by Phoebe Farag Mikhail

I’ve been asked, on more than one occasion, if someone experiencing depression can just read my book about joy and feel better—in other words, just read my book rather than see a therapist or take medication.

My short answer has always been no. Anyone who is suffering from clinical depression or other form of mental illness or mood disorder should always seek the professional help of a trained and licensed therapist, counselor and/or psychiatrist. Spiritual books can help, but they are no replacement for visiting a therapist. When my carpal tunnel syndrome flares up, I rub my wrists with holy oil AND take two ibuprofen. It’s not important which one is the cause of symptom relief – they may, in fact, be working together.

And that’s why my longer answer is still no, but a nuanced no.

Spiritual practices that help us experience joy – the experience of giving and receiving sacrificial love, as described in my book, Putting Joy into Practice – can certainly give us an emotional and even physical boost. Many of these practices have been linked scientifically to positive emotional and physical outcomes. See Robert Emmons’ work on thanksgiving, for example, or the various studies showing how helping others increases oxytocin, the “happiness hormone.” Surely, putting joy into practice in an ongoing and consistent way might be good for our both our spiritual health and our mental health.

Social isolation is a proven contributing factor to many forms of mental and physical illness, and community and connection, the kind we experience when giving and receiving hospitality, for example, are proven antidotes to this. We all know that infants who are hugged and snuggled grow more quickly and thrive more than children who are not, even though they may be fed the same amount and offered the same amount of medical treatment. Studies of resilience in adults often point to consistent belonging and participation in a faith community as a positive factor.

In addition, one of the “joy thieves,” or the “passions,” as I describe in my book, is “acedia,” or despondency, a form of spiritual restlessness or apathy. Its symptoms can mirror some symptoms of clinical depression. The line between them, in fact, might not be a hard one. One unchecked, in fact, might lead to another. And thus, we should not treat one without treating the other. Someone experiencing acedia (or “the noonday devil” as the desert fathers and mothers described it) should certainly visit a father of confession, participate in church and community life, pray, fast, reach out to friends and family. These may suffice, but why not also get an appointment with a therapist?

A therapist might be able to help identify if there are symptoms that are more related to an underlying pathology and need additional care.  Similarly, someone already being treated for clinical depression or other related illnesses stands only to benefit from the spiritual practices that will help heal the spirit and the soul as medicine heals the body.

Because Ecclesiasticus (the Wisdom of Sirach) is a deuterocanonical book in the Bible, many of us are not familiar with its wisdom. Yet perhaps our hesitance to seek help when we need it – both medical and spiritual – would disappear if we took this wisdom seriously:

“My child, when you are ill, do not rebel, but pray to the Lord and he will heal you.

Renounce your faults, keep your hands unsoiled, and cleanse your heart from all sin.

Offer incense and a memorial of fine flour, make as rich an offering as you can afford.

Then let the doctor take over – the Lord created him too – do not let him leave you, for you need him.

There are times when good health depends on doctors.

For they, in their turn, will pray the Lord to grant them the grace to relieve and to heal, and so prolong your life.”

Ecclesiasticus (Wisdom of the Son of Sirach 38:9-14)

If this applies to doctors who care for our physical health, how much more so to practitioners who care for our mental health? We are integrated human beings. Our thoughts are linked to our emotions, our emotions to our bodies, our bodies to our spirits. When Christ became incarnate, He took on all of those things.

In the twenty-first century we are now starting to recover from over a century of science and medicine that has attempted to divide our bodies from our minds and souls. “Holistic” and “integrated” medicine are becoming part of mainstream health care vocabulary. We are now recognizing how much our mental health is a complex system that is connected to our physical, emotional and spiritual health. There should be no stigma attached to caring for our emotional and mental health—we should celebrate and encourage this.

On the Fountains of Carrots podcast recently, one of the hosts told the story of a married couple who experienced infant loss. Knowing ahead of time that couples who experience infant loss can also experience troubles in their marriage, they lined up couples’ therapy to help them work through their grief even before they actually experienced troubles in their marriage.  They didn’t wait to determine if they would need help or not – they preemptively acted. What a model for us.

In the Coptic Orthodox Litany for the Sick, we pray,

All souls that are distressed or bound, grant them mercy, O Lord; grant them rest, grant them refreshment, grant them grace, grant them help, grant them salvation, grant them the forgiveness of their sins and their iniquities. As for us also, O Lord, the maladies of our souls, heal; and those of our bodies too, do cure. O You, the true Physician of our souls and our bodies, the Bishop of all flesh, visit us with Your salvation.

The healing that God grants is mercy, rest, refreshment, grace, help, salvation and the forgiveness of sins. The absence of these truly affect both our bodies and our souls. And thus we should also never be ashamed to tell our doctors that we are praying and asking our friends and family to pray for us, of asking for a priest to come and anoint us with oil. And when we are suffering from any sort of illness, physical, emotional, mental, we should not deprive ourselves of the help that community can provide.

Let’s erase the stigma of seeking help. The idea that we can live this life alone and conquer all our difficulties—physical, emotional, mental, spiritual—on our own is a dangerous myth. We need each other.

My dear friend Silvia Farag (a sister in spirit and probably also a distant cousin) has started a wonderful mental health initiative for the Coptic community in New Jersey: the Coptic Center for Counseling (website coming soon: copticcenterforcounseling.com). Silvia is a longtime practicing licensed mental health practitioner herself. It’s been her lifelong dream and I am so glad she is accomplishing it in the service of others. She’s accepting donations right now to get this much needed service off the ground. It will soon become a registered nonprofit as well. Please visit her Facebook campaign to make a donation.

I will also donate $1 the Coptic Center for Counseling for every copy of my book, Putting Joy into Practice: Seven Ways to Lift Your Spirit from the Early Church that is purchased from October 25-October 31. How will I know? When you purchase a book, make a comment below! Even if you already have a copy, it makes a great gift, and the holidays are right around the corner. Let’s put joy into practice. 

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