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June 20, 2019 By Castimonia

Mental Illness in a Genesis 3 World

It has long bothered me that churches and/or Christians are not leading the way in addressing and helping those with obvious mental illness in the modern world. So I want to speak about why I have this position in this blog.

To get everyone’s attention let me say this controversial thing:

Every human that has ever existed, with the exception of Jesus, has been or is mentally ill.

This could be quite challenging for those of us who believe we are healthy functioning adults to swallow – but it is still true. Follow me here:

Genesis chapters 1 and 2 describe God’s creation, and God calls it very good (Gen 1:31). And it was; it was paradise and the two humans He created were perfect and unblemished physically, psychologically and spiritually. They had one rule to follow to keep things that way; don’t eat the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil.

We all know the story as laid out in the early part of Genesis 3; the woman was tempted and ate the fruit, followed by the man. And the world started to fall apart. This is one way scripture puts it:

Rom 5:12 – Sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned

Just as God predicted and warned the first couple about, they started dying. We may all be comfortable with the knowledge that mankind spiritually died and that physical decay became the norm, but there was another major death inside humans. This was the death of the right mind.

Just as the physical body was introduced to new things like cancer and heart disease, the soul, often called the mind in scripture, was introduced to the knowledge of good and evil. This resulted in immediate dysfunctional thinking in the first man and woman, and this is what ought to be thought of as mental illness. Not convinced? What about this evidence:

To be sure we all know that Adam and Eve became mentally ill, look at what they did immediately after eating the fruit. They tried to hide from God (impossible), they denied their wrongdoing (lying), and they didn’t take personal responsibility (blamed). (Note here that Adam blamed God for giving him the woman who caused him to sin, in his mentally ill mind.) Lying, blaming and thinking one can hide from God are all evidences of mental illness. Still not convinced? What about their kids?

Right after the story of the fall we see more obvious and significant behavioral evidence of this truth in Genesis 4:

Gen 4:8 – Cain spoke to Abel his brother. And when they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel and killed him.

Cain, the first human ever born, committed murder – an act conceived out of his mentally ill mind. Cain went on to demonstrate other evidences of mental illness by lying to God, and denying his culpability.

So then, mental illness has been present with us since the fall, and it is the result of sin entering the world, just as spiritual death and body decay are. Here are some important things to state:

Mental illness itself is not sin or sinful. Just as our sick/ill bodies are not sinful.
Mental illness is present in every human. We all have it to a greater or lesser extent, just as we are physically sick to a greater or lesser level.
Mental illness can result in us committing sins, and can be made worse by our own sin or the sins that others commit.
Mental illness, just like physical illness, can be treated and sometimes healed or cured.

Mental illness may be increasing in our modern world, and we (society) are not doing a good job in dealing with it. Here are some indications that this might be true:

High divorce rates; no-fault divorce.
Expanding drug use; both legal and illegal.
Explosion of porn use.
The growing use of violence to solve problems.
An increasing acceptance of lying as a means to an end.
Depression rates at all-time highs.
Blaming others for our problems.

At the beginning of this essay, I said I was bothered about the church’s handling of mental illness. At the core of this there are some observations I’ve made:

People with physical illnesses are generally treated with more compassion than those with mental illness.
The families of those with physical illnesses are supported significantly better than those with troublesome mental illness.
Families with significantly mentally ill members are shunned and/or avoided by church members as a general rule.
Churchgoing family caregivers for significantly mentally ill people often carry a sense of personal unworthiness and shame that they attribute to how they are treated in church.
Some church leaders have had to leave their jobs/ministry positions, without any form of restoration help, when their mental illness has been exposed. (Depression and/or sexual indiscretion are the two most common reasons.)

I am aware that these are generalizations; that doesn’t make them less of an indictment of the modern church. Jesus said this:

Jn 13:34-35 – A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.

He did not say this:

Love one another – except for those with obvious mental illness – just as I loved you.

God also said this, through Paul His Apostle:

Gal 6:2 – Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.

He didn’t say this:

Bear one another’s burdens, except for those with mental illness and their families.

The world is looking at how we treat our obviously mentally ill fellow believers and their caregivers. They see us neglecting them, ignoring them and avoiding them. What do you think they might be saying or thinking?

Should we not proactively love mentally ill people and do what we can to help their families? After all, aren’t we all mentally ill?

I am going to quote from a book here – Grace for the Afflicted, by Matthew Stanford a professor of psychology and neuroscience at Baylor:

The mentally ill person needs medical treatment, psychological counseling and spiritual guidance. That is why comfort, encouragement, and support from those in the church are so important. Where else can they get the spiritual component so necessary in treatment? Studies have shown that religious support offers the psychologically distressed individual resources that are unavailable through general social support. In fact, it has been shown that religious support can play a key role in recovery from psychiatric illness. (p233)

Dr. Stanford gets it – the church is needed, Christ is needed for obviously mentally ill people to get relief and healing from their struggles. And we are the church!

What do you think?

June 12, 2019 By Castimonia

Why did God allow Solomon to have 1,000 wives and concubines?

Originally posted at: https://altruistico.wordpress.com/2017/05/16/why-did-god-allow-solomon-to-have-1000-wives-and-concubines/

First Kings 11:3 states that Solomon “had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines.” Obviously, God “allowed” Solomon to have these wives, but allowance is not the same as approval. Solomon’s marital decisions were in direct violation of God’s Law, and there were consequences.

Solomon started out well early in his life, listening to the counsel of his father, David, as recorded in 1 Kings 2:2-3, “Be strong, show yourself a man, and observe what the Lord your God requires: Walk in his ways, and keep his decrees and commands, his laws and requirements, as written in the Law of Moses, so that you may prosper in all you do and wherever you go.” Solomon’s early humility is shown in 1 Kings 3:5-9 when he requests wisdom from the Lord. Wisdom is applied knowledge; it helps us make decisions that honor the Lord and agree with the Scriptures. Solomon’s book of Proverbs is filled with practical counsel on how to follow the Lord. Solomon also wrote the Song of Solomon, which presents a beautiful picture of what God intends marriage to be. So, King Solomon knew what was right, even if he didn’t always follow the right path.

Over time, Solomon forgot his own counsel and the wisdom of Scripture. God had given clear instructions for anyone who would be king: no amassing of horses, no multiplying of wives, and no accumulating of silver and gold (Deuteronomy 17:14-20). These commands were designed to prevent the king from trusting in military might, following foreign gods, and relying on wealth instead of on God. Any survey of Solomon’s life will show that he broke all three of these divine prohibitions!

Thus, Solomon’s taking of many wives and concubines was in direct violation of God’s Word. Just as God had predicted, “As Solomon grew old, his wives turned his heart after other gods, and his heart was not fully devoted to the LORD his God” (1 Kings 11:4). To please his wives, Solomon even got involved in sacrificing to Milcom (or Molech), a god that required “detestable” acts to be performed (1 Kings 11:7-8).

God allowed Solomon to make the choice to disobey, but Solomon’s choice brought inevitable consequences. “So the Lord said to Solomon, ‘Since this is your attitude and you have not kept my covenant and my decrees, which I commanded you, I will most certainly tear the kingdom away from you and give it to one of your subordinates’” (1 Kings 11:11). God showed mercy to Solomon for David’s sake (verse 12), but Solomon’s kingdom was eventually divided. Another chastisement upon Solomon was war with the Edomites and Aramians (verses 14-25).

Solomon was not a puppet king. God did not force him to do what was right. Rather, God laid out His will, blessed Solomon with wisdom, and expected the king to obey. In his later years, Solomon chose to disobey, and he was held accountable for his decisions.

It is instructive that, toward the end of Solomon’s life, God used him to write one more book, which we find in the Bible. The book of Ecclesiastes gives us “the rest of the story.” Solomon throughout the book tells us everything he tried in order to find fulfillment apart from God in this world, or “under the sun.” This is his own testimony: “I amassed silver and gold for myself, and the treasure of kings and provinces. I acquired . . . a harem as well–the delights of the heart of man” (Ecclesiastes 2:8). But his harem did not bring happiness. Instead, “Everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind; nothing was gained under the sun” (verse 11). At the conclusion of Ecclesiastes, we find wise counsel: “Here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole [duty] of man” (12:13).”

It is never God’s will that anyone sin, but He does allow us to make our own choices. The story of Solomon is a powerful lesson for us that it does not pay to disobey. It is not enough to start well; we must seek God’s grace to finish well, too. Life without God is a dead-end street. Solomon thought that having 1,000 wives and concubines would provide happiness, but whatever pleasure he derived was not worth the price he paid. As a wiser Solomon said, “God will bring every deed into judgment” (Ecclesiastes 12:14).

June 8, 2019 By Castimonia

5 Ways to Deal with Your Past

SOURCE: Ron Edmondson

I’m a huge proponent of moving forward. I’ve never been a fan of remaining in the past.

This could be because I’ve had some past I’d rather not remember.

It could be because I am very forward-thinking.

Either way, and it’s probably the first, I’d prefer to reconcile the past, make the most of it, and get on with my life.

Bottom line, however, is that there are really a few choices when it comes to dealing with your past.

Here are 5 ways to deal with your past:

Forget it – If you choose to and you are really skilled, you can block all memory of the past from your mind. In extreme settings, I have seen people do this naturally, but I must admit, it’s rare. And, because I believe we learn from mistakes, I wouldn’t even recommend it.

Misuse it – You can twist the past for your benefit – gain sympathy, make people feel sorry for you, and use it as a personal advantage. You could be a martyr. The people who choose this option, in my experience, are usually as phony as the story they share. It’s often hard to trust them.

Ignore it – You can pretend your past never happened. You can make up your own version of your past, make it prettier and live in a false reality. With the people I’ve seen do this it seems you never really know the true person behind the stories they tell. They are always hiding a part of themselves.

Excuse it – You can blame every bad decision you ever made on someone else or every future mistake you make on your past. After all, it was “his” fault”, right? I’ve known people with this excuse who never own up to responsibility – and they always seem to find a reason for not doing so. They never take ownership of their actions.

Use it – In my humble opinion, as one with plenty of brokenness in my story, the best way to deal with your past is to use it for a greater good. How could your story benefit someone else? How could God use your brokenness to bless others? What have you learned, which others need to hear? Let your past help build your — or someone else’s — brighter future.

I’m not pretending this will be easy. It will probably involve hard decisions and choices such as forgiveness, confession, and being vulnerable with people. But, the reward for allowing God to use your past for a greater good and being freed from the weight of your past will be worth it.

June 4, 2019 By Castimonia

How Do You Diagnose a Sex Addict?

By Jon Jore, M.A.

New evidence points towards growing agreement among researchers on how to diagnose sexual addiction. For many years, disagreements have existed among researchers and clinicians concerning the essential components that define disorders related to problematic or out-of-control sexual behaviors. For instance, what exact symptoms must a person experience to qualify for a diagnosis of sexual addiction? In order to distinguish between people with or without disorders, clinicians need clear indicators of symptoms and consequences of the given disorder.

The Competing Models of Out-of-Control Sexual Behaviors

Whenever a new phenomena or illness is discovered, whether it be a medical or mental health problem, the waters are initially often muddy. Substantial research and experimental treatments are needed to clarify the precise nature of the disorder or disease.

In the case of out-of-control sexual behaviors, researchers have largely fallen into one of four camps:

The out-of-control sexual behaviors are indicative of an addictive disorder (like substance abuse addictions),
The behaviors are indicative of a hypersexual disorder (excessive sexual behaviors/output in a given time period),
The behaviors are indicative of an impulse-control disorder (impulsivity-driven sexual behaviors), or
The behaviors are indicative of a compulsive disorder (compulsive sexual behaviors, perhaps a symptom of obsessive-compulsive disorder or OCD).

Similar to many other mental disorders and addictions preceding it, when first presented to the medical and mental health communities, sex addiction as a concept was greeted with a great deal of skepticism. The existence of four competing models has made it difficult to present a unified, cohesive body of evidence supporting the existence of an out-of-control sexual behavior disorder. Recently, hypersexual disorder was proposed for inclusion in the American Psychiatric Association’s new Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5), which is used by mental health providers to diagnose patients.

Sexual Disorders and the DSM-5

While hypersexual disorder was not included in the first publication of the DSM-5, the substance disorders section of the manual was significantly restructured, so now, substance use and pathological gambling disorders are included under the new heading of Addiction and Related Disorders. Also, Internet Gaming Disorder was identified for future research.

These structural changes in the DSM-5 suggest a growing recognition of the many parallels between behavioral addictions and chemical addictions. Additionally, sexual addiction was recently officially recognized by the American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM) as a legitimate addiction. Now, agreement on a set of diagnostic criteria may continue to legitimize sexual addiction as a valid mental health issue with serious personal and societal consequences.

Consistencies Emerge Among Four Diagnostic Models

A seminal article was recently published in the Journal of Addiction Medicine called “Clinical Relevance of the Proposed Sexual Addiction Diagnostic Criteria: Relation to the Sexual Addiction Screening Test-Revised” (Carnes, Hopkins & Green, 2014). This article compared various diagnostic models that have been proposed over the years by researchers from the sex addiction, hypersexuality, and sexual compulsivity perspectives. Interestingly, despite controversy over what to call the disorder, several key consistencies emerged when comparing the existing sets of diagnostic criteria.

The most common consistencies relate to continuation of sexual behavior despite problems or adverse consequences, engagement in sexual behaviors during time allotted for other obligations, and ineffective attempts to limit or control certain sexual behaviors The authors conclude that the following diagnostic criteria, first proposed by Carnes (2005), have considerable overlap with criteria proposed by researchers from the hypersexual and sexual compulsivity perspectives:

Recurrent failure (pattern) to resist sexual impulses to engage in specific sexual behaviors
Engaged in sexual behaviors to a greater extent or over a longer period than intended
Long-standing desire, or a history of unsuccessful efforts to stop, reduce, or control sexual behaviors.
Spent excessive time obtaining sex, being sexual, or recovering from sexual experiences
Obsessed with preparing for sexual activities
Frequently engaged in sexual behavior when expected to be fulfilling occupational, academic, domestic, or social obligations
Continued sexual behavior despite knowing it has caused or exacerbated social, financial, psychological, or physical problems
Increased the intensity, frequency, number, or risk of sexual behaviors to achieve the desired effect, or experience diminished effect when continuing behaviors at the same level of intensity, frequency, number or risk.
Given up or limited social, occupational, or recreational activities because of sexual behavior
Become upset, anxious, restless, or irritable if unable to engage in sexual behavior.

Like most mental health diagnoses, they recommend that diagnosis not be given if the out of control sexual behavior symptoms are primarily related to a medical condition, a psychological condition, a medication/substance of abuse, or a manic episode.

Sex Addiction as a Diagnosable Disorder

What do these findings mean for the future of sex addiction as a diagnosable disorder? These authors suggest that there is more agreement than disagreement in the field concerning what criteria constitute problematic sexual behaviors or sexual addiction. The proposed criteria are highly endorsed by people seeking treatment for sexual addiction and, thus, appear to be relevant indicators of a serious and destructive pattern of sexual behavior, whether it is called sexual addiction, hypersexuality, or sexual compulsivity.

The empirical evidence is slowly building to support sexual addiction as a mental disorder. If it is recognized as a mental disorder, treatment for sexual addiction would likely become more affordable and accessible to greater numbers of people who are currently experiencing debilitating consequences related to their out-of-control sexual behaviors.

Gentle Path at the Meadows is committed to continue pioneering research in this area to maintain our cutting-edge, scientifically-supported, world-class treatment for sexual addiction.

Proposed Criteria for SA

References:
Carnes, P. J., Sexual addiction. In: Sadock, B. J., Sadock, V. A., eds. Kaplan & Sadock’s Comprehensive Textbook of Psychiatry, Volume I. 8th ed. New York, NY: Lippincott, Williams, & Wilkins: A Wolters Kluwer Company, 2005: 1991-2001.
Carnes, P. J., Hopkins, T. A., & Green, B. A. (2014). Clinical relevance of the proposed sexual addiction diagnostic criteria: Relation to the Sexual Addiction Screening Test-Revised. Journal of Addiction Medicine, 8(6), 450-461. doi:10.1097/ADM.0000000000000080

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May 31, 2019 By Castimonia

Spilling It All May Be More Harmful Than Not

By Marie Woods, LMFT, CSAT, Primary Therapist, Gentle Path at the MeadowsIn light of some of the recent public disclosures of millions of individuals’ personal indiscretions online, one question many people may be asking is, “Would I really want to know?”

Based on the overwhelming amount of media coverage, it seems that people do want to know—although, of course, most would prefer that there isn’t anything to know, and that their partner doesn’t have any secrets or unknown sexual behaviors.

What if your partner actually does have secrets, though? How much would you really like to know?

At Gentle Path at the Meadows, we are flooded with questions from addicts and their partners about this. Addicts ask how much detail they should share, and partners often don’t know whether having all the details would be helpful or harmful.

The idea that a partner should know everything may seem obvious, but considering the depth of betrayal that accompanies sex addiction, the answer is not necessarily that clear. On the one hand, a partner needs to know the truth in order to make an informed decision about how to move forward with his or her life and the relationship. On the other hand, knowing all of the details can sometimes create more traumas for partners rather than assist in their healing.

Five Ways to Uncover the Truth and Begin Healing

Here are some of the guidelines that we use in helping addicts and partners share the truth while promoting healing:

1. Share information in the presence of professionals.
In the initial stages of recovery, most couples are too volatile to process the discovery together. Couples should make their best effort to seek professional guidance before “dumping” information on to their partner. The disclosure sessions can include the addict sharing their behaviors as well as the partner sharing their anger and frustration. A professional therapist can create a safe container for information to be appropriately shared.

2. Avoid disclosing new information without consulting with a therapist first.
As times goes on, more and more questions develop for both the addict and the partner, and the answers to these questions can be complex. When both individuals are so emotionally volatile (and often exhausted) having a therapist to navigate the situation alongside the couple can be helpful.

3. Recognize that knowing all of the details will not justify the behavior.
Addiction involves irrational behavior. The decisions that were made in the midst of active addiction do not make sense in a rational state of mind. It is likely that even when the partner has all of the details, it still will not make sense. Rather than focusing on the details, partners should focus instead on leaning into their feelings and taking care of themselves.

4. Focus on themes rather than specifics.
Partners have a right to know the nature of the addict’s behavior in an effort to ensure their physical and emotional safety. This includes things like the potential for sexually transmitted diseases, anything that may have occurred in the home with knowledge of the family, or financial impact. This does not typically include things like names, graphic details of pornography or sexual acts, or specific places where acting out may have occurred. Those details create a mental picture in the partner’s mind that cannot be erased, and could continue to leave them feeling unnecessary pain.

5. Recognize that this is a slow process.
It is human nature to want to avoid pain and guilt. Partners want to stop feeling pain as quickly as they can; Addicts want to get out of their guilt and shame as quickly as they can. People often want to skip over this part of the healing, but it is essential. Partners will need to move through the stages of grief, including anger and pain, in order to heal. Addicts will need to experience healthy levels of guilt and shame to get into recovery. So while it may seem easier to “get it all out on the table” right now, true growth and change is an evolving process.

Get the Support You Need

So, as a partner, before you go digging for more information to help you understand “why they would do this,” and, as an addict, before you decide that “if I just tell them everything then I won’t feel so bad, and they will feel better” – think again. If you are the partner of an addict, find some support: someone who, initially, can just hear you vent. Take a step back, knowing that you are taking care of yourself by not exposing yourself to more pain at a time when you are already struggling. If you are an addict, know that you will need to share and accept appropriate accountability for your behaviors when you are in a mature place with healthy remorse. To prevent any further hurt and pain, it is essential to do this in a very measured way, as described above. The ultimate goal of this process is honesty and healing.