Drawing on faith to fight depression
The pioneering psychoanalyst Carl Jung noticed something about mental illness. ''Among all my patients in the second half of life -- that is to say, over 35 -- there has not been one whose problem in the last resort was not that of finding a religious outlook in life."
Jung's observation, quoted by psychoanalyst Kathryn Madden at an MIT conference last week, goes to an idea that has spurred three academic events in Greater Boston in recent months: the spiritual aspects of mental health and mental illness.
''Jung recognized that many deep psychological problems of the adult in treatment, including depression, were essentially problems of meaning and that addressing problems of meaning was the natural bailiwick of religion," Madden said in remarks prepared for the conference, the major sponsors of which were Boston's Trinity Church and the Technology and Culture Forum at MIT.
Last month, the Rev. Suzanne Guthrie, Cornell University's Episcopal chaplain, told an audience at Weston Jesuit School of Theology about her own depression and the spiritual lessons it taught her.
And in December, the Massachusetts School for Professional Psychology invited healthcare workers to share the spiritual perspectives they brought to their work.
The Rev. William Rich, Trinity's associate for adult Christian formation, also teaches at New York's Blanton-Peale Institute, which incorporates spirituality in its training of psychoanalysts. He says the interest of his Episcopal parish was sparked by depression among young people.
''We have an active ministry here among college students," he says. ''I was a college chaplain for 10 years and know personally what it is for college students to have to deal with depression.
''Sometimes, people get depressed when they do not have any kind of grounding, centering place in their lives," he says. ''If they don't have some kind of spiritual base -- belief in God or transcendent power -- then they have very little place to go."
That doesn't mean that atheists are doomed to depression, but it does mean that they and the devout must double-check their psychic insurance, Rich says. ''Everyone has a center that grounds them. Is your family your grounding place? OK, what happens if there's trouble in the family? Is your work your grounding place? OK, what happens if there's stress [there]?"
Religious faith is a place for believers to find that grounding, but it is no guarantee against mental illness. ''We're all susceptible to depression," he says.
Madden, the dean and chief executive officer of Blanton-Peale, cited one study in her MIT talk asserting that religious faith can speed recovery from mild or moderate bouts of depression. But she said that spiritual exploration can be full of harrowing uncertainty and suggested that depression might be, for the depressed, a step toward a better, more spiritual life.
She offered a biblical illustration in the story of Mary Magdalene at the empty tomb of Jesus. While other disciples desperately tried to find Jesus, ''Mary remains at the tomb in the place of emptiness and silence," Madden says ''Metaphorically speaking, bending over to look inside the tomb, she confronts the unknown. Entering the empty tomb of our subjective interior can make us feel extremely vulnerable. . . . I am emphasizing waiting and silence as important when we consider the spiritual aspects of depression."
Madden stressed the importance of companions, be it a pastor, priest, or a therapist, for depressed people. She also acknowledged that for many patients, the journey ends not in spiritual renewal but in breakdown.
Guthrie's journey demonstrated the hold of depression even in the face of religious faith. Her illness began in college; she lost that faith and contemplated suicide. The spiritual autobiography of St. Teresa of Avila and books about Christian mystics saved her life by touching her soul. But that was not the end of her illness.
Years later, after she had been ordained, troubles in her marriage and the stress of raising four children presaged a period of chronic pain for which no physical cause could be found. She divorced, became bedridden, worried about money. The depression reemerged. She was helped by therapy, medication, and prayer, which had saved her before. And, heeding advice that exercise can help with depression, she joined her children's ballet classes and discovered, to her surprise, that she loved it.
Guthrie isn't implying that God causes depression for spiritual benefit; she knows many people who have not recovered from mental illness. But for her, the last skirmish with the disease somehow made her feel a divine presence. Depression still hovers near her, but she learned that prayer, meditation, and going through the exercises of one's religious faith, including Lenten asceticism and the rituals of Holy Week, can help.
''And finally, beloved," she concluded in remarks prepared for the Weston crowd, ''in everything you do, don't forget to dance."
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