Psychiatric diagnoses 'not fit for purpose', scientifically meaningless

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/07/190708131152.htm
An excerpt:
Professor Peter Kinderman, University of Liverpool, said: "This study provides yet more evidence that the biomedical diagnostic approach in psychiatry is not fit for purpose. Diagnoses frequently and uncritically reported as 'real illnesses' are in fact made on the basis of internally inconsistent, confused and contradictory patterns of largely arbitrary criteria. The diagnostic system wrongly assumes that all distress results from disorder, and relies heavily on subjective judgments about what is normal."

Saoirse Kennedy-Hill on her experience of mental illness

http://deerfieldscroll.com/2016/02/mental-illness-at-deerfield/

On Mental Health, Christian Theology and Education

(Recently I attended an RZIM Summit, a Christian conference attended by some 80 or so people from across Canada. The subject of the gathering was 'Clarity in a Culture of Confusion'. During the event I randomly sat next to two other persons who shared that, like me, they had spent time in a psychiatric hospital. All of us agreed that our stories need to be heard. I would add that our experiences need to be understood biblically and theologically and that both self and communal understanding may assist others to avoid or at least minimize further suffering. The following was posted originally in April of 2009 and has been edited somewhat this summer.)

Christ is risen from the dead! So we Christians say.
He is risen indeed; He's alive today!

Some important questions and points to ponder. Hopefully we can together finds some answers, God's mercy being upon us.

Why, one wonders, does mental illness, and even suicide, afflict Christian families?

According to the Canadian Mental Health Association, one in five of us suffers mild forms of mental distress. One in ten will suffer a major crisis in their lifetime. One in a hundred will suffer from schizophrenia.

Just as cancer was once a taboo subject, not discussed and certainly not admitted to, schizophrenia, psychosis and major depression have until recently been unworthy of serious public attention, even in our churches. In spite of the prevalence of mental illness in the general population, somehow it has not been given the necessary attention. We talk more about distant, and sometimes too near, terrorist acts and threats of economic disaster. Yet we struggle to address this widely known crisis.

It is but a window on an even deeper issue: our spiritual health, or lack thereof. Some of us, even some of our leaders, exhibit questionable symptoms and appear somewhat disconnected from God, His people and the world, functioning in our own virtual world, even using jargon unintelligible outside that world.

Scripture says, "Clap your hands all you peoples, Shout to the Lord, all the earth, with loud songs of joy", yet from childhood we're taught to be quiet in church. We're called to sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs to one another, yet few churches really allow this to take place. Everything is 'pre-scripted' and the Holy Spirit is made redundant. We're expected to be able to talk about our faith to our neighbours, however most of the time ordinary believers are not even allowed to address the regular assemblies of God to share what the Lord is doing in their own lives!

Are our leaders acting as servants of the Living God? Or are they exhibiting a form of spiritual schizophrenia, hearing the Voice of God and seeing visions, but then doing things contrary to their own words and beliefs?

Here in Canada, as in other places, there has been a tendency among some officials in the more liberal Christian churches to foster unrest and legally push toward denominational division. The governors of our churches have used religious structures such as synods and presbyteries for socio-political purposes. This is both unbiblical and anti-Christian. Anglican Church leaders have brought legal arguments against godly ministers and their congregations before the secular courts. This has happened despite the clear injunction against such action found in Holy Scripture. In the U.S. denominational officials have even tried to install as church leaders people who believe in and practice non-Christian faiths. Their abuse of position and pseudo-spiritual authority is being seen for what it is: hypocrisy, arrogance and willful deceit.

Those who insist on pharisaic disobedience, which often comes with top-down leadership, will eventually discover the bankruptcy of their position. They show by their actions that they deny or ignore the reality that both our global society and the ecclesial family have changed and can no longer be held within the denominational boundaries outlined since the Reformation. Such a break between thought and action, or lack of appropriate engagement with reality, is one of the ways that schizophrenia has been described.

Why do some church leaders, and those who follow them, act in spite of reality, sometimes even against biblical values? Why are so many church meetings devoted exclusively to budgeting and servicing money? Why is church growth considered so important? Why do we rarely speak in our churches about ministry to and by Christians outside of traditional church settings?

Have deficiencies in theological study and application contributed to the prevalence of mental illness among Canadians?

For those of us whose churches are more formal, we have an "inherited attitude toward the liturgical act (which) reflects a kind of schizoid state. We hear but do not really hear. The liturgy is an encapsulated experience, entered into in isolation from real human experiences. It does not connect with the real world because it has been shaped by a piety which is often consciously an escape from the pressures of the real world. Liturgical time is seen as ‘holy time’ working according to its own laws, and feeding our hunger and thirst for God. But it does not connect for the great majority of our people with the real choices of daily life." - from 'Sacraments and Liturgy: The Outward Signs', by Louis Weil.

Perhaps there might be redemptive value to some degree of dissociative thinking and behaviour. The prophets of Israel often showed schizoid tendencies. The difference between clinical illness and prophetic insight can be razor thin. Madness is after all a matter of judgment. A measure of openness to the Holy Spirit has often been seen as eccentric. Just look at the record in chapter two of the Book of Acts!

Anton T. Boison discussed his own psychotic breaks and suggested that they represented efforts to reintegrate his personality. He developed an empirical theology which sought to study the patient, his symptoms and the healing process. He became one of the founders of clinical pastoral education. This field has largely been taken over by secular psychologies which allow the patient to become a subject for experimental testing of theory. Pastoral theology has thus been transformed from the divine cure of souls into the pseudo-Christian effort to correct human flaws by human techniques.

Arno Gruen describes the folly of so-called normal behaviour when it is shown to be counter-productive. (see his book, 'The Insanity of Normality') Benoit Mandelbrot, the father of fractal geometry, has been pointing out, for several years, inaccuracies in the financial formulae used to predict market behaviour. Could there be similar errors in the spiritual formulae which our churches develop to meet their 'objectives'?

Psychosis is too real. Suicide is too real. Does it matter what label is used? Whether mental or spiritual illness, it cannot be denied but it is often avoided, and is shuffled back into the pack of issues for society to deal with. The presenting problems are dealt with in sullen isolation by individuals, families, close friends and clinical support teams.

The pain of exposing these wounds is intense. But it must be so. Just as physical disease demands treatment, the 'cure of souls' is essential, not optional.

Is your church comfortable with discussing poverty and mental illness? How do we address such difficult issues? Do we really believe in the power of prayer? If so, how should we pray in particular circumstances? Why are we so willing to leave it to other professionals to tackle these problems with sociological or medical techniques? Do we doubt the promises to heal which God has given to us? Why do some clergy deny the reality of mental illness? (See the study done by researchers at Baylor University at http://www.baylormag.com/story.php?story=006239 )

True leaders cultivate the ability to foresee events and potential circumstances. Robert Greenleaf claimed that it was actually "necessary (for a good leader) to live a sort of schizoid life, always at two levels of consciousness, both in the real world -- concerned, responsible, effective, value oriented and also above it, seeing the actual reality, being deeply involved in daily events, but having the perspective of a long sweep of history and looking to, and planning for, the indefinite future".

Our culture today seems highly schizophrenic, having lost its bearings on issues of truth and morality. However the schizophrenic features of our churches, and of our various denominational divisions, are hardly conducive to good mental health. Many families are divided by ideologies, both political and religious. We come to accept as irreparable these fractures in our communities. We know that Jesus prayed for unity among His followers yet we sometimes fail to build links with other Christians. We're sometimes told not to bother even with other churches within our own denominations: there's too much inertia against change! Is it possible any longer to believe Holy Scripture and at the same time tolerate and support the unbiblical systems which separate us from one another?

We must recover the model for servant leadership given to us by the Lord Jesus. Some are called as overseers, some as pastors, some as evangelists, some teachers, and some healers. These are identified by the body of Christ and not by secular non-believing institutions. What then is the purpose of theological education and how is it related to Christian leadership?

Too often, “emotional pressures (have been) adapted to the use of those who wish to impose what to think without regard to how to think...Teaching the young those aspects of religious doctrine which are beyond their intellectual capacity and relevant experience to understand and to assimilate often lays the groundwork for emotional collapse and serious mental disorder of which guilt complexes and disabling fear are the symptoms.” So wrote Donald G. Stewart in 'Christian Education and Evangelism'.

Students must pay large fees to participate in theological reflection, study and discussion. Until recently Christians lacking financial resources were denied a part in theological discussion. The internet has changed matters somewhat. Our leaders have been trained by many who gained their credentials either by manipulating and using the educational system or by tolerating and surviving it. In some circles the value of theological education has long been suspect. Academic study tends by its nature to reinforce a certain detachment from reality. It promotes the analysis of concepts and the search for historical context, usually with adherence to a denominational worldview. It reinforces an artificial gap between church and seminary, between life and study. In some cases we have even allowed non-Christians the exercise of authority in these institutions. Is it wise, some ask, to entrust students, and their questions, solely to professional theologians?

Lee Smolin writes in his book, 'The Trouble with Physics', about the way that academic studies can be diverted from experimentally verifiable truth towards highly speculative theory. Christianity is often formally taught as a set of propositions to be believed, or else! We may have avoided false philosophies, as Paul advises, but we have often not recognized the importance and value of a theologically sound biblical philosophy. This has not helped The Lord's people in developing a faithful, lifelong relationship with the Living God.

Education, done well, involves much more than filling students with facts and theories. At its best, it is an attempt to lead people out of darkness and ignorance into light and wisdom, an attempt to develop competence and ability in the area of study. In short, good leaders show the way as well as talk about it.

Isn’t it interesting that young people and new believers are quite perceptive in pointing out inconsistencies in church life? Secular processes that assume the ignorance of the student tend to undermine the beliefs and experiences of candidates for ministry. Yet, isn’t the experience and wisdom of even the biblically grounded student usually ignored by the seminary? This is a tragedy. How many lives have been ruined as a consequence of inadequate approaches to the training and development of potential leaders?

For some years, "seminary and divinity school students (have) complained that practical courses lack intellectual rigor and that scholarly courses seem irrelevant to their vocational and professional goals. The classical fourfold curriculum (church history, biblical, systematic and practical theology) creates an enormous gap between the academic and practical aspects of a ministerial curriculum. Just as important, this standard curriculum eliminates theology from the core of both practical and academic studies. Theology as a theoretical discipline appears disconnected from the skills needed to be a successful parish pastor. Theology as an inquiry emerging from faith and piety appears to lack the marks of an impartial and critical discipline." - Dr. Ronald F. Thiemann, 1987, Harvard Divinity School, Cambridge, Mass. taken from this article which appeared in the Christian Century, February 4-11, 1987 date, pps. 106-108. Copyright by the Christian Century Foundation; www.christiancentury.org.

...Why do so many newly ordained clergy report being unprepared for pastoral ministry?

Front-line ministers of the gospel are isolated from and can feel abandoned by ivory tower theologians. Students are caught in the crunch, trapped by desire for ordination, emerging only to perpetuate a sick system. Yet many Christians have refused to undergo the theological re-education process imposed by institutional religion and have chosen lay ministry as being more effective, pursuing self-directed study, independent counsel and only occasionally partaking of the standard academic fare.

It seems to escape the notice of some professional academics, and others, that true followers of Jesus, both young and old, are already primarily theologians, already leaders. Some lead behind the scenes. Others share reflections and insights through writing or speaking. Some are pastors. Some are called to the battlefront in politics and administration, in secular or spiritual realms.

Do you know of any seminary which has these issues on its radar screen? Where do you find theological work being done to investigate and comprehend the ways that spirituality informs and supplements medical practice? Given these questions, and more, how do we identify and engage theologically informed people who can help put the experience of the average believer in proper context? Is it acceptable, or even possible, for only one or two people to fill this role for a whole congregation? What means should we use to access the combined wisdom of the community?

I submit that, for our day, the crucial need is for God’s people to pray against our national and international schizophrenic behaviour and to pray that faithful Christians quickly regain effective oversight and control of their theological seminaries. We must defend against interference from the secular authorities of the university. The local church must be fully involved in the seminary teaching and learning experience. We must find a way to truly do Practical Theology. Clergy must be prepared to chastise, exhort, inspire and empower both parishioners and students under their charge. Anything less falls short of their call as pastors of God's church. Likewise we as laity must, when necessary, gently but firmly hold our leaders to account, as taught by Holy Scripture.

Is your church part of the problem? Do your leaders preach freedom or legalism? Are you part of God's solution? Do you follow Jesus, no matter what anyone says? Have your leaders been trained to identify and empower people to use their gifts and talents in both church and society?

It appears that churches with conservative, biblical agendas are growing. Christians in Canada, and elsewhere, are showing signs of rising from a deep slumber. We are beginning to realize that not a few of us are dealing with mental illness. We are learning again the power of prayer and utter reliance on the blood of Jesus as the only power effective against certain conditions. God's Word calls us to pray and to rejoice without ceasing, even in the midst of our personal and corporate struggles.

Popular opinion and political influence too easily push truth aside, at least until disasters force belated adjustments. How do we cope with the frantic pace of life, the constant bombardment by bad news, the instantaneous communication of ideas on all conceivable subjects? Two books, Nancy Pearcey's 'Total Truth' and Abdu Murray's 'Saving Truth', both point out the ways our post-truth culture of materialist or naturalist scientism has distorted and almost lost our Christian heritage. No wonder confusion and so-called 'political incorrectness' is so prevalent in our public and private discourse.

Only as Christians live and work together can we be of any value to God and His World. Can we be really be inclusive and evangelistic, catholic and reformed, orthodox and charismatic, faithful and post-modern? Is it possible to live out such a convoluted faith? Do we concentrate on details at the expense of grasping the overall picture?

Several years ago I heard a story of a godly woman who gave a testimony to a group of believers. She had been paralyzed for years and was brought into the gathering on a stretcher. Her disease left her with diminished and sometimes blocked flow of blood through her body. In prophetic utterance, she compared her physical health to the spiritual state of the Church, the Body of Christ Jesus. She suggested that the barriers between different denominations actually restricted the life-giving work of the Holy Spirit in His Church. She illustrated the way we reinforce the separation of the spiritual from the worldly.

We know there are many valid historical and theological differences between us, yet if we say we believe in one Lord, one faith and one baptism, we are compelled by the love of Christ Jesus to find ways to remain in fellowship with all who love Him.

I've worked for nearly 30 years in an evangelistic ministry setting. When I join my brothers and sisters through the week I do not leave my church behind. I represent my tradition and bring my heritage with me to work with and draw upon as I serve the lost and encourage my co-workers. This includes all that I have learned, whether from my own tradition, or that of a co-worker. Indeed whenever Christians work together, God’s Church, both visible and invisible, is truly present with all its warts and powers. It never has been confined within our man-made denominations! People come to us on the understanding that we as individuals have banded together to reach out to them with practical help. Many come with struggles that go far beyond being resolved through physical or material assistance. They often recognize their needs before we do. We struggle to put them in a particular ministry category, and discern how we might proceed.

As someone who has personally struggled with major mental illness, I know that healing can only take place as we, in community, directly address any and all schizoid, psychotic or manic depressive behaviour, wherever it may be found. The historical, dare I say schizoid, separation between theology and psychology has for one thing, been distinctly unhelpful. The efforts of Dr. Pauline Emma Pierce in her PhD dissertation make a start at remedying the current situation. See A practical theology of mental health: A critical conversation between theology, psychology, pastoral care and the voice of the witness

Considering the woeful state of many of our churches, it's a wonder that we are able to survive, let alone prosper. It's only by the amazing grace of God that He shows us the Way. Some of our leaders are standing for God’s kingdom of righteousness and the sifting is taking place.

Let us all return to speaking plainly about Jesus and the gospel. The Lord is shaking His Church, moving His people in Spirit, truth and power. Our God is able to heal even a schizophrenic people; He is mighty to save and the gates of hell shall not prevail against His Church.

Let us live as Ones who truly believe in the Resurrection. Perhaps then our joy shall be rekindled and overflow to our neighbours and
... Death shall lose its sting. Amen!

On Mental Illness: A Voice in the Wilderness

Have you ever wondered why mental illness, and even suicide, afflicts Christian families?

What theological work is being done to investigate and correct this?

Theological study undertaken within the academy tends by its nature to reinforce a certain detachment from reality, the study of historical context, analysis of concepts, and usually adherence to a denominational worldview.

Some of us, even some of our leaders, exhibit questionable symptoms and appear somewhat disconnected from God, His people and the world. We function in our own virtual worlds, even use our own unintelligible language. We tend to deny or ignore the reality that both our global society and the ecclesial family have changed and can no longer be held within the denominational boundaries outlined during the Reformation.

We are taught to accept as unchangeable the divisions that we have inherited and which intrude into our families and communities. We know that Jesus prayed for unity among His followers yet we are reluctant to question our leaders about building links with other Christians. We're sometimes told not to bother with other churches: there's too much inertia against change! Some of us have heard this from our youth.

In Christian Education and Evangelism, Donald G. Stewart comments that,
“Emotional pressures are adapted to the use of those who wish to impose what to think without regard to how to think…Teaching the young those aspects of religious doctrine which are beyond their intellectual capacity and relevant experience to understand and to assimilate often lays the groundwork for emotional collapse and serious mental disorder of which guilt complexes and disabling fear are the symptoms.”

The Canadian Mental Health Association reports that one in five of us suffers mild forms of mental distress. One in ten will suffer a major crisis in their lifetime. One in a hundred will suffer actual schizophrenia, an illness which can be defined as a break between thought and action, or a lack of appropriate engagement with reality.

Just as cancer was once a taboo subject, not discussed and certainly not admitted to, schizophrenia, psychosis and major depression have until recently been unworthy of serious public attention. In spite of the presence of mental illness in one percent of the general population, somehow it has not been given the necessary attention. We talk more about distant terrorist acts and threats of economic disaster. Yet this epidemic is finally being addressed. Important as this is, it's but a window on the much deeper crisis: our spiritual health, or lack thereof.

Back in 1983, Louis Weil wrote in his book,
Sacraments and Liturgy: The Outward Signs,

Our inherited attitude toward the liturgical act reflects a kind of schizoid state. We hear but do not really hear. The liturgy is an encapsulated experience, entered into in isolation from real human experiences. It does not connect with the real world because it has been shaped by a piety which is often consciously an escape from the pressures of the real world. Liturgical time is seen as ‘holy time’ working according to its own laws, and feeding our hunger and thirst for God. But it does not connect for the great majority of our people with the real choices of daily life.

Listening to the average sermon, one might conclude that mental illness is a thing of the past and that every member of the congregation is spiritually and emotionally on track.

Are our leaders truly acting as servants of the Living God?
Or are we led by spiritual schizophrenics who hear the Voice of God and see visions, but who say one thing and do another?
Do they, and those who follow them, act in spite of reality and against biblical values?
Can we be really be inclusive and evangelistic, catholic and reformed, orthodox and charismatic, faithful and post-modern?
Is it possible to live out such a convoluted faith?

Psychosis is too real. Suicide is too real. Does it matter what label is used? Whether we call it mental or spiritual illness, it cannot be denied but it is often avoided, shuffled back into the pack of issues to deal with. The pain of exposing wounds is so intense. But it must be so.
Just as physical disease demands treatment, the 'cure of souls' cannot be optional.

Why then do some clergy deny the reality of mental illness?
(see http://canadianmentalangst.blogspot.com/2009/01/on-clergy-and-mental-illness.html )

Popular opinion and political influence too easily push truth aside, at least until disaster forces a belated adjustment. Arno Gruen's book, The Insanity of Normality, describes the folly of so-called normal behaviour when it is shown to be counter-productive. Benoit Mandelbrot, the father of fractal geometry, pointed out, for several years, inaccuracies in the financial formulae used to predict market behaviour. Could there be similar errors in the spiritual formulae which our churches develop to meet their 'objectives'? Why is church growth considered so important? Why are so many church meetings devoted exclusively to budgeting and servicing money?

A Problem of Education?

Before the internet Christians had to pay large fees to participate in theological reflection, study and discussion. Our leaders have often been trained by teachers who gained their credentials either by manipulating and using the educational system or by tolerating and surviving it.

Lee Smolin writes in his book, The Trouble with Physics, about the way that academic studies can be diverted from experimentally verifiable truth towards highly speculative theory. Has deficient theological practice contributed to the poor mental health of Canadians? I submit that, for our day, the crucial need is for God’s people to pray against our trans-national schizophrenic behaviour and to pray that faithful Christians quickly regain effective oversight and control of theological education. We must remove it from the secular authority of the universities and return it to the church where it more properly belongs. The local church must be involved in oversight of the seminary teaching experience. Let us return to speaking plainly and deeply about Jesus. Let us recover a Christian intellect.

It seems to escape the notice of some professional academics, and others, that true Christians, young and old, are already primarily theologians, already leaders. Some lead behind the scenes. Others share reflections and insights through writing or speaking. Some are pastors. Some are called to the battlefront in politics and administration, in secular or spiritual realms.

Many Christians have refused to undergo the theological re-education process imposed by institutional religion and have chosen lay ministry as being more effective, pursuing self-directed study, independent counsel and only occasionally partaking of the standard academic fare.

Anton Boison discussed his own psychotic breaks and suggested that they represented efforts to reintegrate his personality. He developed an empirical theology which sought to study the patient, his symptoms and the healing process. He became one of the founders of clinical pastoral education. This field has largely been taken over by secular psychologies which allow the patient to become a subject for experimental testing of theory. Pastoral theology has been transformed from the divine cure of souls into the pseudo-Christian effort to correct human flaws by human techniques.

Isn’t it interesting that young people and new Christians are quite perceptive in pointing out inconsistencies in church life?
Secular processes that assume the ignorance of the student tend to undermine the Christian beliefs and experiences of candidates for ministry. Yet, isn’t the experience and wisdom of even the biblically grounded student usually ignored by the seminary?
This is a tragedy. Lives have been ruined as a consequence of constantly shifting approaches to developing potential leaders.

Christianity is often formally taught as a set of propositions to be believed, or else! This approach can negate the practice of faithfully developing a lifelong relationship with the Living God.
Front-line ministers of the gospel are isolated from and can feel abandoned by philosophers in their ivory towers. Students are caught in the crunch, trapped by desire for ordination, emerging only to perpetuate a sick system.

Is it possible any longer to believe Holy Scripture and at the same time tolerate and support the unbiblical denominational systems which separate Christians from one another?

Several years ago I heard a story of a godly woman who gave a testimony to a group of believers. She had been paralysed for years and was brought into the gathering on a stretcher. Her disease left her with diminished and sometimes blocked flow of blood through her body. In prophetic utterence, she compared her physical health to the spiritual state of the Church, the Body of Christ Jesus. She suggested that the barriers between different Christian denominations actually restricted the life-giving work of the Holy Spirit in His Church. She illustrated the way we reinforce the separation of the spiritual from the worldly.

Only as Christians live and work together can we be of any value to God and His World. The tendency of some to foster unrest and legally push toward denominational division, out of desire to preserve faulty church systems, is both unbiblical and anti-christian. Their abuse of position and pseudo-spiritual authority will eventually be seen for what it is: hypocrisy, arrogance and willful deceit. Those who sue other Christians in the secular courts act with intentional disregard of Holy Scripture. There are many historical and theological reasons for our unhappy divisions, yet if we say we believe in one Lord, one faith and one baptism, we are compelled by the love of Christ Jesus to find ways to remain in fellowship with all who love Him.

The following is a thesis written in 2007 by Pauline Emma Pierce.  

http://researchbank.acu.edu.au/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1201&context=theses

She offers 'A critical conversation between theology, psychology, pastoral care and the voice of the witness,' and does answer some questions raised in this article.

We must recover the model for servant leadership given to all Christians by the Lord Jesus. Some are called as overseers, some as pastors, some as evangelists, some teachers, some healers. These are identified by the body of Christ and not by secular non-believing institutions. Those who insist on pharisaic disobedience, which often comes with top down leadership, will eventually discover the bankruptcy of their position. The wolves in sheep's clothing are being revealed for what they are.

It appears that churches with conservative, biblical agendas are growing. Christians in Canada, and elsewhere, are showing signs of rising from a deep slumber. We are beginning to realize that not a few Christians are dealing with mental illness. Along with comprehensive bio-social medical care, we are learning again the power of prayer and utter reliance on the blood of Jesus as the only power effective against certain conditions. God's Word calls us to pray and to rejoice without ceasing, even in the midst of our personal and corporate struggles.

Our God is able to heal even the schizophrenia of our society. The Lord our God is mighty to save and the gates of hell shall not prevail against His Church! He knows what He’s doing! The Lord is shaking His Church, moving His people in Spirit, truth and power. Some of our leaders are standing for God’s kingdom of righteousness and the sifting is taking place.

I've worked for nearly 30 years in a Christian ministry setting. When I join my brothers and sisters through the week I do not leave my church behind. I represent my tradition and bring my heritage with me to work with and draw upon as I serve the lost and encourage my co-workers. This includes all that I have learned, whether from my own tradition, or that of a co-worker. Indeed whenever Christians work together, God’s Church, both visible and invisible, is truly present with all its warts and powers.

Is your church part of the problem? Do your leaders preach freedom or legalism?
Are you part of God's solution? Do you follow Jesus, no matter what anyone says?
Is He your Total Truth?

Is there an Increase in Mental Illness?

Originally Published: October 12, 2010

By Keith Martin,

Member of Parliament, Esquimalt-Juan de Fuca, B.C., Liberal Party of Canada; MD.

 http://www.themarknews.com/articles/2728-mental-illness-a-medical-orphan/

Every day sees mental illnesses on the rise in Canada. Why aren’t we doing more to tackle this problem?
 

Despite the high incidence of mental illness in Canada, this collection of medical problems still remains underappreciated and underfunded relative to other diseases. Of the 10 leading causes of disability worldwide, five are mental disorders: major depression, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, substance abuse disorder, and obsessive compulsive disorder.

At any given time, 20 per cent of Canadians have a mental illness, and that number is fast approaching 25 per cent. About 4,000 Canadians commit suicide each year, and suicide is the most common cause of death for people aged 15 to 24. In aboriginal communities, the incidence of suicide is four to five times higher than the Canadian average.

The highest rate of depression is in those under the age of 20, and the highest rate of anxiety in those aged 20 to 29. According to the World Health Organization, by the year 2020, depression will be the second leading cause of premature death worldwide, and it may already be the leading cause of economic loss due to any illness, mental or physical.

Over time, the incidence of dementias will grow into a brick wall our society will slam into. Currently, one in 11 people over the age of 65 have Alzheimer’s disease or a related dementia. This year alone, more than 103,000 Canadians will develop dementia. If nothing changes, the number of people living with Alzheimer’s disease or a related dementia is expected to more than double, reaching 1.1 million Canadians within 25 years. We are utterly unprepared for this.

Substance abuse is also a major problem in our society; 13 per cent of people are at-risk drinkers, and depression frequently accompanies substance abuse. Among youth prostitutes, 44 per cent got into prostitution to get money to pay for drugs. In Canada, one baby every day is born with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, the leading cause of preventable, irreversible brain damage at birth.

In a release last week, the Canadian Alliance on Mental Illness and Mental Health said that the economic costs of mental illness are equivalent to 14 per cent of corporate Canada’s net operating profits. The cost of mental illness to our society is $14.4 billion a year; add substance abuse to the tab, and we’re looking at about $18 billion. However, less than four per cent of medical research funding goes to mental illness research.

Mental illnesses in Canada are orphan problems in our medical system. We are ill-equipped to deal with these challenges, in particular the increase in the dementias. We desperately need to implement a national health strategy that will enable us to prevent a great deal of hardship in the future and increase the much-needed care for Canadians attempting to tame these demons in their private world.

Ashley Smith and Stolen Apples

The following book review shows that behind the well-known injustices many unknowns are languishing in jails and prisons and sadly only the obvious tragedies reach the ears and eyes of the public.
Case in Point: Ashley Smith, who stole some apples...

A review by Tim Pheotist of Dr. Gary Botting’s
WRONGFULLY CONVICTED: A cry from the heart from a victim of our Canadian Justice system

see http://brokensilence91.blogspot.com/2011/04/wrongfully-convicted-cry-from-heart.html

This heart wrenching brief account of David Milgaard's ... experience as a wrongly convicted person brought tears to my eyes. He uses the term "silence" , which is quite common in cases of wrongful conviction. While reading this overview, I felt as if I was reading the writing in my mind. Even though you know you are not guilty of a crime for which you have been charged, you are but one against a sea of very powerful people who can play with your life and the lives of your family...

An essay giving voice to the nightmares that haunt so many innocent people in today’s Canadian prisons.

David Milgaard, who spent 23 years in jail for a murder he did not commit, has written a compelling forward to a recently published book detailing nightmare cases of wrongful conviction in Canada.
“In prison, every horrible second seems to stretch forever,” he wrote. “A third of my expected life [has been] stolen from me forever.”

The essay kicks off Dr. Gary Botting’s Wrongful Conviction in Canadian Law, published by Butterworths LexisNexis, which reviews and cross-references every inquiry into wrongful conviction ever held in Canada. Botting’s legal practice, originally founded in Victoria in 1991, is now based in Vancouver.

Milgaard says he is only one of the many voices of the wrongfully convicted. “Of the hundreds if not thousands of convicted Canadians who have claimed to be innocent over the past half century, only eight of us have ever had our cases reviewed by Commissions of Inquiry,” he said. Six such inquires have been held so far, all within the last 20 years, in half of the ten provinces: Nova Scotia, Ontario, Manitoba, Newfoundland and Saskatchewan.

“Do not believe for a minute that the other five provinces lag far behind. For starters, there’s Ivan Henry in British Columbia – 26 years in jail for multiple crimes he did not commit. His 55 appeals and protests that he had been wrongfully convicted were ignored by the B.C. Court of Appeal for 20-plus years until the Pickton investigation revealed that the real rapist had gone on raping in the same way for years after Henry was put away. What went wrong there, where the police deliberately sat on evidence proving that the crimes were committed by a different person altogether? Surely British Columbians will want to find out?”

Milgaard pointed to cases in the other provinces as well. “Alberta has its wrongful prosecutions of Wilson Nepoose, Jason Dix and Daniel Wood, Quebec has Simon Marshal, New Brunswick has Felix Michaud, and Prince Edward Island has John Cooper. They all sued or negotiated settlements for wrongful conviction. But it was an uphill battle.

“That about covers the whole country!”

Milgaard points out the limitations of the inquiries into wrongful conviction, which so far have been limited to convictions for murder. “All eight of us received life sentences. If we had been wrongfully convicted of crimes with shorter sentences, it would have been much easier to do the time than to fight the system for years and years hoping to be exonerated.

“Which makes me wonder how many thousands of Canadians have been wrongfully convicted of crimes less serious than murder, but finished their sentences in sadness and silence because they knew their cases would never be heard? How many are forced to lick their wounds in private, and get on with their lives in shame, never again believing that justice exists in this country? Would they want to expose themselves to scorn and prejudice for years and years, like the eight of us have had to?”

Canada’s system of justice, says Milgaard, relies on lies. “That’s the advocacy system. Both sides can’t be true, so someone has to be lying. With wrongful convictions, the judge and jury have picked the lies over the truth. As long as the lies stand, the system feels good about itself. So Canada’s system of justice does not let the wrongfully convicted expose the lies.”

He says the Minister of Justice never of his own initiative applies the laws that Parliament has passed – laws designed to protect the innocent. “[The Minister’s] staff is concerned only with setting up roadblocks for years and years in the hope that those claiming that they were wrongfully convicted will get lost – in all senses of the word.”

He said the Minister seems to think that those who claim to be wrongfully convicted will give up their efforts to get exonerated once their sentences end and they have a chance to go home at last to what’s left of their “shattered and probably scattered families.” is set up so that innocent people, once they are convicted, simply cannot get a fair hearing, he said. Every day, inmates who have been wrongfully convicted see “guilty” men and women get out of prison because they have admitted their crimes and come to grips with their criminogenic factors. Meanwhile, inmates who have been wrongfully convicted cannot even get parole, because before the Parole Board will let them out of jail they have to “admit” to a crime they haven’t committed.

“Many innocent prisoners feel they are forced to lie to bring the torment of prison time to an end,” he said. Furthermore, sometimes lawyers advise their wrongfully convicted clients to lie and admit to the crimes they have been charged with to avoid further torment.

“Of course, the lawyers don’t ‘know’ that their clients are innocent, even though they may ‘believe’ it. Some lawyers may characterize that kind of ‘white lie’ as ‘coming clean.’

“What they forget is, a lie is never clean!”

Keeping a person in prison until he is forced to tell a lie by incriminating himself is a form of torture, said Milgaard. With no end in sight, the torment goes on forever: the person never knows when he can expect to be released.

“But when the lie ‘Yes, I did it!’ has been uttered, the whole system of justice, from police to judges, can give a big sigh of relief and say, ‘We knew it!’

“The reward held out to me if I chose to lie? Freedom! The punishment for my being innocent and honest and sticking to my principles and not lying? Almost 23 years of prison time!”

Some innocent prisoners cave in to the system and say they did the crime so that they can get out a few years earlier. But once they have admitted to doing the crime, there’s no turning back “This situation is very, very wrong,” he said. “But that’s the kind of justice and penal system we have in Canada.”

The cases to which he alluded in the foreword to Botting’s book are now well known. In Ontario, Romeo Phillion confessed to a murder in 1972, then within 24 hours tried to retract his false confession – given because he wanted to show the police that he was willing to be cooperative. But nobody would listen. Thirty-five years later, it became clear that he had an iron-clad alibi all along, and was innocent of murder.

More than half a century ago, when he was fourteen, Steven Truscott received the death penalty for the rape and murder of 12-year-old Lynn Harper. “You shall be hanged by the neck until you are dead,” he was told in 1959. Authorities commuted his death sentence to a life sentence, and let him out on parole after ten years, but as far is Milgaard is concerned, this was simply “a cheap way to ease their guilt. As in my case, nobody would listen to him, not the Court of Appeal, not even the Supreme Court of Canada.”

Told by a judge looking into the matter in 2007 that Steven Truscott had likely suffered a miscarriage of justice, the Minister of Justice referred the Truscott case back to the Ontario Court of Appeal, who, while not going so far as to finding him factually innocent, left the Crown without enough evidence to proceed to a new trial.

“But justice delayed is justice denied,” said Milgaard. “To my mind, it was wrong of the Ontario Court of Appeal to say they couldn’t find Steven ‘factually innocent.’ Put it all together and do the math, with the blowfly and flesh fly evidence and everything, all multiplied out with the help of someone who knows statistics, and the chances of Steve being guilty are way less than one tenth of one percent – not much different from DNA evidence.

“Seems to me the Ontario Court of Appeal didn’t do the math!”

He said the government and the justice system never admit they are wrong even when they know they can’t be right. Only when the injustice becomes obvious do commissions of inquiry get set up – in his case, 35 years after his conviction for a rape-murder that he had nothing at all to do with. The DNA evidence eventually showed that the murder was committed by a serial rapist, Larry Fisher.

“Fisher sat on his hands for 23 years, knowing that I sat in prison all that time for his crime.”

In Canada, anyone charged with a crime is innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. But as David Milgaard soon found out, once a person is convicted, that’s the end of it: he is considered guilty, period. In order to get out of prison without lying to the Parole Board, as the system requires, he said, the person has to prove his innocence beyond a reasonable doubt – which is next to impossible to do from prison.

“I was lucky enough to have a mother who believed in me. She worked hard for more than twenty years to convince people of the truth: that I was innocent. But it didn’t help that the Crown Counsel on my case was so blinded by his own tunnel vision that he spent the first ten of those years, at government expense, trying to undermine everything my mother did at her own expense. He told the Parole Board time and again that I was dangerous, at risk to “reoffend” – even though I had never offended in the first place!

“If that isn’t offensive I don’t know what is!

“How could the Parole Board let that Crown counsel say the same old thing over and over and over, year after year, like a parrot? Worse, how could it listen, and give his recycled opinions any stock?”

The law needs to be changed, he said, so that prosecutors can’t continue to prosecute their cases years after the trial with the same old wrong evidence. “Allowing that to happen brings the whole system of justice into disrepute.”

Milgaard said that he wanted to impress upon readers these four central points, drawn from personal experience:
1. It is horrible to spend time in prison for a crime you did not commit. Think of it: prison sentences are the worst punishment Canada has been able to come up with for the worst criminals committing the worst crimes. In the case of someone serving time in prison for something he or she did not do, the “punishment” is torture.

2. Fighting the Canadian Government for compensation long after being released from prison after exoneration feels like being in prison all over again. I was fighting for myself and for my family for years all over again. How would you feel? It was a long, long struggle, and it was degrading. I strongly recommend the government to make monies available to any man or woman struggling to prove they are innocent.

3. Seeking justice in cases of wrongful conviction and bringing cases such as mine to everyone’s attention is costly in terms of time and money, especially since Justice Canada, along with prosecutors and the police, drag their feet and dig in.

4. Justice delayed is justice denied. Canada’s system of investigating and reviewing miscarriages of justice is way too slow. We need a system where an independent Board that is not part of the criminal justice system or the government looks at all cases where anyone claims he has been wrongful convicted. When this Board finds that the person is innocent, the government should quickly free them and give them compensation.

David Milgaard concludes his essay by singing the praises of Wrongful Conviction in Canadian Law and its author. In the book, Dr. Botting looks at the seven different commissions of inquiry that have been held in Canada so far, to determine what they recommended and whether their recommendations have been followed or ignored. One inquiry in Newfoundland heard three cases at once, and the Gouge Inquiry uncovered several more cases of wrongful conviction in Ontario.

“For years Gary Botting has tirelessly devoted his time and his personal resources to the cause of the wrongfully convicted,” Milgaard said.

“Hopefully this book will allow the police and pathologists and prosecutors and lawyers and judges and governments to cross-reference the recommendations easily so they don’t repeat their mistakes of the past. And maybe it will help other wrongfully convicted people like me to see that they are not alone, and should continue fighting to be heard.”

Ashley Smith's Inquest: It's Our Call

As reported in The Vancouver Sun July 19, 2011

"Two doctors were cleared of wrongdoing in relation to the care they provided Ashley Smith while she was incarcerated, the Ontario Health Professions Appeal and Review Board concluded in a recent decision.

"However, the review is critical of the treatment Smith received before her eventual death in an Ontario prison.

"From our perspective, it is difficult to understand how the resources of Correctional Services Canada and the numerous health professionals who were involved with (Smith), particularly within the last year of her life, could not have somehow appropriately treated her admittedly severe behavioural problems," the review, dated July 15, states.

"The review was brought to the board by the Elizabeth Fry Societies, on behalf of Smith's family, to appeal an earlier decision by the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario that had previously cleared two physicians of any wrongdoing in their assessment of Smith while she was in prison.

"One of the physicians was a family doctor conducting weekly consultations at the Grand Valley Institute for Women, while the other was a psychiatrist who made similar weekly visits to the prison.

"The Smith family's original complaint wanted to ascertain why Smith was not referred to a psychiatric facility in the days leading up to her death and whether it was a result of inadequate care from one, or both, of the physicians.

"The College of Physicians decided to take no action against the two doctors. The Smith family requested the Appeal and Review Board go over that decision because they were "not satisfied" with the ruling.

"We have concluded that the (College of Physicians) did conduct an adequate investigation and its decision was reasonable," the review board concluded.

"Smith died at age 19 in 2007 after tying a ligature around her neck in a Kitchener, Ont., cell as prison guards watched. In the final 11 months of her life she was transferred to various prisons 17 times because of bad behaviour, overcrowding and staff fatigue.

Reported by
rhiltz@postmedia.com
Twitter.com/robert_hiltz

Results from assorted inquiries and inquests gather dust on desks across the country. Don't expect government agencies to improve their treatment of youth, indeed anyone, sent to jail but urgently in need of medical and spiritual attention. What can you and I do?

The following can be found at http://smithforensic.blogspot.com/2011/06/ashley-smith-beleaguered-inquest.html

BACKGROUND: Ashley Smith, 19, died in her prison cell at Grand Valley Institution near Kitchener, Ont., in October 2007 from self-strangulation. She had been transferred between federal institutions 17 times during her final 11 months, most of that time kept in segregation and often on suicide watch dressed in a highly restrictive gown. Jailed at age 13 for a crab apple-throwing incident in New Brunswick, Smith was eventually transferred to an adult facility after she kept getting into trouble behind bars by constantly kicking, grabbing and spitting at guards. Lawyer's for her family and the media have been fighting Coroner Dr. Bonita Porter's efforts to limit the scope and evidence to be called at the inquest which had been placed on hold. The inquest is of interest to this Blog because it relates to the openness of public death investigations - and the necessity to ensure that deaths warranting inquests get full scrutiny.


"The Ashley Smith inquest has a new coroner at the helm," the National Post story by Christie Blatchford published June 30, 2011, under the heading, "Coroner replaced in prison death inquest: Oral arguments presented to coroner Bonita Porter will now have to be repeated, Smith's lawyer says," see http://www.nationalpost.com/news/Coroner+replaced+prison+death+inquest/5027238/story.html

"Dr. Bonita Porter, who had presided over the oft-delayed and troubled inquest into the strangulation prison death of the mentally ill teenager, has been replaced by Dr. John Carlisle," the story continues.

"The Ontario government made the announcement in a brief press release Wednesday.

The announcement pointed to Dr. Porter's pending retirement this fall as the reason for the abrupt move.

Due to the expected length of the inquest, "Dr. Porter, who is scheduled to retire in November, would have been unable to complete the inquest when it resumes in the fall," the release said.

But a line in the announcement hints at another significant reason for the mid-race switch to a new horse -Dr. Carlisle is not only a medical doctor, but also a lawyer and veteran law professor.

If ever an inquest illustrated the need to have a lawyer or judge in the driver's seat, as some other provinces do, it was this one.

Dr. Porter had formally granted "standing" to about a dozen groups and individuals -meaning these parties are entitled to cross-examine witnesses -some of them represented by some of the fiercest advocates in the Ontario bar.

Almost daily, she faced procedural and evidentiary challenges from these lawyers, and from those representing the press, and was often clearly out of her depth.

Several times, lawyers appealed one or another of her decisions to the Ontario Divisional Court, most famously when Dr. Porter ruled that prison videos, showing Ms. Smith being forcibly injected with anti-psychotics and subjected to other harsh treatment at Quebec's Joliette Institution, weren't relevant to her state of mind.

Ms. Smith, then 19, strangled herself with a ligature in her cell at Kitchener's Grand Valley Institute for Women on Oct. 19, 2007, about three months after she had been repeatedly strapped to a stretcher and drugged at Joliette.

Last month, the court called Dr. Porter's decision not to seize the videos confusing, overturned her and told her to re-think the matter.

Neither did it appear Dr. Porter was getting particularly good advice from her own legal team, made up of three lawyers from the provincial attorney-general and a fourth who appeared occasionally to argue particular issues.

If originally coroner's inquests were medical investigations into a death, the high profile ones, particularly those involving matters that have captured the public's attention, have long since morphed into contests that are much more legal in nature than medical.

Dr. Porter adjourned the inquest late last month, and about a week ago, with her key decision about the Joliette videos and two others still pending, announced the proceeding would resume in September.

She promised at that time to deliver her rulings -critical to the scope and openness of the inquest -this week.

Instead, Dr. Carlisle will now "review and decide" on these issues.

Before joining the coroner's office in 2004, Dr. Carlisle served as a medical officer with the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario and as a professor at York University, where he taught a course in law and medicine for more than 25 years. These credentials appear to make him almost uniquely well-qualified to steer the inquest back on the right course.

When the proceeding adjourned last month, the five member jury had heard only part of the evidence from only one witness.

Julian Falconer, lawyer for Ms. Smith's family, was furious at the announcement, calling the inquest "a colossal waste, a mess."

He said he and other lawyers have "wasted weeks and weeks" of oral argument on the three motions that were before Dr. Porter, and pointed out that now these will have to be reargued because Dr. Carlisle has heard none of what they have to say.

"It begs the question of what's going on at that office," Mr. Falconer snapped. "And remember what this delay does to the family."

Ms. Smith, originally sent to a youth facility in her home province of New Brunswick for throwing crabapples at a mailman, ended up spending most of the last three years of her life in isolation, or segregation, units of youth and adult facilities, provincial and federal prisons, and several hospitals.

She was transferred among these various facilities no fewer than 17 times in less than a year, once being strapped to her airplane seat in the process."

Read more:
http://www.citytv.com/toronto/citynews/news/local/article/144181--coroner-change-could-imperil-ashley-smith-inquest-family-says

http://www.canada.com/Difficult+understand+reasons+prison+death+Review+board/5127206/story.html#ixzz1U74tqPF5

Scott Simmie's story

Read his book, The Last Taboo, written with Julia Nunes

Re: Clinical Pastoral Education .... Did You Know?

... that certain types of mental illness could be understood as attempts to solve problems of the soul, and that some patients can find a cure in the power of religion?
At least according to Anton Theophilus Boisen, who lived from 1876 to 1965. His ideas served as the foundation of modern clinical pastoral education. Considering much current education and practice, one might enquire whether the edifice of counsel is off its Rock.

Boisen may have been quite right, but I prefer to defer to the power of God in the person of Jesus of Nazareth. I know ... that all things ... including incoherent speech, waking nightmares, seven months in a psychiatric hospital and eighteen months in rehab ... all things, work for good to those who Love God, to those who are called according to His purpose, mysterious though it may be!

On Clergy and Mental Illness

Mental Illness Often Dismissed By Local Church
see http://www.baylormag.com/story.php?story=006239

Has this happened to you?

With research consistently showing that clergy–not psychologists or other mental health experts–are the most common source of help sought in times of psychological distress, a Baylor University study has found that clergy often deny or dismiss the existence of mental illness.

This is believed to be one of only a few studies to look at the experiences which mentally ill people have when approaching their local church for assistance with their troubles.

In the recent Baylor study of 293 Christians who approached their local church for assistance in response to a personal or family member's diagnosed mental illness, Baylor researchers found that more than 32 percent of these church members were told by their church pastor that they or their loved one did not really have a mental illness. The study found these church members were told the cause of their problem was solely spiritual in nature, such as a personal sin, lack of faith or demonic involvement. Baylor researchers also found that women were more likely than men to have their mental disorders dismissed by the church.

In a subsequent survey, Baylor researchers found the dismissal or denial of the existence of mental illness happened more often in conservative churches, rather than more liberal ones.

All of the participants in both studies were previously diagnosed by a licensed mental health provider as having a serious mental illness, like bipolar disorder and schizophrenia, prior to approaching their local church for assistance.

"The results are troubling because it suggests individuals in the local church are either denying or dismissing a somewhat high percentage of mental health diagnosis," said Dr. Matthew Stanford, BS '88, MA '90, PhD '92, professor of psychology and neuroscience at Baylor, who led the study. "Those whose mental illnesses were dismissed by clergy are not only being told they don't have a mental illness, they are also being told they need to stop taking their medication.
That can be a very dangerous thing."

In addition, Baylor researchers found study participants who were told by their pastors they did not have a mental illness were more likely to attend church more than once a week and described their church as conservative or charismatic. However, the Baylor study also found those whose mental illness was dismissed or denied were less likely to attend church after the fact and their faith in God was weakened.

Dr. Stanford's results were published in 'Mental Health, Religion and Culture'.

see also
http://www.ethicsoup.com/2008/10/demon-or-disorder-clergy-dismiss-mental-illness.html

No doubt there needs to be more academic discussion and public education about the connections between mind and spirit. Are the various so-called mental illnesses only another name for classic spiritual disorders? The heart of the issue for Christians is whether to trust in worldly assistance, which is sometimes all even the church ends up actually offering, or to accept that a combination of prayer and counsel and medicine might be required. We must also not forget that clergy too are human and suffer from various psychological and/or spiritual conditions.

A witness that Jesus does heal through friends, family and... yes...sometimes through doctors!

Richard Alastair

Crazy or Genius?

Back in 2002 it was reported (in ScienceDaily - May 22/02)
that Stanford Researchers had Established a Link Between
Creative Genius And Mental Illness

The report began with saying that for decades, scientists have known that eminently creative individuals have a much higher rate of manic depression, or bipolar disorder, than does the general population, and that few controlled studies have been done to build the link between mental illness and creativity.

Stanford researchers Connie Strong and Terence Ketter, MD, were reported as having taken the first steps toward exploring the relationship.

Using personality and temperament tests, they found healthy artists to be more similar in personality to individuals with manic depression than to healthy people in the general population. "My hunch is that emotional range, having an emotional broadband, is the bipolar patient's advantage," said Strong. "It isn't the only thing going on, but something gives people with manic depression an edge, and I think it's emotional range."

Strong is a research manager in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science's bipolar disorders clinic and a doctoral candidate at the Pacific Graduate School. She is presenting preliminary results during a poster presentation today (May 21) at the annual meeting of the American Psychiatric Association Meeting in Philadelphia.

The current study is groundbreaking for psychiatric research in that it used separate control groups made up of both healthy, creative people and people from the general population.

Researchers administered standard personality, temperament and creativity tests to 47 people in the healthy control group, 48 patients with successfully treated bipolar disorder and 25 patients successfully treated for depression. She also tested 32 people in a healthy, creative control group. This group was comprised of Stanford graduate students enrolled in prestigious product design, creative writing and fine arts programs, including Stegner Fellows in writing, students in the interdisciplinary Joint Program in Design from the Department of Mechanical Engineering and studio arts master's students from the Department of Art & Art History. All subjects were matched for age, gender, education and socioeconomic status.

Preliminary analysis showed that people in the control group and recovered manic depressives were more open and likely to be moody and neurotic than healthy controls. Moodiness and neuroticism are part of a group of characteristics researchers are calling "negative-affective traits" which also include mild, nonclinical forms of depression and bipolar disorder.

Though the data are preliminary, they provide a roadmap for psychiatric researchers looking to solve the genius/madness paradox depicted in the movie A Beautiful Mind, which tells the story of Nobel Laureate John Nash. The existing data need further review, Strong said. "And, we need to expand this to other groups," he said. How mood influences the performance of artists and genius scientists will be the subject of future research at Stanford. "We need to better understand the emotional side of what they do," Strong said.

The study was funded by grants to Ketter, principal investigator and associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral science at Stanford, from the National Alliance for Research on Schizophrenia and Depression, and Abbott Laboratories.

Stanford University Medical Center integrates research, medical education and patient care at its three institutions - Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford Hospital & Clinics and Lucile Packard Children's Hospital at Stanford.

See original article at http://med.stanford.edu/news_releases/2002/may/creative_gen.html