Why Psychiatry Needs to Get Right with God

Friends, modern psychiatry tends to downplay spirituality, but in today's episode of "The Word on Fire Show," Brandon Vogt and I discuss a new Scientific American article suggesting that "Psychiatry Needs to Get Right with God."
The author explains how belief in God is associated with significantly better treatment outcomes for many patients, and therefore patients should have the option to include spirituality in their treatment.
A listener asks, where does one go to get the Catholic Church’s official interpretation of Scripture?
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[@blindlemon9]

I am a clinical psychologist. From my PhD training up until the present day, religion and spirituality has been verboten in both the academy and in clinical practice. It’s tragic. Psychology has betrayed millions of suffering souls.

[@DrBernadetteDulawan]

As a practicing doctor dealing with anxious people this video clarified what I have been looking for! Thanks for your work Bishop Baron! 🙏🌟

[@Nestor123057]

I majored in psychology at a Catholic college. The first thing I realized for myself: Jesus was the greatest psychologist.

[@evaristusmbiydzenyuy4282]

I am from Cameroon and a fully trained Clinical Psycho-Spiritual Therapist and this is now the breakthrough approach in clinical practice, especially in our African Context in which the pillars of psychology, Spirituality and Cultural Dynamics are integrated in the therapeutic processing and treatment of underlying issues bringing about distress in the life of our Clients.

[@geertdecoster5301]

Good theme. Psychiatry doesn't recognise religion. It's that simple. Talk about meditation and you'll get a smile.

[@johnclark1371]

The therapist that I found was not a Christian . As I returned to Catholicism, he was very encouraging and accepted my deep conviction that God was leading me back to the Church. He also noted the improvement in my overall mood and outlook as I became more actively engaged in my faith. There are many therapists out there who are open to the spiritual side of the psyche. If you are a believer or coming into faith, it’s important to find a therapist that understands that humans have a material and spiritual dimension. There are many of them out there who will help you deepen your faith.

[@Rowena-dl3rk]

I had experience severe anxiety and depression for 5 months, and I felt so hopeless , i toke medicines from doctors but I felt worse not until I received grace from Christ to trust in Him, I learn to accept my suffering believing that He loves me and will not abandoned me. And right then I received great grace of peace and love that comes from Him. Yes, im healed only in Christ. All honor,praise and glory to the most holy trinity and to the blessed virgin mary.

[@lukasztopczewski7570]

I was cured 2,5 yrs ago from worst kind of neurosis. That was due to the really miracle made by Jesus. That was a process including Bible reading many times a week, Adoration, sacraments, long walks, practicing gratitude and sevice to the others in need. That opening for those in need during my illness made me cured. Medications helped me also but real cure came from the spiritual side.

[@opensourceguy730]

Theodore Dalrymple, himself a retired psychiatrist, wrote a great book called “Admiral Evasions: How modern psychology undermines morality.” While psychiatry and psychology have the flavor of science, they aren’t at all scientific fields, and the replication of results is nearly impossible. I encourage people to search up “the replication crisis in the social sciences.” Sadly, people are turning to these “secular gurus” for answers to the tragic dimensions of life and find themselves wanting. The Bible offers some of the best psychology around: as the Good Book says, there is nothing new under the sun, at least where human behavior is concerned.

[@nickmedley4749]

When it’s grounded in a Christian anthropology, psychology/psychiatry are amazing tools for human and spiritual formation!

[@SeverinoSE]

Bishop Barron, I once went through a depression and ended up at a mental hospital. The psychiatrist who saw me was Muslim and when I talked to him about finding hope in my faith (Catholicism), reading the bible, receiving the sacraments, he told me it's all useless and that it won't help. That shattered me, as you can imagine. I fell even deeper into the depression.

[@imnotbrian]

I wasn’t Christian during the 2020 lockdown in Melbourne. I was alone without seeing anyone I knew for 6 weeks (aside through a screen), it was very hard.

[@deborahtomney8392]

As a psychiatric therapist, I can totally support what this article says, Body, mind, and spirit are

[@frankjamesiii5362]

I've struggled with personality disorder, anxiety and depression and drug addiction since I was a teen. I've seen psyche doctors off and on again through my life. I get a diagnosis and some medication and nothing progresses. My heart was truly restless untill I rested in the Lord. I've never felt any type of change nomatter how hard I tried untill I came to the Lord and repented. Untill I looked inward and truly saw myself. I needed to let go of my control and learn to trust God. I've always believed in God.

[@MyCatholicBookNook]

I agree with much you have to say. I have suffered from quite a severe mental illness since I was 6. I was an atheist most of my life and was suicidal when I converted to Catholicism, which saved my life, or I should say my friendship with a priest (who is a big fan of yours) saved my life. Because the problem is that many people can come seeking truth and healing from the church and instead get shallow platitudes and judgement. This is not the fault of the church itself but of us individual Catholics who aren’t always her best representatives. I was lucky I met the right Catholic, but it so easily could have gone the other way.

[@tommore3263]

Bishop Barron; your sacrifice of your life to God for our behalf is having wonderful and frankly incalculable results .

[@ecstaticallyeverafterwithc5904]

I am so glad you are speaking about this. My faith has strengthened 100x since the beginning of the pandemic.

[@jimmalloy7279]

Truth, excellent! I remember when I started going to Church again about 12 years ago, at Mass, during the confiteor, experiencing love all around me, that we were all praying for each other and ourselves, with all the angels and saints at God's alter in heaven, and that it is God who heals us. Things quickly flashed through my mind, that the sacraments, especially confession and communion, are the best "self help" program ever invented. I wished Hollywood people, especially, could know this. I thought of all the self help books I'd read to gain a little of what I though was feeling better about some things, that would vanish almost immediately after I finished the book. When I got into my car after Mass that day, I remember taking a deep breath and realizing so much emotional pain I carried with me my whole life was gone, and it has never come back.

[@maribalquiedra6582]

I am proud to say I did influence my psychiatrist even just to a small degree that treatment/ healing could include the spiritual aspect of my life. I always think now that anxiety and depression could be diminished or completely healed even by a very strong Faith in God. I believe in God being the one and only true healer. And that if doctors considered the need for spiritual healing - therefore, healing body, mind and spirit.

[@elimerc84]

As a hospital social worker, majority of the time, the most miserable people are the ones who aren't affiliated with any religion. God certainly heals, thank you Bishop Barron, I'm sure this will help my profession.