Christian Living

What is mental illness? It is not found in the Bible; it is not a Biblical concept. In fact, it is un-Biblical! 

Founder of the Biblical Counseling movement, Pastor and Christian Counselor Jay E Adams said on his website that all illness is organic.   

So, problems are really either physical/organic, which an MD can handle, or they arespiritual/moral/mental, which a pastor or a Christian brother or sister can help others with.  But, Dr.Adams explained, then came psychobabble with itsthird way.  Problems were neither organic or spiritual/moral. Strange! 

This premise logically leads to the statement a New Jersey politicianon ananti-drug taskforce made: "Addiction is a disease – not a personal failure”,  

Modern worldlycounseling thought it could help people get the fruits of the spirit – love, joy, peace, self- control... -without the Bible, without God, Dr. Adams continued.  

Recently, some people have been calling drug addiction a disease.  Officially, Pennsylvania calls drug addiction "substance abuse disorder." Repeatedly, aguy in scrubs wearing a stethoscope, whom my friend calls "the nudge", who comes on TV to advertise The Addiction Network rehab center, stresses "drug addiction is a disease."  

A disease is organic.  Yet in psychobabble, which has tossed its hat into the ring to fight drug abuse, drug abuse is a disease.  A true Biblical interpretation of drug abuse is that it is a result of a moral failing, a character flaw. Both drug abuse and chronic drunkenness are examples of a besetting sin. 

There are critics even in the secular world about calling substance abuse a disease. As reported on Wikipedia, they say that the disease theory, applied to drug and alcohol abuse “exists only to benefit the professionals’ and governmental agencies responsible for providing recovery services, and the disease model has not offered a solution for those attempting to stop abusive alcohol and drug use. 

Some physicians, scientists and others have rejected the disease theory of alcoholism on logical, empirical and other grounds.  Indeed, some addiction experts such as Stanton Peele are outspoken in their rejection of the disease model, and other prominent alcohol researchers such as Nick Heather have authored books intending to disprove the disease model. 

Some critics of the disease model argue alcoholism still involves choice, not total loss of control, and stripping alcohol abusers of their choice, by applying the disease concept, is a threat to the health of the individual; the disease concept gives the substance abuser an excuse. A disease cannot be cured by force of will; therefore, adding the medical label transfers the responsibility from the abuser to caregivers. Inevitably the abusers become unwilling victims, and just as inevitably they take on that role.  

These critics hold that by removing some of the stigma and personal responsibility the disease concept actually increases alcoholism and drug abuse and thus the need for treatment. This is somewhat supported by a study which found that a greater belief in the disease theory of alcoholism and higher commitment to total abstinence to be factors correlated with increased likelihood that an alcoholic would have a full-blown relapse (substantial continued use) following an initial lapse (single use). However, the authors noted that “the direction of causality cannot be determined from these data. It is possible that belief in alcoholism as a loss-of-control disease predisposes clients to relapse, or that repeated relapses reinforce clients’ beliefs in the disease model.“ 

If you are sick, have a disease, go to an MD. The Young Rascals were wrong:  

"I was feeling, so bad 
I asked my family doctor just what I had 
I said Dr. (Dr.) 
Mr. M.D. (Dr.) 
Now can you tell me what's ailing me (Dr.) 
He said yeah,yeah,yeah,yeah,yeah (yeah,yeah,yeah,yeah,yeah) 
Yes indeed, all I, I really need 

(Good love) Now gimme that good goodlovin' 
(Good love) All I need is love" 

If you have a problem that deals with loving your neighbor and loving God, then go to a Christian counselor who counsels strictly on a Biblical basis. 

"All Scripture is given by God. And all Scripture is useful for teaching and for showing people what is wrong in their lives. It is useful for correcting faults and teaching the right way to live." 2 Timothy 3:16-17