Overcoming Mental Health Stigma in the Church
Originally appeared and adapted from our Healthy Minds Report Email — subscribe below.
Why most campaigns make stigma worse.
Three tips to first “break” a stigma culture
Two ways to “build” a stigma-free church culture (and an example)
When I've been asked about mental health stigma, I often respond by saying ...
“Stigma is a dignity issue, not a campaign issue ... and it’s easier than we think to ‘break mental health stigma.’ We have to rethink our methods.”
Learning from stigma research to rethink our methods.
Years ago, after extensively looking at the mental health/illness stigma studies (dating back to the 1950s), it is no wonder society and the church have struggled with it.
Here's the snapshot from the mental health stigma studies.
🤔 | The anti-stigma campaigns have moved heads, not hearts.
> Anti-stigma campaigns using mental health statistics and scientific terms and labels helped people understand the necessity of mental health professional care but made it a "them" or "otherness" issue. Some studies showed the campaigns had no effect and increased stigma.
> Overall, the campaigns overwhelm people with no way to help ... reinforcing the idea that "they" need doctors, not me/us to help. (1)
The solution? "Build a culture, not a campaign."
Researchers point back to the solution proposed by one of the original findings:
“Stigma is fundamentally a social phenomenon rooted in social relationships and shaped by the culture and structure of society. If stigma emanates from social relationships, the solution to understanding and changing must similarly be embedded in changing social relationships and the structures that change them.”
Every culture has its own unique language for social relationships ... thus, "breaking stigma" is in building a dignity-rich, mental health Cultural Narrative.
Here are three simple and easy ways to do “break” stigma and then later how to “build” a stigma-free environment.
💡 1️⃣ RELATE the topic through stories.
Jesus taught with parables, analogies, metaphors, and hyperboles to convey the deep reality of his love, life, and Kingdom. Our brains are hardwired to respond to stories, so lead with stories, NOT statistics.
💡 2️⃣ RESONATE the topic through humanity (dignity).
Use the stories to normalize it as a human experience, whether that be personally, others, and heroes of the faith.
💡 3️⃣ REALIZE the statistics as a "we" vs. "them."
Use statistics at the end, but personalize the statistics to your community ... using "our, we, and us" language. For example,
"Statistically speaking, did you know up to half of our church youth group are dealing with clinical levels of anxiety with no real help and support? Many are suffering alone with no help from our church."
The key point:
Building a relatable story resonating and realizing the impact within our community naturally leads to everyone looking for creative SOLUTIONS.
Building cultural solutions with a real example!
🤝 Actionable strategy and culture go hand in hand.
💡> The church culture starts to change, reducing mental health stigma, when there is a practical action plan for providing ongoing "growth support," and the senior leadership is involved with stories that reinforce the mental health strategy plan.
💡> Without the above ... all the awareness from the pulpit, seminars, and workshops doesn't move the needle.
This is not just my personal experience with over 14 years working with Grace Alliance in this space, but also on the research of cultural change within businesses and organizations. (3)
1. The cultural strategy solution - a new model of care.
A whole new model for ongoing care and growth support is understood from the pulpit to the pew. This is where our free groups for individuals and families (and other similar options) have met the needs of hundreds of churches, ministries, and programs serving their communities.
2. The senior leader(ship) has to be part of the story.
The research is very clear ... in all cases of culture change, the senior leadership has to be part of the story. (4) The stories create a cultural impact and spread like wildfire (more than any sermon).
Here's a real example as a church first started to implement groups,
A large North Texas church (15K+ members) hosted an afternoon mental health workshop to kickstart our Grace Groups. However, the attendees were surprised to see their senior pastor at the workshop, greeting everyone and giving a heartfelt 2-3 minute opening welcome.
👏 All the attendees felt "seen" and gave their senior pastor a thunderous applause.
It doesn't stop there ... here's another story of this same senior pastor.
A mother and father, who were in distress, asked to meet with the senior pastor and elders for prayer. After ending with meaningful prayer and recognizing that their situation involved mental health challenges, the senior pastor walked the couple across the huge church campus to one of our Family Grace groups already in progress. The senior pastor said, "I think this is where you both need to be."
Surprised, the couple was moved to tears when they discovered that a Christian mental health group for families existed and met in their church. The couple joined, and the Family Grace group provided ongoing pastoral care and growth support.
Actions change culture, not words.
I could go on with other stories ... but this example above is what spreads more than a sermon! These are the type of stories that escape beyond the sanctuary and the church halls and move into the community. This is what moves people remember … actions change culture.
There's more to it all with other creative techniques and ideas, but at least you see the cultural narrative and action needed.
Joe Padilla | Cofounder, Executive Director — Mental Health Grace Alliance
(1) See this research for a good summary of mental health stigma.
(2) Goffman Erving. Stigma: Notes on the Management of Spoiled Identity. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall; 1963.
(3) Jay Barney, Presidential Professor of Strategic Management, Lassonde Chair of Social Entrepreneurship, Academic Co-Chair for the Center for Business Health and Prosperity within the Eccles School of Business at the University of Utah. Coauthor, The Secret of Culture Change: How to Build Authentic Stories That Transform Your Organization.
(4) Ibid.
