The idea that mental illness is a purely
spiritual affliction is one that dates back to Biblical times and is carried on into
modern times. Mental illness and epilepsy were often seen as demonic possession
or a punishment from God in the early Church and Middle Ages.[1] Thus, as God’s living
representatives on earth, the Church saw fit to punish those afflicted by
mental illness. Martin Luther argues that suicidal, “persons do not die by free
choice or by law…they do not wish to kill themselves but are overcome by the
power of the devil…Magistrates should treat them quite strictly.”[2] Those who gave into melancholy,
or depression, by ending their life were severely punished after death to set
an example to others. The deceased victim’s body was often drug through the
street, dismembered, and refused a Christian burial. The suicide victims’ family
was then refused their property and it was acquired by the Church or local
magistrates. This made suicide a lucrative and powerful tool for the Church to
use to enrich itself and condemn other sects of Christianity. Catholics, Calvinists,
Lutherans, and Anglicans all used suicide as evidence of the false teaching of
one another in the hopes of dissuading would be converts.[3]
It was not
until the Enlightenment that mental illness was viewed as a medical illness
instead of a spiritual illness. The works that bridged the Middle Ages and the
Enlightenment often straddled the world of religion and science. Clergyman
Robert Burton gives the causes of melancholy, in 1621, as either supernatural or
natural, both of which could be divided further. Spiritual causes included:
from God, the devil, evil spirits, or by witches. While natural causes could be
old age, heredity, imprisonment, poverty, a blow to the head, overheating, and
even too much garlic and onions.[4] Burton is a good example
of how little the Church has changed when discussing mental illness. On the one
hand, they discuss the medical and scientific reasons, as if not wanting to
appear backwards and medieval. On the other hand, they make sure that spiritual
reasons are listed first and foremost so as not to be seen as betraying their
faith.
These
historical examples demonstrate how far we’ve come in our medical understanding.
The Church, and society, no longer punish and condemn epileptics, the autistic,
or handicap, so why are the mentally ill still seen as “less than Christian,”
or punished by God? We no longer strip women naked and look for moles and skin
tags as a sign of where the devil has suckled. We know their causes and
consider them natural, although sometimes bothersome, parts of life. Yet the
Church often sees fit to say with certainty that mental illness is a spiritual
affliction without researching the medical causes. How long will this
generation have to wait for the Church to recognize mental illness as a
legitimate illness? Because next time my mental illness is seen as reason
enough to call into question my relationship with God you can be dang sure that
person better not sneeze.
[1] Aristidis
Diamantis, et al., “Epilepsy During the Middle Ages, the Renaissance and the
Enlightenment,” J Neurol 275, no. 5
(May 2010): 692-694, accessed August 25, 2017, http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00415-009-5433-7.
See also Georges Minois, History of Suicide: Voluntary Death in Western
Culture, Trans. Lydia G. Cochrane, (The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1999),
for an excellent breakdown of early Church history and mental illness.
[2]
Martin Luther, Table Talk entries DLXXXIX, DCCXXXVIII, in The Table Talk or Familiar Discourse of Martin Luther, tr. William
Hazlitt, London: David Bogue, 1848, pp. 254, 303; entry 222 (April 7, 1532), in
Luther’s Works, American Edition,
vol. 54. Ed. and trans. Theodore G. Tappert,
Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1967, p. 29. https://ethicsofsuicide.lib.utah.edu/selections/martin-luther/.
[3] Minois,
History of Suicide: Voluntary Death in Western Culture, 68-69, 73, 113.
[4]
Robert Burton, The Anatomy of Melancholy,
(Philadelphia: E. Claxton & Company, 1883): 81-84. https://archive.org/details/anatomyofmelanch00burt.
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