Even in an increasingly secular society, faith leaders play a large role in the lives of millions of people. In African American communities in particular, there are many who will discuss their problems with their pastors before ever stepping foot in a therapist’s office. For this reason, the Hogg Foundation and others have begun to recognize the invaluable role that faith community leaders can play as both conduits of useful information as well as facilitators of conversation around mental health issues. But what about faith leaders who have their own lived experience of mental illness?
In this episode of Into the Fold, Pastor A.J. Quinton of Diakonos Ministries in Austin, Texas opens up about his own recovery from mental illness, a journey that included multiple suicide attempts and a diagnosis of bipolar disorder, and dispels the myth that pastors can only be useful by maintaining a stoic facade that denies their own vulnerable humanity:
“This is my journey; I am no different from anyone else, and to be able to make that plain to everybody around me sort of allowed some of that pressure to come off,” said Quinton about the benefits of disclosing his own struggles with mental illness. He then adds pointedly, “Number two, if God still loves me I’m really not overly concerned about whether you do or not.”
[For more of this story go to http://mhdaily.org/into-the-fo...er-on-mental-health/]
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