It has recently been Mental Health Awareness week in the UK and hopefully it will have gone some way to enlighten the fear and lessen the stigma that surround conditions such as depression, anxiety, bipolar, stress and other similar disorders. The support provided by the Royal princes William and Harry recently has highlighted the issue of mental health across Britain. Personalities from sport, stage and screen have also been lining up to add their own unique insights into a much-misunderstood part of our human nature. It must be helpful to shine light onto this shadowy area and dispel some of the myths and mistakes that we may hold on to.

Diane and I know too much about this whole area from past experience. Both our mothers needed lots of support and help as they battled with long term mental health conditions. Diane suffered really badly from anxiety and depression for the first 13 years of our marriage, and at various times in my 22 years of serious ill health I have known bouts of depression, paranoia, mental confusion and great fear. Yet, I know that God has been with us through all this and that he understands the unfathomable depths of the human psyche. He made us so he can mend us.

There is a lot of helpful insight in the Bible on this subject, telling us in picturesque language to “strengthen those who have tired hands and encourage those who have weak knees”. In the New Testament St Paul writes about his own battle with depression (2 Cor. 1). Jesus also healed the sick, changing lives, and giving a new start to people who had been tortured by years of chronic ill health, urging his followers to receive his love and make it known to others. And he calls his church to be a community of care, understanding and grace that will offer safety, acceptance and patient support to all in need. When that need is invisible or at least non-physical, as in mental illness, then the cost of that care and understanding may be high, but it is a vital part of our calling and mission.

Research shows that during any single week an average 1 in 6 of us will experience some mental health incident. Families, friends and work colleagues will all be affected by this. If we are not suffering ourselves just now, we still owe it to others to show respect, love and understanding when they are overtaken by these marks of our frail humanity.

Jesus said “Come to me all you who are weary and heavy burdened, and I will give you rest”. Those of us who follow him should also be a means of support to all who stagger under the weight of modern living and its many pressures.