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Statistics suggest that one in four people have been diagnosed with mental illness, yet it’s still something that most of us don’t like to talk about.

“Mental health is an unsanctioned illness,” explained Julie Yonker, a 17c������� psychology professor. “It’s the ‘no-casserole disease.’ If people have cancer or a broken leg, you bring food; no one brings food for a mental illness.”

Some people, including Yonker, would like to see this changed. “It’s a matter of justice,” she said.

It’s the main reason she and 11 other 17c������� faculty and alumni gathered throughout the past year as part of the Christian Perspectives on Mental Illness working group.

Becoming better equipped

The initial goal of the group was to address this question: How can we as Christians become better equipped to be agents of renewal when mental illness affects us, our families, our friends, our communities and our churches?

For nine months, the group—consisting of mental health professionals, counselors, professors and clergy, and supported by the  and the —read and discussed several books and articles and listened to mental health advocates.

One significant visit to the group was by Active Minds, the 17c������� chapter of a national organization dedicated to reducing the stigmas that surround mental illness. The students deeply affected the study group by sharing their struggles with their families, church, roommates and friends concerning mental illness.

“This is where we discovered there was a real niche to fill,” said Yonker. “There’s not a lot of helpful resources out there for the emerging adult—the 18-year-old to 29 something. There’s not a WebMD out there for mental illnesses, particularly for issues facing emerging adults. These issues—like telling your parents and grandparents and even your first employer that you suffer from depression or anxiety, for example—are scenarios emerging adults have to navigate for the first time.”

It’s also around this age that stigmas begin to appear. “Children don’t stigmatize each other,” said Brett VanTol ’84, one of the alumni group members. “Attributes tend to get cemented in early adult life. If we can address this at the emerging adult stage, we can make an impact, a lasting impact.”

VanTol, a psychologist for Pine Rest Christian Mental Health Services in Grand Haven, Mich., joined the group because he believes “stigmatism robs us of an opportunity to be more caring and loving. It robs us of knowing God’s heart,” he said. “I was excited about getting together to hear other people’s perspectives, but all around a common theme, 17c�������’s theme of being agents of renewal.”

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Having a voice

For one member of the group who has a mental illness, it was crucial to have her voice heard, which is why she joined. “I thought it was important to have someone in the group with lived experience,” she said. “I have learned that people telling their stories breaks down the walls of stigma: Once you can put a face with it, it’s not just a label or diagnosis.”

As one outcome of the study project, the group hopes to share personal stories through videos as a resource for the emerging adult population.

“One of the things we learned is that there is a need to know how to come alongside and be a faithful presence to a friend or family member who has a mental illness,” said Yonker. “We hope that by creating some short videos, we can offer some help in that area.”

Audrey Waldron ’07, an alum with a counseling degree, hopes to use some of what she learned in her role as 17c�������’s transfer coordinator in the admissions department.

“I work with families who are struggling with mental illness in their families,” she said. “I think 17c������� does a fabulous job of taking care of the needs of students, but there is such a wide variety of needs for students coming in. I’m interested in finding out how we can care for people really well.

“Personally, I learned a lot from this group,” she said. “There was an incredible amount of collected expertise in the room. It’s a lifelong learning process, and I was happy to be a part of a group that is looking to contribute to the support of that emerging adult niche.”

Providing resources

Other potential outcomes from the project include a website with helpful questions and answers and links to reputable resources, a panel discussion at 17c������� later this year and various writings.

Cindy Holtrop, a chaplain who serves on the Mental Health Task Force of Disability Concern for the Christian Reformed Church, is eager to see the results extend well beyond the group.

“The value of the group is we came away having discussed what we can do in our churches and what churches need to empower us to be even more proactive in the communities we return to.” Quoting Jean Vanier, a Canadian philosopher and humanitarian, she said, “The church is not called to extraordinary things; the church is called to do ordinary things with extraordinary love.”