Mental Health - Q&A with Steve Midgley

We were privileged to be joined by Steve Midgley for a Sunday service as he spoke to us on the important topic of Mental Health. You can watch his sermon here.

Steve worked for many years as a doctor and a psychiatrist, and is presently the Executive Director of Biblical Counselling UK, and a pastor at Christ Church Cambridge.

His expertise provides compassionate and practical advice, guiding us through understanding and responding to mental-health struggles with Biblical wisdom. He recently co-authored a book called "Mental Health and Your Church".

Steve kindly took the time to answer some questions submitted by the church during his visit to us.

Here are the questions Steve responded to with their timestamps:

1:15 Where is the line between poor mental health/ low mood / feeling anxious etc and a medically recognised mental illness?

3:55 There are some Christians that say that mental health issues/illnesses are caused by a lack of trust in God, not submitting to God, lack of prayer or demonic influence. What is your response?

6:25 How do we stop people within churches using every day language like ' I'm OCD about that', when for people medically diagnosed with OCD, it is an extremely distressing condition that isn't to be joked about?

8:24 My emotions and mental health fluctuate all the time. What does God say about this and will I ever experience breakthrough in this area of my life?

11:34 Are there any cases of mental illness in the Bible?

15:23 What does Christian 'joy' look like when you're struggling with anxiety/depression?

18:31 What are your thoughts on 'self-care', how do we look after ourselves without becoming introspective?

21:50 In a culture where truth (e.g. biological facts) seem less important than feelings, are we creating mental health issues by affirming feelings over measurable truth? If this is the case, how should we, as a church, respond to it?

25:08 How can I be a good friend to someone (Christian or non-Christian) who shares a mental health struggle with me?