Churches unsympathetic to mental illness

A survey of 293 people, all of whom had previously been diagnosed with a serious mental illness, by researchers at Baylor University in the U.S. has found that participants did not always get a sympathetic response when they approached members of the clergy for help. Nearly a third of the participants were told by their church pastor that they or their loved ones did not really have a mental illness but that their problem was solely spiritual in nature such as personal sin, a lack of faith or demonic involvement. Women were more likely than men to have their mental-health problems dismissed by the church and conservative churches were more likely than liberal ones to take an unsympathetic attitude towards mental distress.

You can find out more about this research at

http://psychcentral.com/news/2008/10/16/clergy-often-downplay-mental-illness/3147.html