Mental Health, Medicine and Ministry is a pilot of a new product from Key Ministry. Our intent is to create a home for curated news and commentary on topics related to mental health, medicine and ministry for faithful Christians — especially those serving in positions of leadership in the church — from the physician and child psychiatrist who founded Key Ministry.
Marijuana Use Disorder Where Recreational Use is Legal
21% of adults in the state of Washington who use marijuana met diagnostic criteria for Cannabis Use Disorder in a recently published study in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA Open). The study results were discussed in the New York Times:
The research found that 21 percent of people in the study had some degree of cannabis use disorder, which clinicians characterize broadly as problematic use of cannabis that leads to a variety of symptoms, such as recurrent social and occupational problems, indicating impairment and distress. In the study, 6.5 percent of users suffered moderate to severe disorder.
Cannabis users who experience more severe dependency tended to be recreational users, whereas less severe but still problematic use was associated roughly equally with medical and recreational use. The most common symptoms among both groups were increased tolerance, craving, and uncontrolled escalation of cannabis use.
To put these results in context, past-month marijuana use after legalization was 26 percent higher than in non-recreational states. The typical churchgoer is more likely to use marijuana on a regular basis than tobacco, especially in states where recreational marijuana use is legal.
The Collateral Damage of ADHD Medication Shortages
For the past year or so, families of kids with ADHD have frequently experienced difficulty filling prescriptions for stimulant medication. Initial shortages were triggered by manufacturing issues with Adderall, but a spike in prescriptions for adults during COVID for adults and Federal restrictions on the amount of medication each manufacturer can produce have led to shortages of other commonly used stimulants. This article describes the struggles kids and families are experiencing without their medication as the new school year begins. One overlooked complication for church leaders - kids who need medication to help them focus and maintain self-control are less likely to have it for church - or are less likely to come to church without medication. Here’s a post I authored back in 2016 on addressing medication at church with parents of kids with ADHD.
Preaching Through Distraction
Christianity Today has a featured article online describing struggles experienced by pastors with ADHD. A pastor and ministry coach interviewed for the piece observes that colleagues referred to him because of poor preaching skill evaluation often have a clinical diagnosis of ADHD. The article does a nice job describing challenges for church leaders with ADHD, while recognizing some traits associated with the condition may be advantageous in ministry.
Secularization Begins at Home
The Great Dechurching is a recently published book exploring the results of a large study conducted by two sociologists (Ryan Burge and Paul Djupe) that examined the reasons so many adults are leaving the church. Lyman Stone, writing for The Institute for Family Studies suggests they overlooked an essential descriptive fact about religion in America: most of the decline in religion is actually among children, and virtually all of it among people under age 22. Some of his key points:
Most of the decline in religion in America is actually among children, and virtually all of it among people under age 22.
Parents don’t perceive their child as losing their religious beliefs, when, in fact, their child has already lost their faith.
The decline in religiosity across America in the 2000s and 2010s appears to be driven by a failure by parents to pass on the faith in the 1990s and 2000s.
Childhood, including before age 13, is the key battleground for religious formation.
The Slow Exit
Jake Meador suggests the most likely explanation for the decline in church attendance is a socially acceptable form of "idolatry" in this Mere Orthodoxy post:
Shift away from general ideas about "being too busy." Instead focus on a specific category—families who make it to church when their kids' youth sports events don't get in the way. If I said there are more people who dechurch for reasons such as prioritizing sports ahead of church than there are who leave over corruption, would that seem more plausible to you? If I suggested it to your pastor, would it seem plausible to him? (The answer is "YES, OF COURSE IT WOULD.") He continues...
When I talk about the majority of dechurching stories being a story of slowly rolling down a slope rather than a specific moment where you lost your faith, this is what I have in mind. Certainly, there is a kind of generalized busy-ness that afflicts us all. And that can sometimes be enough to keep people away. But I'm also thinking about specific choices that churchgoers will make that announce to everyone in their family and friendship groups that church is actually not that important.
American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology supports abortion rights to the time of birth
The Hippocratic Oath dates back to the Fifth Century B.C., around the time of the Book of Malachi was written. We in the 21st Century look back at the cruelty and child sacrifice described in Old Testament times and like to think we're far more kind and compassionate than the civilizations described in Scripture. It's amazing to think physicians from a pagan culture 400 years before the birth of Christ had more respect for life than the folks in charge of the medical profession today. An excerpt from the original Hippocratic oath:
I will not give a lethal drug to anyone if I am asked, nor will I advise such a plan; and similarly I will not give a woman a pessary to cause an abortion.
The Washington Examiner reported a spokesperson for the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology confirmed that the organization endorses abortion without gestational age limits, even up to the time of birth, in response to an op-ed in the Washington Post many abortion activists claimed was a misrepresentation of their position.
Pray that Christian obstetricians/gynecologists will have the faith and conviction to be "salt and light" when given opportunities to influence their colleagues and the courage to resist when politicians and leaders in their professional societies and training programs seek to compel them to perform abortions - a likely development in the not too distant future.
Recommended Resource:
I had the opportunity to take part in a webinar two weeks ago with my friend and ministry colleague Marie Kuck from Nathaniel's Hope–the organizers of "Buddy Break"–America's largest network of churches providing respite to families of kids with disabilities. Marie and I talked about serving kids who struggle with self control at church, but also discussed ideas and principles applicable to problem behavior in other environments. Please share with anyone who might find our conversation helpful.
