ChristianWeek

"I've got news," said my friend on the other end of the telephone line, "but first, you'd better sit down."

Her tone and her words prepared me for bad news. What she delivered was catastrophic. A mutual friend of ours was in a psychiatric ward after attempting to take her own life and the life of her young daughter.

The news came with the force of a kick in the stomach. No one within our circle had seen it coming. In the weeks and months that followed, we realized with the benefit of hindsight that our troubled friend had been just that; troubled. But the warning signs had been subtle. And we were too ignorant of-and inexperienced with-mental illness to recognize those signs for the warnings that they were.

I remember visiting my sick friend throughout the long months of her hospitalization; feeling awkward at times-with my inadequate gifts of flowers and snacks-and shattered after each visit by her desolation. I remember the guilt for not having been a better friend; for not seeing such tragedy coming, for not having done more to prevent such anguish.

I remember my disbelief and fear at hearing the words "electro-shock therapy" and then "schizophrenia," the hours spent researching those subjects and how the words became less horrible as my knowledge increased.

I recall pondering to what degree God holds accountable a person whose mind isn't working right.

That was all many years ago. Today, my friend is doing remarkably well. Thank God. She leads a full and productive life. Her daughter is a beautiful young woman and they are close.

But while I still wonder about the many mysteries that surround the workings of an ailing mind and how God fits into those mysteries, I'm beginning to think it is through His body, the Church, that He most wants to deliver love, mercy, compassion and healing.

The problem of mental illness is bigger than we think. One in every four Canadians will experience some form of it. More people are hospitalized with mental illness in this country than with heart disease, cancer and diabetes all put together. And sadly, when it emerges, far too many of us are ill-equipped to know how to effectively help those who suffer.

The Church has not, historically, done a good job of ministering to the mentally ill among us. Those who struggle under the burden of depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia or other forms of mental illness tend not to exemplify the ideal of victorious Christian living we think should be the inheritance of every believer. We expect their faith to make them whole.

So in our ignorance we criticize those who suffer, or we judge them or give them pep talks. And in our fear we shun them, shame them or ignore them, hoping they'll go away. We leave it up to the experts and social service agencies to deal with them.

Fortunately, winds of change are beginning to blow. During the first event of its kind, 300 people gathered last month for "Faith and Hope in Mental Health," a daylong conference in Belleville, Ontario to discuss how faith communities can effectively support those in their midst who suffer with mental illness.

Conference organizers Winnie Visser and June Zwier say we don't have to be experts to nurture communities where the mentally ill are meaningfully cared for.

"There's a lot of ways we can do that in our churches," explains Zwier. "We do it for people with cancer: we send cards, we visit, we help with meals. We do all those things and we're good at it. But as soon as it's a mental illness, we say 'we can't do that.'"

But we can. And with a little bit more education and information we can do it really well.