Suffering from Mental Illness with the Saints

annarose

\"annarose\"

Growing up, I looked up to the saints as the ideal role models. If I wanted to explore or learn about new places, stories of St. Francis Xavier fueled my adventures. Frustration with school caused me to ask for the intercession of St. Thomas Aquinas. Stomach aches, travel, singing, cooking, searching for a lost item – there seemed to be a saint to learn from for everything.

Yet as mental illness crept into my life, I slowly stopped turning to the saints for help. After all, which of these holy people would suffer from weaknesses like mine? Thoughts like this pushed me farther away from not only the saints, but God as well.

After years of ignorance and shaming, we are finally beginning to understand mental illnesses. Depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, eating disorders, self-harm, suicide, addictions – these are no longer taboo topics that people attempt to hide from the public eye, confuse for evil spirits or blame on bad parenting.

According to the World Health Organization in September 2010, over 450 million people globally struggle with mental disorders. That is almost 150 million more than the entire United States population.

Nearly every person knows someone who deals with a mental illness. If you do not think that you do, someone probably has not disclosed to you that information yet.

Pope John Paul II affirmed the worth of those individuals at the International Conference for Health Care Workers on November 30, 1996 when he spoke on Illnesses of the Human Mind:

\”Whoever suffers from mental illness \’always\’ bears God\’s image and likeness in themselves, as does every human being. In addition, they \’always\’ have the inalienable right not only to be considered as an image of God and therefore as a person, but also to be treated as such.”

These serious illnesses are not a new phenomenon. Throughout history, people who suffered from poor mental health were misdiagnosed, excluded from society or killed by their disease. Even holy men and women such as the saints dealt with mental illness.

Despite my ashamed perception of my sickness, I finally learned that there is nothing about these health problems that is sinful by themselves. Someone does not choose to have obsessive-compulsive disorder or anorexia anymore than a cancer patient chooses to be sick.

Thus, turning to saints, blesseds and venerables who continued to serve God despite their disorders can be helpful for those struggling today. Here are several who either dealt with mental illness or were strongly impacted by it that I have found helpful and inspirational.

Alcoholism: Venerable Matt Talbot

Born in 1856 in Dublin, Venerable Matt Talbot grew up in a poor family with an alcoholic father. By the age of 12, the youth began working as a messenger boy for wine merchants. This job and his father’s habits started Matt’s own addiction to alcohol. For 15 years, this struggle grew worse causing him to spend all of his money on drinking. Drunkenness caused Matt to fight, swear, and lose his temper easily.

Finally, the man needed to sell of his possessions – even his shoes – to pay for his addiction. One night, his friends left him alone at work without offering to pay for a drink. This moment made Matt realize the need to be free of alcohol.

That night, he took “the pledge” which was a promise to not drink for three months. Going to Mass and confession that night sealed his decision. His mother responded to Matt’s choice by stating, \”Go, in God\’s name, but don\’t take it unless you are going to keep it. May God give you strength to keep it.\”

Despite the immense struggle, Matt kept this pledge and eventually made it a lifelong decision at the age of 28 in 1884. His use of tobacco also ended. Maintaining this proved difficult because his family and friends continued to drink. Instead of lapsing, however, he turned to his faith and found strength from Jesus and the saints.

Eventually, he joined the Franciscan Third Order in 1891 and spent most of his days in prayer. Poor health, however, sent him to the hospital numerous times. In 1925 at 69-years-old, he died while walking to Mass on Trinity Sunday.

Suicidal ideation and depression: Blessed Clara Isabella Fornari

Anna Felicia Fornari, born in Rome in 1697, entered the Poor Clares of Todi as a novice at the age 15.  Her name became Clara Isabella the next year after she took her vows. Following this, extraordinary experiences happened to her regularly. Visions of Jesus, Mary, Saint Clare of Assisi and Saint Catherine lasted for long periods of time and filled her with great ecstasy.

Stigmatism, where she experienced the wounds of Christ, also brought closer union with God but great suffering. Her forehead bleed as if a crown of thorns were upon it as did her pierced hands, feet, and side. Aware of her suffering, Jesus gave her a marriage ring during one of her visions. His title for her was His “spouse of sorrow.”

Despite her nearness to God, Clara Isabella was tormented by despair and her physical pain. The devil taunted her relentlessly, making her wish to commit suicide and abandon her faith. This deep depression overwhelmed her completely. At times, she could not remember the beauty of her visions. Her joy returned right before her death.

Mental illness, emotional disorders, insanity, abuse and depression: Saint Dymphna

Probably the best known saint for those struggling with mental health, Saint Dymphna was born in the 7th century to a royal family in Ireland. Her mother was a devout Catholic, but her father Damon was not religious. Upbringing and care from Dymphna’s mother installed in the child a deep faith.

However, the beautiful woman died when her daughter was around 14-years-old. In his grief, Damon suffered from severe mental illness to the point of near insanity. After he decided to marry Dymphna to replace his wife, the girl fled to Belgium with two family servants and a priest, Saint Gerebernus. Unfortunately, Damon tracked down his daughter. After killing the priest, the soldiers were ordered to cut of Dymphna’s head is she refused to marry Damon.

Remaining true to her faith and beliefs, the teenager refused her father’s command. In response, the furious man killed her himself. Now, Dymphna is the patron saint for numerous things including therapists, incest victims, mentally ill people and loss of parents.

These three holy people are only a few of the many saints who struggled with mental illness. If you are struggling with a mental illness or know someone who is, encourage them to look at these examples of others who served God despite the great hardship. Finding this source of comfort and inspiration can help us to feel less shame  and grow in our faith no matter our illness.

Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Pinterest

13 thoughts on “Suffering from Mental Illness with the Saints”

  1. Pingback: Priest Preaches At Funeral,world falls on his head. My personal commentary – Trump:The American Years

  2. Why is it that Catholics need a saint for anything.. Isn’t GOD enough? You don’t need intercessions, you need “faith” in knowing that GOD will come, you need to quit doubting Him and tying His hands behind his back.

    The Saints and Angels all pray for us.. They pray that we learn to live in obedience even if it brings us to death.

    You need no one but GOD Himself.

    1. If you’ve ever asked anyone to,pray for you, or you prayed for anyone else, you are a hypocrite. ‘Where two or more are gathered in my name”….Jesus said that. That is what intercession is all about.

    2. First Mike I think you need to read what I wrote again because it is clear you didn’t understand it.

      2ndly You misinterpreted what Jesus said, “where two or more are gathered in my name”. He is speaking about when we come together in prayer to HIM, as in the Liturgy, not praying for someone else.

      Thank you for calling me a hypocrite, as they called Jesus Names too, it’s an honour

    3. Catholics believe in an eternal existence that transcends life and death. The third part of the trinity is alive within the Church – the holy spirit. You must truly understand God’s life giving Word to understand the resurrection of life into eternity. God is more than enough, that is why we look to the saints. The saints are real people with real sin who overcame damnation and live in eternity with God. God wants us to unite with them and each other to overcome sin. God is not confined in “Himself”, He is what “Is” and beyond our human understanding. I adore, praise, and humble myself before His mystery. That is why Catholic faithful live a life immersed in prayer. Prayer to God, prayer to the saints, prayer for our fellow humans, …

  3. Pingback: Did Christianity Give Us Gay Marriage? - BigPulpit.com

  4. Thank you for bringing this subject into the light. Too often Christians see mental illness as a weakness of faith that we hide it in shame. Hiding and ignoring do nothing to help but can hurt a great deal.

    When we hide mental illness, we don’t learn about it. WHen we don’t learn about it, people can be suffering in our midst and left unhelped…

    My son went off to one of the most respected Catholic Universities in the country…one that advertised “We know you and care about you” on their website. Many mental illnesses manifest themselves first in early adulthood, so universities need to be on the look-out for these situations. Also, men have a tendency to hide depression behind bravado and arrogance..they are probably correct that if they act enough like butt-heads, people will simply dislike them and miss their real issues completely.

    Right under everyones nose, he changed from a pleasant likable, academically successful person to a recluse who was brash and difficult. No one reached out to him and no one ever told us that he quit going to class (there were no confidentiality issues here, they were free to contact us but simply didnt bother). When someones parents are working like dogs to pay $12,000 a semester for tuition and room and a previously successful kid doesn’t go to class, SOMETHING IS WRONG ! He displayed clear dysfunction and no one said a word..so much for knowing who you are and caring. By the time we learned of the severity of his illness, he was in a deep dark hole and it took him almost 3 years to emerge.

    Click here for some facts on college students and mental illness:

    http://www.nami.org/Content/NavigationMenu/Find_Support/NAMI_on_Campus1/Learn_About_The_Issue/Learn_About_The_Issue.htm

    …and yet with these facts openly available, my son fell through the cracks at a place that claimed he wouldn’t. I begged them to have staff education on depression in young men. I don’t know if they even did, but if they didnt, Im sure more young men were lost while they wallowed in denial.

    1. My prayers are with you and your son. Hiding such deep hurt and a serious illness only makes the pain worse. Hopefully, the Church and schools can begin to help people open up and receive care.

    2. I am so sorry about what happened to your son. A very similar situation happened for me, and the impact is so momentous on my family. I pray that Christians can keep learning about and understanding mental illness more.

    3. We had the same issue with our son, but he attended a secular school. This situation has to do with the “child’s” status as an adult. The key is the relationship we have with our children. As it turned out our son had suffered from anxiety his whole life and he hid it from us. He was afraid we were going to be disappointed. Society has created a shame to reveal our “normal” human weaknesses. This shame is leading individuals to isolate, isolation is exactly opposite of the cure…it is the devils work. The devils trap to stealing souls is to disunite humans from supporting each other.

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.