mental health
For some US Muslims, raw talk on suicide, mental health
By Mariam Fam — June 28, 2021
(AP) — Mental health professionals are working alongside faith leaders and activists to raise awareness in Muslim communities about suicide prevention and mental health and provide religiously and culturally sensitive guidance.
Natural helpers: Needed reinforcements to head off looming suicides of despair
By Glen Bloomstrom — September 1, 2020
(RNS) — People thinking about suicide often turn to pastors, coaches and teachers first for help. We need to make sure these natural helpers are trained to lend a hand.
Mental illness is hurting Black faith communities. Prayer shouldn’t be our only defense.
By Kenneth C. Ulmer — August 4, 2020
(RNS) — African Americans are more likely to go to the altar than go to a therapist. We need to acknowledge that professional help, when combined with prayer and with the comfort of a community of believers, is a gift from God.
Counselor Aundi Kolber shares what it looks like to ‘Try Softer’ during a pandemic
By Emily McFarlan Miller — July 14, 2020
(RNS) — The Colorado-based counselor’s message that it is OK to ‘try softer’ rather than to try harder — or ‘white-knuckle’ one’s way through life, as she puts it — feels especially relevant in the midst of a pandemic.
As depression, anxiety, grief spike during pandemic and protest, churches offer hope, mental health resources
By Emily McFarlan Miller — July 13, 2020
CHICAGO (RNS) — As people across the country deal with the impacts of the coronavirus pandemic and the country’s reckoning over racism, many Christian leaders, organizations and churches are providing resources not only to care for their spiritual and physical health, but also their mental health.
Death of megachurch pastor Darrin Patrick officially ruled a suicide
By Bob Smietana and Alejandra Molina — July 2, 2020
(RNS) — The cause of death was a gunshot wound and the medical examiner ruled it a suicide, said Franklin County Sheriff Steve Pelton.
In Minneapolis, a Somali-owned mental health clinic seeks to heal its community
By Aysha Khan — June 17, 2020
(RNS) — Healing Path Wellness Services in South Minneapolis burned down during protests. But the Somali community the mental health clinic serves needs it more than ever.
There’s an app for that: Christian mindfulness, meditation apps find their moment
By Emily McFarlan Miller — April 15, 2020
(RNS) — Many apps have reported spikes in searches for meditations on fear and anxiety since the pandemic started.
How faith leaders can help the most vulnerable in a lockdown
By Religion News Service — April 8, 2020
(RNS) — Important online and telephone support services for people in quarantine with substance use disorders or people in crisis.
How not to get overwhelmed by the pandemic
By Paul O'Donnell — March 30, 2020
(RNS) — Thinking can become distorted in a crisis, causing us to fall into panic, denial or grief. A psychologist who studies resilience talks about how to keep perspective.
The problem of ‘social distancing’ for women who already do too much
By Jana Riess — March 17, 2020
(RNS) — Women are at risk for depression even in the best of times — and the uncharted territory we’re now entering is not going to be the best of times.
Giving victims of religious trauma a voice
By Chrissy Stroop — January 29, 2020
(RNS) — A recent tweetstorm about how to teach kids about faith was a testament to how little we hear in our national conversation from those who have experienced religious trauma.
Faith leaders try to combat stigma of mental illness, suicide
By Heather Morrison — January 6, 2020
(RNS) — Historically, faith traditions have been reluctant to talk about mental health and categorized suicide as a sin, often leaving survivors and family feeling neglected and hurt. That's starting to change.
Four steps clergy can take to avoid burnout
By Rae Jean Proeschold-Bell — January 6, 2020
(RNS) — Clergy who flourish despite the demands of the job make their well-being a priority while approaching it flexibly.
Wheaton mental health summit remembers Jarrid Wilson’s ‘legacy of hope’
By Emily McFarlan Miller — December 6, 2019
WHEATON, Ill. (RNS) — About 400 ministry leaders filled a sold-out auditorium at the Billy Graham Center for GC2: Facing Hard Truths and Challenges of Pastoral Ministry, focused on the topics of leadership, burnout and mental health.
