks be to God
I had experience severe anxiety and depression for 5 months, and I felt so hopeless , i toke medicines from doctors but I felt worse not until I received grace from Christ to trust in Him, I learn to accept my suffering believing that He loves me and will not abandoned me. And right then I received great grace of peace and love that comes from Him. Yes, im healed only in Christ. All honor,praise and glory to the most holy trinity and to the blessed virgin mary.
Listening to Archbishop Fulton Sheen's episode on "Psychology and Psychiatry"
Thank you for sharing this! I will be too now 🙏😎😀
Yep, back in 1957 Adler was still a male.
Freud chose to project neurosis of Judaism onto humanity as whole. Isaac Bashevis Singer said about that: “It is someone who, when he is unable to sleep, keeps everyone else from going to sleep”.
"He chose us in love before the foundations of the world were laid" (Ephesians 1:3-7)
Thanks again Brandon & Bishop Barron. - we have atheist friends & lapsed Catholic friends who are struggling with life but quite stubbornly refuse to turn to faith in God. We love & support them in every way we can with their problems & when they say Thankyou. We always say PLEASE don’t thank us. THANK THE LORD - it is God who has put you on our hearts & if he wasn’t helping us we couldn’t help you!?!? They just don’t get it - but do you know what ? Through Our Blessed Mother’s intercession things WILL change. May the Father’s Kingdom come & His Will be done & May each soul come to know Him love Him & serve Him in this world and be happy with Him forever in the next. God bless you both & your wonderful ministries 🙏🏼❤️ Deacon Bill & Philomena
Thank you so very much for addressing this topic, it's so important. I am very grateful that you would tackle this and give this space to help us understand. I was privileged to work as a nurse for 45 years, and able to witness the critical nature of spirituality in the lives and deaths of my patients.
I always had a sense of faith within me, but 2020 was the defining year of my faith that truly showed me how important my faith truly is.
It was tragedy that strengthened my faith and it is tragedy that continues to shape me and make me a better person. There is so much evil in the world that it has convinced me that there _must_ be good and that _I_ need to bring about that goodness as much as I can.
The bishop mentioned the "sin-sick soul", a beautiful phrase from the old spiritual, "There is a Balm in Gilead."
When the lockdown happened on a good Friday it was devastating. I was going to church every day. my children were telling me not to go to church and to get vaccinated. I told them that I was praying for God to protect me and he did I never got Covid. 69 years old😊 thank you Jesus 🙏
My belief in God certainly helped me through this experience of Covid. If anything I came out a better person. Worse than Covid is a soul bereft of God.
Something that is currently helping many people understand the Catholic view of Scripture is The Bible In A Year Podcast with Fr. Mike Schmitz and Jeff Cavins, also available on TH-cam except for a few episodes that somehow got missed [slowly, they're getting the missing ones uploaded].
True healing comes from Christ! Prayer, scripture, meditation, confession, anointing, and the eucharist are all gifts of healing. Along with these gifts is the order and structure found in the mass and the sacraments of the church and expressed through the lived life of faith. These joined with selected psychology therapies can prove fruitful. We must always remember, God comes first, further it is Ģod in whom our image and likeness is given ... God holds our blueprint in his hands. Just read psalms 139 to varify this truth.
Refreshing, simple yet profound information, hard to get for non-professionals, and confirming intuitions about faith that are refused in society. It's so good to hear this!
The discussion of Aquinas on how the soul in a sense contains the body is illuminating.
And let's not forget that it goes beyond even this in that each soul has as a part of it the intellectual equipment for communication and symbolic expression. When we learn to speak as children, and then throughout life when we speak with others and exchange emails and so forth with them, the communal aspect of our souls is quite visible. We are obviously more in communion (which is cognate with communication) with those in the same language community, au contraire, if we are in a place where we understand and speak nothing of the language of that place and the people there do not know my language, we are reduced to the use of really basic signs, such as bending the head onto the hands and closing the eyes as showing a desire to sleep.
In short, the soul is not just in us and around us, but in our interactions with others it binds and distinguishes and enables the to and fro of human being together.
The title is interesting and intriguing at the same time.Looking forward to this conversation.
I’m a practicing Catholic and psychiatrist, specializing in forensics and geriatrics. Although religious people, including Catholics, can obviously suffer from mental illness, having faith and a sense of purpose provides a grounding that helps people along. What strikes me so much about so many patients I meet is the sense of rootlessness and emptiness in their lives. It’s both sad and terrifying.
I enjoyed the discussion overall but have one cavil. The emphasis on Freud, and Jung for that matter are badly dated. Psychoanalysis, even as a theory, let alone a practice has been supplanted for at least 30 years. It’s not that it has nothing to say but rather psychiatrists stopped listening to it some time ago. If you want to engage with modern psychiatry, I recommend looking up figures such as Emil Kraepelin, Samuel Guze, and Aaron Beck who could be considered founding fathers as it were. These men are responsible for the research driven, results oriented practice that you see in psychiatry today. They’re also responsible for the superficiality one general sees in practice today as well.
Do you think malignant narcissism is demonic possession?
Looking forward...
Thank you, Bishop Baron for not only this much needed topic but your multiple talks and homilies. The knowledge you've shared is priceless! You, Bishop Baron have inspired me and thus far, greatly aided the growth of my Catholic faith.
Do you have a site available for questions?
A Catholic/Lakota blessing:
May God surround, embrace and bless you.
I dig your name.
There's nothing people love more than clicking on a video and having a two-minute long advertisement before getting to the content. Get to the content! Then, advertise.
Interesting topic on the heels of a meeting at our university recently on mental health options for students and there was a conspicuous absence of any spiritual guidance or resources for students in case they might ask for it to address their sense of despair and depression.
i care for my 90 yr old mother who came down with covid in nyc in march2020 and was hospitalized and pretty ill....i suffer from panic attacks that cause me to lose consciousness....ive lost consciousness 3x in the last 16 months and prayer/rosary and reading bible is only thing making me hang on....
Looking forward ….
I hope there is more discussion of this topic. My daughter is going through inner child work since her divorce and has so much anger and hatred towards her parents now. She has built huge walls around herself. She was raised in a loving home, where she was well cared for, there was no violence or family fights . We had music and lots of nature, pets, good food, books, and gardens, a loving extended family and friends, and she was taught good values etc. However, she is now having all these issues with us and her grandparents and aunts as well. I have no idea what is going on - what the issues are because she barely communicates. Also, she is a New Age kind of person and all about reiki- manifesting, affirmations, psychics and that stuff. I am not sure how to help her, other than to pray and stay loving towards her, but I think her therapy is taking her down a very dark path of anger, hatred and alienation from her family. She is constantly "triggered" and races to her therapist to deal with the normal things of life. She has been in therapy of one sort of another for over 6 years. She became Catholic at one point in her life, but then totally rejected it after she broke up with that fiancee. She has no interest in Christianity at all - not even the Episcopal church I attend. I have seen therapy and inner child work mess up a lot of people including a friend whose daugher has not spoken to her mom for almost 3 years. So sad for everyone. Life is way to short for this sort of anger. From what I have seen, so much of therpy is about boundries and walls, instead of bridge building and healing. More talks please on therapy, and also if possible, new age and wellness - me me me - culture Thank you for your insight.
Thank God for you sharing truth on healthy mentality and off external solutions
peace be with you. Bishop Baron. Truly you are led by the holy Spirit
Good for you, Brandon, you are very happy with the vol. 2.
Right ordering of the mind is in the relationship to God I believe which is the role of the teaching of the Catholic Church
The most calming effect during Covid were Bishop Barron's service and sermon from his private chapel.
Totally agree that we are a balance of mind body and soul
Care of souls..for sure. Last year I was working and living the UK during a bad lockdown. I had various mental health challenges..back in UK, the weather, the isolation as couldn't visit family in other areas,, darkness, the cold the environment, the psychosis that existed and still exists in the air...I already was taking prescribed meds and supplements, so having felt like I was dying inside so I went to confession to ask for help and relief. The priest was a very skilled preacher and a strong priest..but I was crushed in a way as he told me to go and get professional help which is what I was trying to do via confession. I then did and got different meds I didn't end up taking. Ironically and I know this is probably a sin..I found help in an actual Shaman and healing sessions with him which is a shame. Through the doctor whoufh I did get some access to talk therapy but that was tricky as I had to go over stuff again. Basically it would be so much less retraumatising to be able to doctor to the soul because that's where the brokenness is...and it plays out in your physiology and neurotransmitters go haywire. Very hard to find priests who will take care of the soul...I found more despair because of this..so I turn to Jesus the highest priest as human creatures even priests in persona Cristi can let you down when you most need help and healing.
It is hard to find a good priest, but keep trying, they’re out there! So are good religious sisters\brothers. You can sometimes even get spiritual direction online from sisters\brothers. That being said, of course the most important priest of all is Christ and he can be found in the scriptures and sacraments. But sometimes we need outside help from others and that’s ok! As part of the body of Christ we share each other’s suffering. I would also encourage you consider meds again. I have a severe mental illness and meds help a lot. Faith helps us cope with mental illness but doesn’t cure it. Secular counselling was a bad experience for me but Christian counselling is possible. There’s no shame in feeling mentally unwell and people who want to help are out there! Praying for you!
@@MyCatholicBookNook thank you and thank you for your insights, that means a lot. I will look into what you've said. God bless you.
When I told them about my visions I was put on antipsychotics lol. I'm taking them but there is zero room for the spiritual. It's not like I'm seeing demons eating frogs in a corner while studying giraffe physics or something. Who knows. My visions are perfectly in line with my spirituality and have only happened twice in my entire life.
I'm gonna keep taking them to rule things out, but not a fan of the weight gain.
I got put on antipsychotic meds, ended up on them for over 15 years, in fact the doc wanted me to remain on them for life. I ended up gaining 8st and morbidly obese. I finally got off them this year. I still can't feel my emotions properly now
This is wonderful! Being Catholic and having access to confession and Christ's daily Gift of Himself in the Eucharist is THE BEST! He made sure His grace is CONSTANTLY AVAILABLE to us! The portal on earth to His eternal Kingdom being His one holy Catholic and Apostolic Church where He is with us always!
Imo it is amazing that He made sure we are physically fed with Himself. Which imo makes a lot of sense since God created everything which includes all things seen and unseen. Too, that we can be made spiritually worthy by repenting as often as necessary in confession, which cleanses us spiritually in order to receive Him physically in the thanksgiving celebration of He Who Is our daily Bread of Life. Keeping in mind that those who remain in Him will literally live with Him forever, eventually with our bodies reunited with our souls! Again, provided that we keep His commandments which is how we remain in Him.
Absolutely cracked up at the witchdoctor shaking rattles part. Its worse when youre a patient and trying to talk about spirituality. Doctors see you as sick AND delusional lol. I usually dont talk about spirituality with my doctor because its like talking to a brick wall. Thankfully i have an amazing nun who is a psychoanalyst and helped me tremendously through therapy and getting right with God. Most of my improvements came with conversations with her, not the medication (although i def need meds too haha)
I just listened to the podcast. Reaffirming the observations made CG Jung and Jordan Peterson
As a person who has worked as a Clinical Psychologist this is a general view that does not apply to all people who work in psychology or psychiatric practitioners. As a clinician I have personally worked with different people of different religions which were incorporated with the persons’ diagnosis and treatment. Have also personally worked with many priests and chaplains to help with a persons’ mental health treatment.
Thank You so much for sharing Your experience. I’m not a psyhologist, but I have seen so many sad cases caused by ignorance from christian families.
People with schizofrenic disorder, bipolar, even epilepsiy- completley discouraged to visit doctor!
Onley advice was “Pray more,Jesus is the best psyhiatrist”.
Do You think that psyhiatists are enough evaluated in christian community? Tnx
@@laleydelamor1327
Pyshiatrist is a someone who working & studying for their whole life in PM&R departement.
In other definition, physiatrist is a physician who specializes in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation.
Psychiatrist is a medical doctor (an M.D. or D.O.) who specializes in mental health, including substance use disorders.
@@felicita5475 Yes I know. The person who wrote this comment was clinical psyhologist, not psychiatrist. I asked about experience with christians.
I think it’s obvious that in comment section many don’t recognize that psychiatrist can help about mental issues. Christian community should recognize better that brain is an organ too. Wish You all the best!
As a mental health therapist who works with people with addictions, we commonly discuss the spiritual dimension of life. The patients understand it and welcome it. These psychiatrists, who practice medicine and rarely psychotherapy, are behind if they still embrace Freudian philosophy. When I trained, nobody paid any attention to Freud. He was allotted a few short paragraphs in the textbooks. The case study you mentioned is common in treatment. Spiritual healing is quite popular now.
Thank you Bishop Barron and Brandon, this was so interesting. i enjoyed listening to both of you.
GOD bless you both. ➕❤
I asked the Lord to teach me about psychiatry as He knows it to be. He led me to a book called,” The Seduction of Christianity,” by Dave Hunt. It certainly exposed that Freudism is a man made religion and opposes the Gospel of God.
Oh of course! Bishop Sheen often talked about this.
Modern psychiatry is based on brain structures and brain chemicals. Freud is merely an amusing historical figure.
Please excuse me for criticizing this title. It just isn’t necessary to pit psychiatry against religion. It’s not psychiatrist job to address spirituality. If they did they would need also to be priests. Freud lived over a hundred years ago for goodness sake and developed ideas about mental illness to relieve people’s suffering in a way no one else had done before. And it wasn’t only about sex. But yes that was there too and considering things that are going on today about sex and it’s abuse and perversions maybe we should revisit some of them. Beyond that though your presentation about illness being aided by spirituality is right on. I wright this as a mental health worker.
If I heard this correctly, the title is also the title of the book by that Harvard professor that Brandon Vogt and Bishop Barron are discussing.
Spirituality is a vague term that each respondent has a different meaning and does just mean religion. I suggest that when discussing papers a link be provided. The study of spirituality talked about can be found at the Templeton Foundation web site. A promised link to the Biblical reference mentioned would also be helpful. Help people read and think about what is discussed.
Dialectical behavioural therapy, and compassion focused therapy, are forms of therapy that invite reflection on and use of prayer. DBT has a strong evidence base and there is increasing evidence to support CFT.
As a cradle Catholic who has suffered from bipolar disorder since I was teenager, my perspective is that mental illness is a chemical imbalance in your brain, it has a more physical cause than a spiritual one. I wasn't suffering spiritually when I first developed the illness, or at least I don't know if I was, I was very young and innocent back then. However religious people would often assume I had a spiritual problem. This would only worsen my self esteem and cause me to feel negative emotions and humiliation. It would cause me to feel as though I wasn't a good enough Christian. I had had pre-conceived notions about the stigma surrounding mental illness and it took me a long time to overcome those feelings at least to an extent. I've been getting better more recently but I had many episodes until my mid-twenties, my last manic episode was right before covid hit. I believe much of it has to do with the fact that they switched my medications to something which worked better on me, though there may be other factors which have helped me. I understand though that spiritual help and guidance does help, I have always felt better when going to church, even while ill, especially while ill I would say. And, during the covid lockdowns I did experience a great depression which was I think worse than any of my previous depressions, but in the end I had this illness before any of this happened. Stress was the first trigger for it, I think, stress over school, however it runs in my family.
My prayers.
I think the focus on the presentation was the dispair from an existential culture.
There is certainly mental illnesses the require medication. I certainly would never tell a person with cancer to stop treatment.
Christ peace.
God bless you, bishop Baron. THANK you.
Regarding this subject, I heartily recommend "The Question of God: C.S. Lewis and Sigmund Freud Debate God, Love, Sex and the Meaning of Life" by Dr. Armand M. Nicholl, Jr.
Much needed message for today! Thank you for providing this content. Would like to see more on the topic of faith and mental health. God bless you Bishop Barron and the WOF team!
I couldn't agree more....
Good theme. Psychiatry doesn't recognise religion. It's that simple. Talk about meditation and you'll get a smile.
TRUTH. PSYCHIATRY IS A RELIGION AND IT WANTS TO BE THE ONLY ONE.
@@msgoody2shoes959 yes, and it takes people off the path of true fulfillment through morality.
@@Andy-ul1yh Wow- to say that many many good people have tried to help people with mental health problems are somehow evil people trying cause drug addiction is not fair. Psychiatry has benefited and continues to benefit many people in the world today. Granted, psychiatry isn’t the answer for humanity’s overall mental and spiritual health. However, to make the leap that mental health providers are an evil cabal trying to strip the world of God is ridiculous.
In the west, the Christian church needs to take a lot of blame for the current spiritual vacuum and lack of meaning in the lives of the people it’s supposed to serve and care for.
I agree, the lack of meaning in the lives of many people is rooted in the lack values associated with what a healthy relationship to God offers. The church needs to get busy and offer the help it should have been offering all along.
Ironically, Sam Harris, who has a Ph.D. in neuroscience and is an avowed atheist, believes in meditation.
@@MikeXCSkier Ironically, mindfulness is meditation. Ask any Benedictine.
Bishop Barron you head it right on target Thank God for my prayer life
"I only wish that people were as certain about what the highest good is as they are about the fact that human beings cannot be happy unless they attain it." - St. Augustine, On Free Choice of the Will, Book II
As a non-Catholic, I found this interview fascinating and stimulating. Regarding Felix's
question, posed at the end of the interview, I found brief but thoughtful introductions to each book of the Bible, in the New American Bible, St. Joseph Edition, 1970, Catholic Book Publishing Company. I can hardly believe my luck at finding this Bible in a used bookstore.
It is the best translation I've encountered. Graceful, poetic, clear, and inspiring. The committee of scholars who worked on this edition, really did a superb job. It has since been sidelined by a newer Catholic translation, but in my view, this older version is superior.
Refreshing, hopeful, and much needed. Thank you both.
Mind, Heart, Body and Soul and the Holy Trinity, Father Son and Holy Spirit.
I agree that a neglect of a care for the soul is a real problem. No one can truly know another's experiences and the effect they have had on someone. Without this understanding whether intrapersonally or interpersonally maintaining non violent, self- defeating, or threatening communication will be difficult. We will end up poking eachother with our forks at the dinner table rather than the food.
Please Bishop, could you get a Spanish version of this talk uploaded so that we can share it with people in Spanish speaking countries?
Thank you for your patience and generosity
Great idea! You might contact Word On Fire directly
I forgot the source, but a Catholic wrote that we must all try to be saints in this world, and that the saintly stand out as those who are worthy of their suffering.
This notion - to be worthy of your suffering - is utterly foreign to modern people.
God allows us all to be afflicted by suffering; the simple modern response is to try to reduce or eliminate it, but the Catholic response is more nuanced - there is nothing wrong with taking these courses (suffering elimination and reduction) but, whether these courses are successful or not, we must bear our suffering as Christ bore the cross; offering it up to God.
Dear Bishop : A good topic for public discussion. Keep up the good work.
I have one issue here, Bishop assumes that the priests are actually psychologically competent. The trouble is that is not true, and those who recognise this are the good ones. This is particularly seldom in the hermetic Catholic countries. Many Catholics traumatised by priests and nuns as kids. I think doing something “institutional” about it is not a bad idea.
Thank you for this comment, Marta.
Agreed, and priests do need more pastoral training. But delivering the sacraments of the Church is a healing venture of themselves. It is very rare to find true "soul doctors" in today's church.
I like how you changed gears now and get more apologetic and less passive rhetorically in this twisted times. Very welcome!
If all you're thoughts and feelings are about yourself it's a sad world, if you're thoughts and feelings are outside your self like in God's world you move in to a beautiful world.
"Jesus, the Master Psychologist: Listen to Him." - book by Dr. Ray Guerendi
Thank you Bishop Barron! There is evidence that those with mental health issues who begin to embrace their spirituality, their recovery rate goes up .According to a stat from CAMH. I appreciate the beautiful mission that God has in you 🙏 Please continue.
Discussing this with my 22 year old son. Please pray for us, Bishop Barron. God bless and protect you.
Toldt Vol.2 made me place names on objects, like _Ask_ the Crutch, and _So_ the Clipboard. I found more meaning in the Catholic scapular afterwards, providing a direction to give a one-of-four choices when thrown aside. A means to iterate the same source of words that are plain to pursue.
Prayers for powerful health mind blessings. I pray for psychiatric and counseling healing, peace, and protection. I pray for mind, soul, body, and emotional healing. I pray for excellent mental health and stronger faith. I pray for mental health blessings for my marriage, children, family, relatives, relationships, friends, associates, and any person in the world. Thank you for your spiritual faith healing. Thank you for my freedom in my religion, faith, bible, mass visit, and prayer blessings. Amen 🙏🏼
Johnny was 19 May he rest in peace and place found for him in heaven
At last thank you Bishop Barron I have been waiting for some one in the Catholic Church to point this out.❤🔥🙏
Covid 19 brought me back to my beautiful catholic faith.
I consider myself as a Christian Psychologist. I care for the soul and psyche of the person. Both are inextricable