Mental Health/Psychiatry

We can't afford to isolate ourselves and simply dismiss these categories as unbiblical. Nor can we afford to accept the entire secular psychiatric diagnostic and treatment enterprise at face value as though Christian Scripture is irrelevant for these complex mental struggles. Instead, we need a balanced, biblically (and scientifically!) informed approach that is neither too warmly embracing nor too coldly dismissive of psychiatric labels and the psychiatric medications that are often prescribed.

Biblical counselor and retired physician, Michael R. Emlet, gives readers a helpful way forward on these important issues as he guides lay and professional helpers in the Christian church through the thicket of mental health diagnoses and treatments in a clear, thoughtful primer in which the Bible informs our understanding of psychiatric diagnoses and the medications that are often recommended based on those labels.

Twice as many women as men will experience depression sometime in their lives, and episodes for women are likely to start at earlier ages, last longer, and recur more frequently, according to the American Academy of Family Physicians (www.aafp.org). Many women are given medication to treat the disease, but medication alone does not always address the underlying emotions which trouble the mind and spirit. Counselor Elyse Fitzpatrick and Dr. Laura Hendrickson provide biblical guidance on how to balance medical intervention with biblical encouragement.

Dr. Laura Hendrickson is a trained psychiatrist, biblical counselor--and the mother of an autistic child. She understands the struggles parents face as they try to communicate with their autism spectrum child and manage behavior challenges.
With an approach that is grounded in a deep understanding of the challenges those caring for autism spectrum children face, Finding Your Child's Way on the Autism Spectrum gives the reader sound, practical tools for understanding how to guide an autism spectrum child to function more fully as the person God created them to be.

The modern self-esteem movement has left us empty and self-focused. We exhaust our healthy introspection and pervert it into constant self-evaluation, wrong views of ourselves, self-accusation, and false guilt. Introspection was never meant to bear such weight. Think Again offers real relief from the burden of introspection that so many of us carry each day. Pastor Jared Mellinger, who tends to overdose on self-analysis himself, shows us how the hope of the gospel can rescue us from the bad fruit of unsound introspection. Mellinger's short, story-filled chapters help readers identify and turn away from unhealthy introspection. There is an outward-focused God who delights to rescue an inward-focused people and lead them into a better way to live. When we truly understand it, we ll see that the gospel actually sets us free from thinking about ourselves too much. We can seek after and pray for the peace and joy the sanity that comes from thinking about ourselves less often.

Everyone feels better some days than others, but some people struggle with exaggerated and unrestrained mood swings. These kinds of mood swings have come to be known as mania, manic-depression, or bipolar disorder. Bipolar disorder is confusing and difficult both for those who struggle with it and for those who care for them. Edward T. Welch acknowledges how difficult bipolar disorder is for everyone involved, describes its effects, and then applies God's Word to this serious, life-dominating struggle. When those who have bipolar disorder learn to understand the challenges of mania and depend on God instead of their own impressions, then mania will not stand in the way of their having rich relationships with God and others.