• PSYCHOLOGY: DEFINITION AND BACKGROUND

 

"A quest for novelty overshadows the search for reality"

Warren Wiersbe

 

“We cannot have an understanding of who man is (psychology) without having an understanding of who God is (theology).

It is our theology that interprets our psychology. We have to have a right theology to have a right psychology.

If our theology isn't right, our psychology is going to be wrong.

If you want to understand who you are, you have to first understand who God is”

 

 

Definitions of Psychology:

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• Psychology is the science of the mind or of mental states and processes.

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• the science of human and animal behavior.

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• the sum or characteristics of the mental states and processes of a person or class of persons, or of the mental states and processes involved in a field of activity:the psychology of a soldier; the psychology of politics.

 

• Psychology is the Science of human behaviour, thoughts and feelings. Develpmental psychology is that branch of psychology that investigates how these develop in human beings. (Child Development-A First Course)

 

• Psychology is concerned with the mind and with behaviour. As these are largely human characteristics, we can take things further and say that psychology is the science concerned with the experience of being human. (Introduction to Psychology)

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• ​What is history of psychology?

 

Psychology as a self-conscious field of experimental study began in 1879, when German scientist Wilhelm Wundt founded the first laboratory dedicated exclusively to psychological research in Leipzig.

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PSYCHIATRY

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Psychiatry is the medical specialty devoted to the diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of mental disorders. These include various maladaptations related to mood, behaviour, cognition, and perceptions.

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• Psychology vs. Psychiatry: UNDERSTANDING THE DIFFERENCES

 

• Because psychologists and psychiatrists often work together for the well-being of the client, their job descriptions overlap.

 

• However, there are several crucial differences between a psychologist and psychiatrist, the most critical being the nature of treatment within the two professions.

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• Because psychiatrists are trained medical doctors, they can prescribe medications, and they spend much of their time with patients on medication management as a course of treatment.

 

• Psychologists focus extensively on psychotherapy and treating emotional and mental suffering in patients with behavioral intervention. Psychologists are also qualified to conduct psychological testing, which is critical in assessing a person’s mental state and determining the most effective course of treatment.

 

Background of Psychology:

 

Secular psychology actually began life with subjects like philosophy, theology and even mythology. These subjects were the main means of answering questions such as;

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• What is man?

• What is his place in the universe?

• How should he behave? etc.

 

Rousseau, a famous French philosopher of the 18th Century, felt that if children were badly-behaved, it was because other people made them like that. - Do you believe that?

 

Gradually, though, in the 19th Century, psychology began to move away from such speculative subjects and identify itself more with experimental sciences such as anatomy, medicine, sociology and so on.

 

Here are some examples of topics studied by the early psychologists:

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• The speed of pain in nerve cells, Physiology

• Expression of emotions in animals and man, Darwin

• Does a big skull mean a big brain, Phrenology

• How animals learn, Pavlov's Dogs n How memory works, Ebbinghaus

• Hypnosis and the unconscious mind, Freud

• Grouping children by intelligence, Binet

 

From these small beginnings, secular psychology has expanded into an enormous field of study,

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• Biological Basis of Behaviour (Brain and the Nervous System)

• Developmental Psychology (Child Psychology)

• Learning, Perception and Thought

• Personality n Intelligence and Aptitudes

• Emotions and Motivation

• Social Psychology (Group Psychology)

• Abnormal Behaviour/Psychotherapy

• Statistics

 

In their book "Child Development-A First Course" the authors confess the following: "And now for the final confession. There are some questions that the scientific methods of psychology will never answer. "What is morally right and wrong?" This question is beyond the scope of psychology, belonging instead to ethics or religion." (Child DevelopmentA First Course) This indicates that psychology is incomplete in its purpose. However, Christian psychology has an obvious advantage to the "spirit-filled" Christian counselor, whose faith is founded in Christian Truth. With this, there should be no confusion to the Christian counselor as to the importance of working in both the spiritual and psychological worlds that are before us.

 

• How important is psychology to the Counseling Practitioner?

 

Important! The term psychology comes from the Greek word "psyche" meaning Soul - the mind, will and emotions, all of which are created by God. Therefore, this makes psychology important to the Christian counseling practitioner. We cannot spiritualize everything because God created our "psyche" or soul as well. We need to work in the spirit when appropriate as well as in the soul when appropriate. To work in one area would be limiting as well as foolish and possibly dangerous to the client/patient.

 

To many Christians the term 'psychology' is very threatening, when it doesn't have to be. Many don't understand its simple meaning. Many think in religious 'extremes', believing it to be completely unbiblical. However, if we understand that psychology is simply the understanding of human behavior, why are so many Christians threatened? Is it not simply a misinterpretation or misconception of the term. Just because the science of secular psychology opposes the Bible, doesn't describe the understanding of human behavior from a Christian perspective, or perhaps termed 'Christian psychology'. In many cases, this thinking maybe part of their defense mechanism(s) that further enables the individual to be "irresponsible". Experience has shown that they simply assume rather than understand its importance. These people are judging secular psychology and not understanding differences, missing its real meaning and place in Christian ministry. Most psychologists would agree that psychology by itself is an incomplete discipline in and of itself, but would also recognize its importance in understanding behavioural patterns. What is important here, is having a good understanding of the true meaning of 'psychology' from a Christian perspective, and that it is simply the understanding of human behavior revealed in the Scriptures. There is clearly a huge difference between defining secular psychology  and understanding human behavior described by the inspired Word of God. However, with many Christians even the mention of the word enables them to be completely unreasonable and irrational, when it doesn't have to be. In my experience, these types fit into the category of defense termed as 'religiosity' and will not fathom any truth(s) outside of the Bible. The word science is usually not within their vocabulary whatsoever, despite God created many science(s) such as mathematics, biology, physics etc. How about a non-Christian medical doctor? Even the term Christian psychology can be a threat, because it implies man's scientific approach and not Scriptural truth. I prefer the term 'Christian psychology' to meaning the "perfect psychology" or the true meaning of human behavior as inspired and taught throughout the entire Bible. The following Scripture is one example of many, of what perfect psychology (human behavior) is. To the Christian, this makes perfect sense. There is no controversy or opinions of theory. It is God's Word, His truth. To the natural man, it doesn't ring true, because natural man doesn't understand his deception (1 Corinthians 2:14).

 

does the term 'CHRISTIAN PSYCHOLOGY' hold THE SAME MEANING AS GOD'S TRUTH?

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For from within, out of the heart of men,

proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders,

Thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness:

All these evil things come from within, and defile the man.

Mark 7:21-23 (KJV)

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The dangers and deceptions of psychology is not necessarily in psychology itself, but in evolved  'Psychological Treatments' and 'Secular Therapies' administered. For the most past, when it comes to secular therapies involving thought processes, cognition and behavior, cause and effect, etc. man's theories are deluded based on a deceived belief system. Therefore, secular treatment opposes the Word of God, when the true mandate of Christian ministry is repentance and overall, sanctification. Disobedience is the cause of man's problems. Sin is the symptom, and repentance is the treatment. The skilled Christian counselor or minister is trained to help the deprived individual be an over-comer by the transformation of the mind (Romans 12:1-2).

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• PSYCHOLOGY AND CHRISTIANITY: INTEGRATION

 

Integration of psychology and Christianity is a very new concept. Yet relating Christianity to the thought forms and intellectual understandings of a society and culture is not new at all. As early as the second and third century, the Christian apologists and philosophers were integrating Christianity with Greek philosophy and thought and interpreting it to the intellectual world in which Christianity was born. (Psychology and Christianity: Integrative Readings)

 

There was an antirelgious bias on the part of some significant early psychological thinkers. The most prominent was Sigmund Freud, the founder of psychoanalysis, who viewed much, if not all, organized religion as an expression of neurotic tendencies, and J.B. Watson, the founder of behaviourism, who viewed the concept of mind, soul, and spirit as unscientific. This bias inhibited the development of an integrative perspective because many Christians felt the field of psychology was itself anti-Christian, and therefore to be avoided.

 

Integration does not mean the fusion of psychology and Christianity into a third discipline. Nor is it the reduction of Christianity to psychology, creating psychologized Christianity or the reverse, Christianized psychology. In addition, integration is not lining up psychological and Christian concepts or experience, such as the id and original sin or unconditional positive regard and love, and calling the result "integration". All these approaches can be found somewhere in the history of the psychology of religion, but none of these approaches is integrative. As well, integration is not relating a theory with Christianity.

 

Theory is a part of psychology. It is an attempt to organize the data or parts of psychology into a coherent system. Thus, as part of psychology, these theories need to be examined and related to Christianity as part of the integrative task. Any student of psychology who is also a Christian is aware of psychologists and their theories which appear to be in conflict with Christianity. Also, there are many Christian thinkers or preachers who are antagonistic to psychology.

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• defining counseling and counselor

 

• professional guidance in resolving personal conflicts and emotional problems.

• the provision of assistance and guidance in resolving personal, social, or psychological problems and difficulties, especially by a professional.

• Counseling is the means by which one person helps another through purposeful conversation. Counselling is a process in which two people meet to explore personal problems and to identify solutions. Counseling is a process through which one person helps another by purposeful conversation in an understanding atmosphere.

• “give advice to (a person) on social or personal problems, especially professionally.” and. “the process of assisting and guiding clients, especially by a trained person on a professional basis, to resolve especially personal, social, or psychological problems and difficulties.”

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• What is the purpose of counseling?

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• The purpose of counseling is to help clients achieve their personal goals, and gain greater insight into their lives. ... Counseling is NOT a process where the counselor tells the client what he or she should do or decides choices for the client to make.

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• Common Types of Counselors

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• Marriage and family counseling

• Guidance and career counseling

• Rehabilitation counseling

• Mental health counseling

• Substance abuse counseling

• Educational Counseling

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• What are the five stages of counseling?

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• There are five major stages that we will look at today. Here is what they are: Stage 1-Initial Disclosure, Stage 2- In depth Exploration, Stage 3- Commitment to action, Stage 4- Counseling intervention, and Stage 5-Evaluation, Termination or Referral. Let's look at what each of those mean

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• What is Counselling and its characteristics?

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• 1) Counselling is a dynamic relationship between the counsellor and the client. 2) It is a process of change, development and learning. 3) It's a formal, private and personal process. ... 6) Counselling helps the individual to become self-sufficient, self direct and self-dependent

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• COUNSELING PHILOSOPHY AND TRUTH

 

Ones method of counseling springs forth from ones basic belief and view of man.

The biblical pattern is to relate doctrine and duty, for what you believe must determine how you behave.

 

• Three Approaches to Counseling

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1.The expert knowledge approach.

1. A. Sigmund Freud

2. B. B.F. Skinner

 

2. The common knowledge approach.

1. A. Carl Rogers

2. B. O. Hobart Mowrer

 

3. Divine knowledge approach.

The writers of Holy Scripture

 

• The Expert Knowledge Approach

 

According to this approach only those possessing expert knowledge are really competent to counsel. Plato believed that only the wisest among men should rule. According to this type of approach, the expert must do it for you.

 

Sigmund Freud

 

Sigmund Freud has been the most prominent example of the expert knowledge approach. He is considered to be the "first force" in psychology. His inquiries into the dynamics of human personality formed the foundation for the theory known as "psychoanalysis". Freud was the popular user for the study of unconscious mental processes. Freud came to believe that our outward behavior especially when abnormal was the result of unconscious mental conflict. Freud separated the unconscious into 3 areas:

 

1. The Id

2. The Ego

3. The Super-Ego

 

The Id was conceived to be the sum of the basic instinctual drives. It is explained as a reservoir of instinctive drives, each of which seeks gratification without respecting other distinctive drives or the possibilities afforded by reality.

 

The Ego was thought to be the element which mediates realities of the world in which man lives. The Super-Ego was considered the sum of the social and moral learning and the ideas and aspirations of the individual.The conflicts which result from the inner play with these three elements which Freud believed to be responsible for emotional and mental problems. Man's main problem according to Freud was for "socialization".

 

The Freudian therapist uses two techniques that grow out of his diagnosis of the problem.

1. Psychoanalysis

2. Psychotherapy

 

Psychoanalysis places emphasis on the unconscious process. The therapist may employ hypnosis, dream analysis and free association to ascertain to what may be troubling the person. The therapist is simply trying to determine, who did what to the person. The "Expert Knowledge Approach" is based on the presupposition or the premise that man is really not responsible for what he does, and then if he is not responsible for what he does, obviously, he is not responsible for getting himself out of the mess he is in.

 

Sigmund Freud took a very dim view of religion. About Freud, Frank Gobal wrote, "He rejected not only the methods of theology but the conclusions as well". To Freud the so-called religious experience was a childish delusion. Freud referred to himself as being a God-less heathen and a hopeless Jew. Some people tend to think, because of the persecution he received as a Jewish child and perhaps what he experienced first hand in Jewish orthodoxy, caused him to rebel against the system. Some people think that he had a personal ax to grind. Certainly this seems to be the case.

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• Summary of Conventional Psychiatry

 

• Believes that mental illness exists.

 

• Believes that looking into ones past life is an essential part of treatment.

 

• Believes that transference is an important part of therapy. The patient must transfer to the therapist attitudes he held or still holds towards people in his past life. The therapist then relives with the client his past conflicts and explains to him how he is repeating the same inadequate behavior with the therapist. Believes that conventional psychotherapy is important in counseling.

 

• Believes that the counsellee needs to be aware of unconscious mental conflicts. This is accomplished through the interpretation of dreams, free association and hypnosis.

 

• Believes that deviant behavior must be over-looked because it is considered a product of mental-illness. Since it is a part of the mental-illness, the counsellee is not held responsible for it.

 

• Believes that it is not their primary responsibility to teach people how to behave. The conventional therapist believes that the counselee will behave more responsibly when he comes to better understand what is causing problems on the unconscious level. A homosexual may come to understand that his homosexual tendencies grew out of a dominant mother or simply from sexual explorations as a child. Believes that knowledge of itself, does not change the person.

 

• Why Conventional Psychiatry is Wrong

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• Conventional Psychiatry is wrong in its presuppositions because it assumes that mans basic problem is poor socialization.

 

• It is wrong in its goal because it assumes that mans cure is re socialization.

 

• It is wrong in its method because it assumes that psychoanalysis and psychotherapy are acceptable means of behavior change.

 

• It is wrong in consciousness because it assumes that man is not responsible for his behavior.

 

• It is wrong in causation assuming the unconscious is determinative.

 

• It is wrong in change assuming behavior patterns must take a long time to change.

 

• It is wrong in diagnosis assuming an immaterial entity such as mind can be ill or diseased.

 

• B.F. Skinner

 

Behaviors is what B.F. Skinner represents. Behaviors is the 2nd force in psychology. Freud emphasized inner drives while the behaviorist emphasized outward drives. Behaviorists believe that man is an animal different from other animals only in the type of behavior he displays. B.F. Skinner wrote, "the only differences I expect to see revealed between the behavior of rats and man aside from enormous differences and complexity lie in the field of verbal behavior". According to B.F. Skinner all behavior is determined directly or indirectly by its consequences. If certain behavior has pleasing consequences then the environment has positively reinforced that kind of behavior. The behavior an individual produces is based upon contingencies of reinforcement. Positive reinforcement is the power in behavioral engineering. Careful disguising of the environment controls the contingencies of reinforcement. Man, according to Skinner is really not free at all but is conditioned by his environment. B.F. Skinner is devoted to the belief that man is a product of evolution, that he is not a created being. He believes that the goal is survival and that natural selection is the process or if you will, survival of the fittest. According to Skinner, man is a product of his environment. He believes that all behavior is determined, and primarily determined by the environment. He believes that any behavior can be produced if placed into the right kind of environment. B.F. Skinner as well as Freud, see the counselee as not being responsible for the behavior, but holds others responsible for their actions. Freud sees the problem as poor socialization, society is the culprit. Skinner would say that man is not responsible because a determined animal can not be held responsible, the environment is the cause of human behavior. By manipulating ones environment, you can change his behavior. Skinner fails to see that there is something inherently wrong with man.

 

Skinner's wrong suppositions are:

1. Man is an animal.

2. Man can be controlled by his environment.

 

Why B.F. Skinner's approach is wrong, Biblically speaking:

1. Man is not a higher form of animal, but rather he is a creation of God, created in the image of God.

2. Environment does not totally determine man's actions and man' s decisions.

3. Man is responsible for his behavior according to the Scripture.

4. A changed environment is not mans primary need.

5. Skinner can not provide the model, the power or the environment for the change that man so desperately needs.

 

It is interesting to note, that you may be able to modify a persons behavior to some degree by a controlled environment, but it takes the Spirit of God to bring about real inward change. God is not interested in just changing the outward behavior of unregenerate man. He is not interested in just making a new unregenerate man a better man. Unless there is an inward change, there will not be a permanent outward change. Mankind needs to be transformed, not just reformed. B.F. Skinner seeks to re-condition the sinner, but if the sinner is to have a true change, the change has to come from within; not from without.

 

Both Sigmund Freud and B.F. Skinner are considered to be "experts". Both of these men would say that only the "expert" can solve man's complicated problems. But both of these men go in entirely different directions. Freud's approach is more subjective, while Skinner's approach is more objective. Freud says the problem is because of poor socialization; the person is suffering from internal unconscious mental processes. Skinner says the problem is the environment and because of this man needs to be reconditioned.

 

• Conventional Psychiatry and Ministers

 

Because of the Conventional Psychiatrist's view of man and the way his conscience became overly sensitized they took a dim view of ministers. They blame the minister in producing an overly sensitive conscience in man.

 

• Psychiatrist's believe:

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• Psychiatrist's believe that a minister can do very little for a person in a mental institution.

 

• That all the minister can do is to support the patient's right to feel injured by others.

 

• Pastors must consider people in mental hospitals as violators of their conscience but not victims of their conscience.

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• When a patient's erratic behavior is examined it seems to be sin but it isn't. The patient is not really responsible for action. He can't help what he is doing. He is sick. He blames himself for things he can't help.

 

• The Pastor must understand that people in a mental institution who have guilt are no longer subjected to others from the outside. The pressure has been removed and therefore they quietly lose their guilt and get well.

 

• These philosophical views are wrong.

 

• Since most problems stem from a father-relationship with God, the Pastor is best equipped to help.

 

• The Pastor should never support the patient's right to feel injured by others. A patient or counselee is always responsible for his / her own actions. Resentment and bitterness are never justified.

 

• The patient's guilt may diminish when he is not confronted by the person on the outside, but all guilt is real and he will always have a moral responsibility to clear his conscience with whom ever he has sinned against.

 

• People in mental hospitals are not only violators of their conscience but victims of their conscience as well. The Pastor can play a tremendous role in helping the patient alleviate his guilt by confessing his wrongs and being reconciled with the offended person.

 

• Any and all behavior that is not consistent with Scripture should be viewed as sinful behavior. Instead of trying to find underlying causes, deal with the sinful behavior.

 

• The Common Knowledge Approach

 

The common knowledge approach to counseling is a product of humanistic psychology. Carl Rogers believes that people with unresolved problems have not been living up to their own potential. He believes that every man has the potential to do right, that deep within man lies the solution to all of his problems. In the Rogerian approach, the belief is that every man is good. Romans 6:23 Romans 3:23 Jeremiah 17:9. While Carl Rogers believes that man is basically good, the Bible disagrees with him on that point. Carl Rogers believes that no authoritative standard from the outside should be imposed upon the counselee. He believes that no authoritative word may be spoken by the counselor. He does not believe that a counselor should super-impose his value system upon another person. This idea has really infiltrated our society today. Carl Rogers believes that what is good and right for you may not be necessarily good and right for me. He believes that every person is entitled to his own value system and because of this we have no right to super-impose our value system upon another person. Carl Rogers approach to counseling is not to give advice because his basic belief is that every man has the potential and the resource to solve his own problem.

 

Rogers approach is wrong because:

 

• Men do not have adequate resources within.

 

• Man's basic problem is more serious than merely not living up to his potential.

 

• Man at his core is simple, not good.

 

• The Biblical counselor is not a catalyst, but one who directly teaches God's Word.

 

• The Biblical counselor does impose his moral standard on the counselee. An authoritative

standard from the outside must be imposed.

• Man is not autonomous, but dependent upon the will and program of God.

 

• Human personality is not violated by the plan and program of God.

 

• The counsellor must not adopt an accepting attitude towards sin.

 

Hobart Mowrer (research psychologist) believes mans basic problems stem from bad behavior. Bad behavior then leads to feelings of guilt. This guilt may be removed by confession and restitution. Guilt is strictly on a horizontal level and is a result of violating ones conscience. Ones conscience is violated by wronging another person. Mowrer uses words like religion, sin, and guilt but he drains these terms of Biblical meaning and fills them with humanistic content. Mowrer offers only a psychological lift. A good feeling from owning up to ones own sins. Confession is only on the horizontal level and it can never bring about the change the Bible calls the new birth. Mowrer stresses the need for group involvement. Rogers believes that man has the answers within himself. Mowrer believes the answer is within the group. Mowrer stresses the need for honesty, for openness, for willing confession. The basic idea is that ones problems stem from poor relationships with others and through the group one can get back into the community with others. Mowrers method is wrong because sin, first, is sin against God and neither man nor group can attune for mans sins. Neither the man, the group nor the two combined have the resources, but the resources are in God and confession should always begin with God.

 

The Divine Knowledge Approach

 

A Christian must start with a Christian foundation and build upon it a Christian methodology that rest upon, and is consistent with that foundation. We need a framework in which we can properly function. Unfortunately, psychology has not been that framework. There are at present 200 schools of therapy having roughly 10,000 specific techniques. A medical historian by the name of F.H. Garrison once commented, "Whenever many different remedies are used for a disease it usually means that we know very little about that disease".The Christian Counselor begins with the Scripture. II Timothy 3:16,17 are the foundational verses. All scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correcting, for instruction in righteousness that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished into all good works. The Bible shows us what is acceptable behavior and what is unacceptable behavior. The Bible shows us step by step how to affect personality behavior and personality change. The Bible lays the framework for interpersonal relationships. It gives practical advice on solving marital, personal, and family conflicts.

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History of the Development of Mental Illness

 

• Illness was referred to as bodily disorder. A person may be ill if he displays unacceptable abnormal behavior. People in the field of mental health began to refer to insanity as a disease. Physical illness and poor behavior was thought to be the cause of man's problems. There is no scientific evidence for non-organic mental illness. Up until the time of Sigmund Freud only the physio-chemical exploration was accepted as belonging to the area of medicine.Sigmund Freud and Martin Charcot pushed for a scientific discipline that studied the non-physical aspects of psyche phenomena. At this time it became to be known as a disability. A disabled person was regarded as being sick and was excused from much responsibility. The question was on what basis was a man determined to be mentally ill. This was left totally up to the opinion of the expert who really had no scientific basis for his opinion.

 

Man is what he thinks in his heart. What he thinks in his heart is what he is mentally. The things man thinks about deeply are the raw materials which form his actions. With this, problems begin in our thinking center, not in our emotional center. Because of this there is no such thing as emotional illness. Rather, the emotions are aroused because there is a problem. From the heart comes mans problems Matt.15:17-20. Our problems can be dealt with by thinking properly.

 

• Bizarre behavior may be the result of non-prescription and prescription drugs. Bizarre behavior may be the result of guilt. Another cause of bizarre behavior is camouflaging or escaping reality. Bizarre behavior may also result from demon possession.

 

• MENTAL HEALTH

 

What is mental health, mental illness, and/or mental disorders? The following information has been accumulated to assist the Christian counselor in having a more precise understanding of clinical and spiritual problems;

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"In the area of mental health, there has been a tendency to lump mental disorders and emotional problems together so that people are often confused about whether they are mentally ill or just having problems. A mental illness is a very specific disorder that can be carefully categorized and defined. However, some mental health problems and problems in living are much more difficult to categorize since individual differences play such an important part in whether or not they exist as a problem area that may require professional attention". (A Laymen's Guide to Mental Health Problems and Treatments - See Selected Bibliography)

 

• Mental Illness

 

How an individual thinks is a result of what they have allowed into their mind, therefore, when the wrong thoughts and thought patterns come across the mind, regardless of their origin, it is up to each individual to either receive, reject or replace them with the right thinking and thought pattern.

 

It has been said that practically all mental illness is the result of guilt. If so, that simply means there is sin in the life. To gain control and mastery of that area requires an acknowledgment by them of the problem source, a genuine repentance, with a turning away from sin, and an acceptance of Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour.

 

Since a major part of the problem originated in wrong thinking, then the most important step is to change the thinking by renewing the mind (Romans 12:1,2) by filling the mind and the life with the Word of God. The Word says, "Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: " (Philippians 2:5 KJV).

 

Notice that it is a choice that we must make; God will not do it for us. We are to renew our minds with God's Word by reading it, meditating on it, confessing it, occupying our minds with it, and living it, until we begin to think the same way God thinks.

 

The only way to remain free of this bondage is to obey Jesus and be doers of the Word. That means to put the desires and purposes of God and Jesus above your own. Those who look inward will perish in darkness, but those whose light shines outward to reveal Jesus will remain. "If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed " (John 8:36 KJV).

 

• MENTAL DISORDERS

 

No definition adequately specifies precise boundaries for the concept "mental disorder". In DSM (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders), each of the mental disorders is conceptualized as a clinically significant behavioral or psychological syndrome or pattern that occurs in a person and that is associated with present distress (a painful symptom) or disability (impairment in one or more important areas of functioning) or with a significantly increased risk of suffering, death, pain, disability, or an important loss of freedom. In addition, this syndrome or pattern must not be merely an expectable response to a particular event, e.g., the death of a loved one. Whatever its original cause, it must currently be considered a manifestation of a behavioral, psychological, or biological dysfunction in the person. Neither deviant behavior, e.g., political, religious, or sexual, nor conflicts that are primarily between the individual and society are mental disorders unless the deviance or conflict is a symptom of a dysfunction in the person, as described above.

 

There is no assumption that each mental disorder is a discrete entity with sharp boundaries (discontinuity) between it and other mental disorders, or between it and no mental disorder.

 

For most of the DSM disorders, the etiology is unknown. Many theories have been advanced and buttressed by evidence - not always convincing - attempting to explain how these disorders come about. The approach taken in DSM is atheoretical with regard to etiology or pathophysiologic process, except with regard to disorders for which this is well established and therefore included in the definition of the disorder. Undoubtedly, over time, some of the disorders of unknown etiology will be found to have specific biological etiologies; others, to have specific psychological causes; and still others, to result mainly from an interplay of psychological, social, and biological factors. (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders)

 

• CLASSIFICATION OF MENTAL DISORDERS

 

For the Christian the concept of mental disorder is closely associated with the disorder introduced into the whole of nature as a result of the fall. As Berkouwer (1962) has observed, the fall left each human being thereafter living in an imperfect body within an imperfect environment. Other consequences of the fall include the disrupted relationship of man to God, to other people, and to himself. Paul classifies some of the resulting disorders in 1 Corinthians 6 and Galatians 5. His list includes adultery, idolatry, hatred, envy, murder, and drunkenness.

 

The Christian is forced, therefore, to admit this personal and universal state of disorder. Everybody is disordered to some degree. The mental disorders identified and classified by psychology or psychiatry are a subset of this total disorder. Yet not all personal disorder, even mental disorder, warrants classification as a clinical disorder.

 

DSM includes more than 200 specific disorders organized into 18 major groups: disorders usually first evident in infancy, childhood, or adolescence; organic mental disorders; substance use disorders; schizophrenic disorders; paranoid disorders; other psychotic disorders; affective disorders; anxiety disorders; somatoform disorders; dissociative disorders; psychological factors affecting physical condition; personality disorders; specific developmental disorders; factitious disorders; psychosexual disorders; adjustment disorders; conditions not attributable to a mental disorder; and other disorders of impulse control.

 

A complete diagnostic evaluation, according to DSM, requires that an individual be evaluated on several axes, each of which represents a different class of information. DSM has five such axes, the first three constituting the official diagnosis and the last two being research scales. Axis I contains most of the major clinical syndromes, excluding only personality disorders and developmental disorders which are coded on Axis II. Axis II is also used for other personality traits even in the absence of a personality disorder. The rationale for the separation of these two axes is that it ensures that consideration is given to the presence of disorders that are frequently overlooked when attention is focused on the more apparent disorder listed on Axis I. The clinician may list multiple diagnoses on either Axis I or II, in which case they are listed in estimated order of treatment.

 

Axis III is used to record medical conditions potentially relevant to understanding or treating a client. Once again, multiple diagnoses are permitted. Axes IV and V are the research scales related to the client's life stressors and level of functioning in the recent past.

 

Axis IV consists of a seven-point ordinal scale for ranking levels of severity of stressors within the past year of the client's life. Adult and child/adolescent examples of stressors are given as an aid in reliability.

 

Axis V is a seven-point ordinal scale designed to indicate the highest level of adaptive functioning in the past year. Three areas of functioning are considered: social relations, occupational functioning, and use of leisure time. This information frequently has prognostic value and is therefore important in treatment planning.

 

Throughout DSM specific criteria are outlined which must be present or which rule out giving a specific diagnosis. Frequently five out of eight symptoms must be present and must have been present for more than six months or a year in order to legitimately permit using a mental disorder label.

 

The DSM diagnostic system affords a fairly succinct view of the client at a number of levels without oversimplifying the biological-cognitive-emotional-social complexity of the human condition. Inasmuch as it is a secular system, no attempt is made to determine the client's moral or spiritual functioning. One might wish to add axes VI and VII with specifically ordered ranking scales for moral and spiritual functioning. (Baker Encyclopedia of Psychology)

 

• MODELS OF MENTAL ILLNESS

 

Central to the concept of mental illness is the notion that behavioral disturbances are in some sense diseases. Although clearly no longer the sole model, the disease model remains the most widely view of psychopathology.

 

Blaney (1975) suggests that there are four variations of the "medical model": 1. mental disorders are in fact diseases (i.e., they are physiologically based), 2. evidences of disorder are manifestations of an underlying condition (though it is not necessarily organic), 3. the individual has no responsibility for his behavior, 4. psychiatric symptoms can be best understood by ordering them into syndromes.

 

Historically, the view that mental disorders are diseases has been the most common view for about a century. From antiquity until the nineteenth century mental illness was viewed largely as a moral and religious issue. Persons with deviant behavior were considered to be malingerers or to be possessed by spirits. When the spirits were viewed as evil, exorcism or torture were used in an effort to remove their influence; alternatively, special favor was given when the spirits were viewed as benevolent.

 

Several ideas are integral parts of the disease model. The individual with the disorder, generally referred to as the patient, is sick. His sickness is manifested in a number of symptoms presumed to result from an underlying disease that was produced by a more or less specific cause, or etiology. Efforts to identify the etiology are termed diagnosis, and serve as a prerequisite to therapy or treatment. The illness is presumed to have a predictable course (or developmental history) and prognosis (or outcome).

 

In the disease model the symptoms are seen as manifestations of the underlying problem, not the disorder per se.

 

Since the individual is often unable to provide care for himself, providing care for the mentally ill becomes a social responsibility. For the patient there are several implications. He is not responsible for his present condition; he becomes a passive recipient of treatment; He may receive special considerations such as financial support at the cost of the state; he can become free from legal responsibility for actions but may also lose legal rights, since he is presumed to be unable yo control his own behavior (Szasz, 1961). Finally, the patient is not considered able to evaluate his own problem; failure to recognize the "illness" may be taken as evidence that the person is in even worse condition than previously thought. Further, the problem which the patient presents may not be viewed as the real problem.

 

Many mental disorders clearly fit the medical model. General paresis, many forms of mental retardation, and the organic brain syndromes are prime examples of disorders resulting from diseases, trauma and the toxic effects of drugs and other substances. At the same time, many mental disorders so far have no known underlying disease process. Maher (1970) points out the diagnosis of mental disorders tends to be descriptive in nature, thus adding little information about etiology or prognosis of the disorders.

 

Some believe that the medical model made a major contribution to the elimination of earlier abusive and inhumane approaches to treatment of mentally ill persons. However, the role of the medical model in this development has been challenged; it appears that the moral treatment approach was actually responsible for this development, and the rise of the medical model was in some ways a backward step (Bockoven, 1963). A further criticism of the medical model involves its role in the development of the "not guilty by reason of insanity" plea and the movement away from responsibilty and accountability for a variety of actions that transgress legal and moral standards (Szasz,1961).

 

While some continue to hold out for further advances from the medical model, others have given up on it in favor of newer models which they believe hold more promise for explaining those disorders not already explained in terms of the medical model.

 

• ISSUES FROM A CHRISTIAN PERSPECTIVE

 

Mental Illness = varying degrees of "disobedience"

Accountability

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The biblical principle that man is answerable to his Maker for his thoughts, words, and deeds. The Bible plainly teaches that "and all the world may become guilty before God " Rom. 3:19, and that "for all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God " Rom. 3:23. This means we cannot experience God's GRACE until we first see ourselves as sinners who are without excuse. Christians are accountable to God individually Rom. 14:12, and corporately as well, "for we are members of one another" Eph. 4:25.

 

All who trust Jesus Christ as their Savior are forgiven for the penalty of their sins. They also receive the strength to fight the presence of sin in their lives Gal. 5:16-25. Thus, our accountability is matched by God's grace and FORGIVENESS. (Nelson's Illustrated Bible Dictionary)

 

Five Areas of Responsibility:

 

1. Be responsible for every thought 2 Cor. 10:5

2. Be responsible for every deed 2 Cor. 5:10

3. Be responsible for every motive Jer. 17:10

4. Be responsible for every word Matthew 12:36

5. Be responsible for every attitude 1 Peter 3:10

 

God does not speak about mental illness or emotional stability as such but obedience, responsibility including accountability in keeping His commands. Mental Illness does exist to the extent of man having serious emotional, psychological and physical problems however, the problem(s) may be in a sense irrelevant as opposed to how the actual problem(s) are treated. In diagnosing the problem(s), it is critical that a thorough assessment including all symptoms be carefully examined.

Robert K. Manning, Ph.D., Mental Health Counselor

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