SBC Pastors and mental illness...by the numbers

I'm a numbers guy and find these numbers about pastors to be interesting:

1 in 4

One in four pastors acknowledge that they have struggled with a mental illness such as depression.

Since this is a self-reported statistic (LifeWay Research asked pastors, 1000 of them by a telephone survey earlier this year), it is not at all surprising that, anonymously, one in four pastors would report such a struggle. I'm guessing that some of the other three in four lied by not admitting some level of struggle with a mental illness such as depression. Any pastors conference, any small group of ministers who meet regularly will see depression exhibited by the brethren. 

It's tough these days. Most churches are flat in growth or declining. Most churches receive less in receipts than in earlier years. There are more marginal SBC churches that struggle to keep a full time pastor and he is often meagerly paid. He worries about the church. He worries about paying both church and personal bills. His family suffers twice. It's depressing.

No surprise that many of us go through periods of depression...like every Monday.  But the more significant number concerning depression is...

1 in 8

One in eight pastors reported being diagnosed with some form of mental illness.

The same LifeWay Research survey showed that one in eight protestant pastors (the survey was not limited to SBC pastors) report a diagnosis of mental illness. This means that the pastor went to a health care professional - physician, psychiatrist, psychologist - and left with a medical diagnosis of mental illness. 

Think of it. In your association of 32 churches, you have several that are pastored by men with a diagnosed mental illness. I judge the survey to have been among pastors, not just senior pastors, so add a few associate pastors to the group of mentally ill.

This is not a surprising proportion considering the prevalence of mental illness in our society; however, chances are your typical layperson would be surprised. Pastors have an aversion to talking to their church about any mental health issue they might have, though they freely share any other illness. Stigma is the word here. Odd that the term used to label the marks on Christ's body whereby we were made whole we think to be against our welfare in the context of mental illness.

The problem is that there is a powerful belief among Southern Baptists, especially pastors I think, that if you are mentally ill that there is something wrong with your Christian life. One notes that heart disease, prostate trouble, or orthopedic woes do not similarly signal a spiritual problem in the patient. 

I've been blogging about pastors and depression for some years. This piece from a couple of years ago suggests some things that pastors can do. One thing I have not been dissuaded from is that what pastors generally cannot do is admit to their church that they are seriously depressed. They do so and become damaged goods; however, at some point the pastors is more at risk by not being open about his struggles and should find a way to involve the people responsible for his welfare, his congregation. This is a delicate matter. 

The high profile examples of depression and suicide (Rick Warren's son, Frank Page's daughter) has made thiss matter to have a highly visible profile in SBC life. LifeWay's Facts and Trends magazine, sent to every church, perhaps every pastor, has good information on it. 

I attend a minister's conference occasionally. About 20 guys are in attendance, mostly retired like me. The incidence of serious mental illness is lower after middle age, so maybe one or two guys has a diagnosed mental illness. Most of my interaction with other pastors comes online. I'm guessing that quite a number of them are depressed and not a few have such a diagnosis. 

Some will read this. To them I say, there's no long term profit to struggling with depression alone and not seeking medical help. There may well be grave consequences for not doing so. 

Stigma or no, hie thee to the doctor brother.

You have my prayers.

The intractable stigma of mental illness

Rick Warren was featured yesterday as he tearfully preached for the first time since his mentally ill son committed suicide back in April. Exerpts from ABC News:

Pastor Rick Warren, returning to his Saddleback Church pulpit for the first time since his son's suicide, said today he hoped to be able to remove the stigma that is attached to a person suffering from mental illness.
At the end of the sermon Warren said he wanted to help remove the stigma of suffering from a mental illness. 

"In any other organ of your body breaks down there's no stigma," said Warren. "But if your brain doesn't work, why are you ashamed of that?"

Warren said for the next six weeks he would give sermons about different stages of grief and would talk more about how his faith helped him after his son's death.

He also said the church would offer support groups for people suffering from mental illness. 

I wish him well in his effort to remove the stigma of mental illness and while he may have some success with his own congregation and beyond, I am not optimistic about success in the culture of religious conservatives. My observations over the decades is that it is extremely difficult for conservative clergy to accept that behavior can be driven by phisiological and biochemical factors.

A member of a godly family in one of my churches committed suicide. When I expressed my sympathy to the matriarch of that family, as godly a woman as I have ever known, over the death of her grandson, she said, "We have been expecting this."

When laypeople have related to me stories of how brother pastor so-and-so committed suicide (this has occurred in every community where I have pastored) they don't precisely state it but clearly imply that the ultimate cause was moral failure. Mental illness need not apply. The verdict is in.

Is it any wonder that stigma looms large over depression and that clergy, whom I read experience depression at greater rates than the general population,  are extremely reluctant to seek treatment and unalterably opposed to allowing anyone in their congregations to know about it lest they become damaged goods, lose their church and career.

A sad state indeed.

A few prominent SBC pastors have notably admitted to experiencing depression (though none to being mentally il) and, illustrating the deep divide between the one percent megapastors in the SBC and the rest of us (one notes that Rick Warren had the ability to leave his pulpit for almost four months after his son's suicide, something impossible for most of us unless we resign), these receive sabbaticals, standing ovations, and support.

In an ideal world pastors would be educated about mental illness, preach compassionately, counsel wisely, and encourage appropriate steps to be taken when it is found.

In our real world, pastors and laypeople alike look askance at mental illness.

Perhaps Rick Warren can change this.

Admit it. You've been depressed in your church.

Pastors get depressed.

Pastors’ wives get really depressed.

It’s Monday morning and I’m a little morose myself.

A steady stream of SBC folks write about pastors and depression. The latest is Thom Ranier whose recent article, When Pastors Experience Depression
offers helpful suggestions and informative links.

Ranier writes,

The articles [linked] note that the problem of depression in the ministry is not only real, but that it is growing. Further, the rate of depression among ministers is now higher than the rate of the general population.

He suggests ways laypeople can help their pastor: pray for him, make him take vacations and days off, pay him adequately. Good.

Other things I've read on depression recently are less helpful. A megachurch pastor who is depressed takes a several month sabbatical and some large church pastors near me get the month of July off.

Did I miss this trend in SBC life, where you get a month in the summer off? Guess so.

Average-sized church pastors don’t get a month off and they don’t have an ice cube’s chance in Gehenna of a sabbatical. They might live with a meager salary. They probably don’t have a staff to handle church things on his days off or vacation. Which leaves most of us without these options altogether.

If Ranier has good suggestions for laypeople, Plodder will step in with humble suggestions for pastors. No, I don’t have any special training or qualifications for such things, aside from observing some of my colleagues over the years:

1. Reevaluate how you handle ministry. Ranier suggests that one cause of clergy depression is unrealistic expectations. He's right about this.

Do you really need to be at the hospital for every type of medical issue for all of your congregation? I don’t think you can survive in a church if you try to meet everyone’s expectations.

There’s always one of your pastor predecessors who did more, more often, in ministry that you can possibly do. To some in your congregation he's a hero and you're lazy. Better to smile and ignore these people and do what you feel is proper in your ministry.

2. If called while on vacation, consider whether or not it is really necessary to cut it short. I like vacations. My wife really likes vacations. I like being away. I rather like not having the same weekly routine.

So, when on vacation and you get that phone call, is it really something that you need to get back for, immediately? How about a phone call? I admit to some anxiety when away but thinking back on almost thirty years of pastoring and vacations, there have been only a few times when I needed to drop everything and return. Most members will be understanding and considerate about this.

3. Rethink exactly what constitutes success in ministry. OK, neither you nor I can do anything to change the settled fact that the coin-of-the-realm in SBC life to many, perhaps most, pastors and laypeople, is church growth: Buildings, baptisms, budgets. If this is the measure of success, then since the great majority of SBC churches aren’t growing, most SBC pastors are unsuccessful. Depressing. Maybe we need to adjust our thinking on this.

4. GO TO THE DOCTOR. Ranier didn’t make this suggestion but should have. Depression can be a serious medical problem. Every community I’ve pastored in has a story about a pastor who committed suicide. A corollary to this is: DO WHAT THE DOCTOR SAYS. Sorry, but this one needs to be shouted. Men are stubborn about healthcare. Men pastors are doubly stubborn. If your doctor says you need it then get the prescription and take the doggone pills.

While Johnny Hunt can talk openly about his depression (and can get 11 weeks off), I don’t think most of us can. Maybe I’m wrong here but my view is that the church will view their pastor as damaged goods if he is under treatment for depression or asks for extra time off to deal with it. I'd like to think I'm wrong about this but I'm probably right.

I’d speculate that many members recognize when their pastor is in a funk and are kind and considerate enough to make allowances. They’ve been there and understand. Thank God for these people.

Of course, if one’s approach to pastoral ministry is that the pastor is superman, then ignore all this.