Amid what experts call a global mental health crisis, a new article series has been released highlighting the Bible’s role in promoting mental wellness.
“Mental Health — Help From the Bible,” available free of charge both in print and on Jehovah’s Witnesses’ official website, jw.org, encourages readers to seek assistance with mental health concerns and outlines how guidance found in Scripture can help in practical ways. The lead article in the series, “A Worldwide Mental Health Crisis,” not only documents contributing factors but also defines what a mental disorder is and what it is not.
“The Bible is not a medical guidebook, but its enduring principles are as powerful today as they ever were,” said Robert Hendriks, U.S. spokesperson for the organization. “This special series provides comfort and strategies based on those principles. We are thrilled to provide such a powerful resource to the world.”
San Antonio residents Jeanette Craddock and Peggy Love struggle with depression and anxiety, and those feelings were exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Love struggled with loneliness caused by social distancing. “I did very much miss seeing people face-to face because I’m a very social person,” she said.
“The pandemic heightened my anxiety,” said Craddock. “The isolation was not good for me. Being around others helps me get my mind off me. It’s time away from what is going on in my head. Life became really difficult during that time.”
Their feelings are echoed by millions worldwide. The World Health Organization’s 2022 report on global mental health — the largest report of its kind since the turn of the century — found that during the first year of the pandemic alone, anxiety and depression rates rose 25%. The same report called the global response to mental health needs “insufficient and inadequate,” noting that many people who have a mental disorder have no access to care — numbering into the hundreds of millions worldwide.
Love finds that reading the Bible and Bible-based articles on depression help her to cope. “Comfort from the Scriptures reassures me that God loves me and understands me too. I keep reminding myself of that,” she said.
Both women found consolation from reading the articles in “Mental Health — Help From the Bible.”
“Sometimes I start doubting my relationship with God. The articles helped me to know I’m not alone. They helped to see what others are going through and how they received help from God. He helps them and he helps me,” said Craddock.
“Mental Health — Help From the Bible” is available free of charge and without a subscription on jw.org