Articles
We Will Rise Again by David Haas
compliments of GIA publications

Prayer of the Heart and Mental Health

by William T. Ryan M.A., L.P.C.- Contemplative Ministries of the Pacific Northwest

Through the years working in contemplative prayer ministry and spiritual direction I have received a number of questions concerning the relationship between mental illness and contemplative prayer practice and transformative experience. In addition to being a teacher of contemplative prayer and a spiritual director I am a clinical counselor and have worked in the mental health field for 25 years, most of that time in community mental health clinics. I spent much of that time working with Major Mental Disorders as well as more transitory mental- emotional disturbances.

Until very recent times human beings have not understand the cause of mental illness. We now know that most forms of major mental illness are brain disorders. These include Bipolar Disorder, Major Depression, Schizophrenic Disorders, Panic Disorder and many others. Major Mental Disorders are caused by chemical imbalances in the brain. In earlier times, biblical and since, because these illnesses were not understood, they were attributed to demon possession or spiritual illness or malady of some kind. This has been to the detriment of the mentally ill persons who were treated with fear and misunderstanding. In our times most people, ( not all) have discarded demonic forces as a source of mental or emotional illness. Nevertheless there are other more subtle but also harmful beliefs that mental illness which remain in our belief systems that mental illness, indeed any illness may be a symptom of spiritual disharmony in our relationship with God or internal being.

Such notions that illness has causal relationship with spiritual health perform a great disservice to persons with mental or other physical illness. ( Please note that I say **other** because major mental illness **is** physical illness. of the brain.) In my own lifetime I have known among my friends, in my circle of spiritual teachers and companions, and in my own family, many excellent practitioners of prayer and meditation, many kind and loving people, who have been afflicted with various forms of mental or emotional disorder. These afflictions came about through factors unrelated to the person’s spiritual maturation or strength. In most cases they were a matter of genetic inheritance or disposition. In addition through new research with the brain (PET imaging) we have come to know more about the area of the brain affected by a particular form of mental illness and the corresponding chemical imbalance which occurs.

Many of us adopt without deep reflection a form of wishful, unconscious, magical thinking, that we can somehow be less vulnerable to disease and affliction if we are more spiritually mature, more spiritually advanced, or somehow in harmony with God. We even see this faulty thinking reflected sometimes in scriptural passages suggesting from attitudes of biblical times that afflictions of the brain and the rest of the body are signs of disfavor from God. At the time of Jesus those who were lepers, or who had afflictions of mental illness were outcast and believed to be punished by God. The healing of Jesus, beyond the physical healing itself, was to lift these people out of isolation and welcome them into the embrace of human community.

Deep within us all is a fear of disease, illness, loss of control, and death. Among our deep seated motivations, which are tied to our security center, is the misguided belief that we can be safe, and secure, invulnerable, if somehow we are "right" with God. These illusory beliefs often get acted out in destructive ways. I recall well the shunning by neighbors of a set of parents who had a child dying of cancer, neighbor children not playing with the "well" sibling, statements made to the parents that they must not be " right with the Lord" for such an affliction to be visited on their family. I recall well the comments of the fundamentalist chaplain and a new age healer both, that there must be something not right in our family that our one year old son was dying of Leukemia. At time when families and individuals most in need of community support they may face shunning, isolation, and blame.

As a culture we are addicted to the idea of being healthy and being in control. Frequently, we even try to put our own spiritual practice at the service of such a destructive illusion. If we reflect on the Gospels, the message of Jesus in the Beatitudes it becomes clear that it is through our acceptance of vulnerability and radical consent to God that we open to the Realm of intimate relationship with the Beloved, not our futile attempts at self protection and strategies to be invulnerable. This radical affirmation and acceptance of our humanity and its fragility is the means by which we open to deeper trust and reliance on God. It is through our humanity and its fragility that we come to communion in God, not by denial or escape into illusion. We are earthen vessels of the Living Water, we are lit candles which burn brightly if we consent. The wounds of a lifetime do affect our capacity to be an open vessel of God’s Life within us, and in our practice of consent and commitment, these wounds are made accessible to God’s Love and healing. In this way our trust in God’s movement within us deepens, and our capacity to be an instrument of God’s love and service to others expands. That does not mean necessarily our afflictions are removed from us.

The practice of the Prayer of the Heart, both in silence and stillness, and in daily life is a means by which we learn to anchor ourselves in the Indwelling God, in our own heart. In this way we learn to live life from the wholeness and completeness of God while opening our humanity, and the afflictions of the brain and body, of the psyche and emotions, to the infusion of God’s healing Love. However, this is a lifetime process, and as long as we remain in the human state we will be in need of healing, and in need of continual support and courage from God to live with, to bring the practice of the Intimacy with God while we walk with, live with, the afflictions which life brings our way. They are not punishments, but they are the raw material of our journey into God. They are the means by which we open to greater capacity to love and kindness to ourselves and others, to compassionate service to the world in which we live. ( My father has stated that disease of alcoholism, which is in essence a disease of the brain, has been the means of his salvation. and transformation.) Transformation and healing through contemplative prayer will not remove our afflictions of the brain. It will ground us in God’s Presence and action within us in such a way that we will be able to bear with our afflictions and learn to love and serve, not in spite of them, but because of them.

In major mental disorders there are disturbances of thought and mood. The origin of these disturbances is the imbalance or improper function of certain neurotransmitters in the brain. These neurotransmitters mediate the synapses in the brain which regulate functioning of mind, body, and emotions. Psychiatric medications in varying degrees are an attempt to correct these imbalances. Over the past thirty years the efficacy of such medicines has increased to the degree that many of the symptoms of these disorders can be controlled, particularly with mood disorders such as Bipolar Disorder or Major Depression. This may be less so with disorders of thought, such as, Schizophrenia or other forms of psychosis. When symptoms are controlled it is generally thought that persons with such mental disorders may practice contemplative forms of prayer without ill effect. In cases where symptoms cannot be controlled, particularly when there is evidence of symptoms such as psychosis ( delusions or hallucinations) or extreme mood disturbance( i.e. mania or severe depression) contemplative forms of prayer may be contraindicated, and rendered difficult or impossible because of symptom interference with the prayer process. Hence other forms of prayer practice and devotion may be advised in such cases.

It should be noted that among the psychological disorders which cause distress and impairment of life are also those which are caused by the conditioning of life or the "wounds of existence." These include some of the anxiety disorders such as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, Adjustment Disorders, and some Anxiety Disorders. Such conditions usually respond to psychotherapy or medication or a combination. However, again they are not attributable to a deficit of spiritual development and should be referred to the appropriate form of professional counseling resource for treatment.

" Dark Nights"

As a spiritual director I have encountered both the terminology and the experience referred to in the language of John of the Cross as the "dark nights." The "night of sense" and "night of spirit" have been sometimes popularly confused with symptoms of psychological or psychiatric disorder. There has also been an unfortunate confusion of any kind of painful transition in life, which may involve depression or downturn in mood, or existential challenge, or loss. As a clinician I can say with assurance that there are clearly identifiable distinctions between these experiences, symptoms of mental illness or disturbance, and the spiritual passages referred to in the literature of John of the Cross as " dark nights." Spiritual directors with extensive experience with contemplative transformation and some knowledge of clinical counseling should be able to assess and articulate these distinctions. In a later essay I will portray with greater description the presentation of these symptoms in a person seeking spiritual or clinical consultation.

It needs to be stated clearly and unequivocally that there is **no** causal relationship between mental illness and spiritual development or lack of it. These illnesses occur independently of our spiritual practice and growth. The life of Faith can help a person contend or bear with greater courage a brain disorder, the same as any other form of physiological illness or affliction, but the appearance of the affliction has its etiology in our genetic disposition, our biochemistry, and not our life of Faith. This is true of brain disorders just the same as it is true of other physical medical disorders, such as Diabetes Parkinson’s' Disease, Lupus, or any other chronic or acute disease.

If a person who practices Prayer of the Heart as a primary spiritual practice, also has a mental illness, such as Bipolar Disorder, the most important course of action is to make faithful use of psychiatric medications and other psychotherapeutic interventions to manage symptoms of the disorder, the same way a diabetic makes use of insulin and other medications to manage their physical disorder. On the spiritual front a commitment to an intensive prayer practice will help one to take refuge in the Presence of God whether the symptoms are present or not. Such a seeker of God is advised that she/he is not the disorder and to take refuge in God’s Indwelling Presence alone as the source of one’s true identity as child of God. Our life’s journey of transformation and growth in love and compassion is to learn to use our human afflictions to find the only true source of peace and refuge and sanctuary in the Kingdom of God within our hearts, at the Center of our being.

Copyright: Bill Ryan, M.A. L.P.C.