“It's easy to dismiss it as simply a spiritual problem.” Experiences of mental distress within evangelical Christian communities: A qualitative survey

Abstract

Evidence suggests that faith communities can support psychological wellbeing but can also potentially diminish wellbeing through stigma, imposed spiritualization, and marginalization. In particular, for evangelical Christianity, whose theological praxis typically accentuates literalist spiritual onto-etiologies, including the belief that mental distress can be treated solely through spiritual intervention (prayer, fasting, and deliverance), there may be negative implications for Christians with mental distress. The current qualitative survey examined the responses of 293 self-identified evangelical Christians, concerning their experiences of mental distress in relation to their church community. An inductive thematic analysis revealed five themes: 1) Tensions between Faith and Suffering; 2) Cautions about a Reductive Spiritualization; 3) Feeling Othered and Disconnected; 4) Faith as Alleviating Distress; and 5) Inviting an Integrationist Position. Findings reveal stigma and the totalizing spiritualization of mental distress can be experienced as both dismissive and invalidating and can problematize secular help-seeking. This lends support to previous research which has suggested that evangelical Christian communities tend to link mental distress to spiritual deficiencies, which can hold potentially negative consequences for their wellbeing. Nevertheless, a degree of complexity and nuance emerged whereby spiritual explanations and interventions were also experienced as sometimes helpful in alleviating suffering. Overall, findings suggest evangelical communities are increasingly adopting integrationist understandings of mental distress, whereby spiritual narratives are assimilated alongside the biopsychosocial. We argue that church communities and psychotherapeutic practitioners should support movement from a position of dichotomizing psychological suffering (e.g., spiritual vs. biopsychosocial) towards a spiritually syntonic frame, which contextualizes distress in terms of the whole person. Considerations for psychotherapeutic practice and further research are made.