Mental health. When last did you hear those words? Let’s go deeper. How often do we discuss the mental health of congregants in the church? While you chew on that, today we will be discussing all things mental health with the beautiful Dr Monica Ndala. Not only is she working as a Consultant Specialist Psychiatrist at Letaba Regional Hospital but is also the first lady of God reigns International Church situated in Tzaneen. We tackle mental health issues as she gives us a medical as well as a kingdom perspective to the topic.
“Often times when we talk about healing and deliverance, we usually refer to the healing of the physical body, but healing of the mind is not taken into cognizance”, she says. She says that it’s crucial that we address this in the church as the human being is a spirit with a soul living in the body, which she refers to as the container. “The soul and spirit are not tangible therefore when they are in pain or distress, it can be expressed through the body. For example, with depression the soul is in pain but because it is not tangible, the pain is expressed through the body in the form of back pains, stomach aches or other symptoms.” she says
She further addresses the misconceptions that have found a home in our churches with regards to mental health issues. These misconceptions include people thinking that having a mental illness is a spiritual attack or even a reflection of the amount of faith that one has. “Others flock to churches when having mental health related issues but when having a tooth ache, you first go to the dentist before thinking of that element as a spiritual attack. That is basically like saying other body parts can have diseases but not the brain”, she says. Due to the misconceptions, people result in blaming themselves because of the fear of being stigmatised, misunderstood or regarded as someone of low faith.
As a church leader herself, she says it is very important for church leaders to encourage their congregants to take care of their mental health and to seek for professional help when needed. “We as Christians believe in the healing power of God but we need to understand that God also uses different types of people to provide healing for his people. This includes medical professionals such as psychologists and psychiatrists”, she says. In addition to that she further quotes scriptures that echo her statements such as Mathew 9 vrs 12 [NIV] “It is not the healthy that need a doctor, but those who are ill” and also Jeremiah 8 vrs 22[NIV] “Is there no Balm in Gilead? Is there no physician there? Why then is there no healing for the wound of my people?”
Her slogan is “Doctors treat, and God heals.” She elaborates more on this by using an example of someone who has fractured their arm. “When you fracture your arm, you take it to the doctor for treatment of Plaster of Paris and painkillers. After six weeks when the Plaster of Paris is removed and the bone is x-rayed, it shows the bone has healed. It is not the doctor that has done the healing but God who can make new bone form to join the broken ends. The doctor will have played his part and leave the healing to God” she says.
Her advice to people not only Christians is to understand that all body parts including the brain can experience pain. This means we should love and care for our brains and give them the same attention we give the rest of our body parts. In conclusion she says, “as the church we need to assist with the de-stigmatization of people with mental health challenges and refer to professionals who can assist them. Be kind to your mind and other people’s minds.”
