“As the family goes, so goes the nation, and so goes the whole world in which we live.”
-Pope John Paul II, From his Homily in Perth, Australia on November 30, 1986.
May is Mental Health Awareness Month! Unity and division in the family have profound effects on the human person’s mental health. Our most core relationships illicit deep-seated joy, sorrow, and anger from our hearts. One of the greatest predictors of positive outcomes for clients in therapy is having a supportive and stable family life. Research consistently points to the reality that intact families are strongly associated with strong mental health. And familial breakdown, especially when accompanied by abuse and high levels of conflict, is strongly associated with the development of mental disorders.
The Family As Understood By the Church
The Catholic Church has consistently taught that the health of the family directly impacts the health of nations. We live in a time when the family is not well understood nor prioritized. We’ve forgotten our basic understanding of what the family is, perhaps because we have even lost our basic understanding what the human person is. We forget what each and every soul is made for, relationship.
The family is where the human person learns to relate to others. It is “the school of love” as St. John Paul II often called it. The family is where we are each supposed to learn that love is given freely. It is also where we learn how to navigate situations in which love has been withheld or distorted. It is the domestic Church. What happens when we don’t have a stable and secure place to learn about love, especially in our first years of life? Our spirits, minds, and bodies react. They fight to adapt to a way of life that they were not made for. As they adapt to heartache and pain brought on by the confusion and despair of broken relationships, the psychological health of the human person takes a toll.
Effects of Family Breakdown
At the same time trends in marriage and divorce dramatically deviated from historical norms, a greater need for mental health care arose. In the 20th century, the divorce rate quadrupled. And since 1989, prescriptions for SSRIs in adults have consistently risen. It would be difficult to prove that divorce is directly responsible for the increased rates of depression our society has faced in the last century. But would it be outlandish to state that the social environment created through the normalization of divorce has contributed significantly to increased development or severity of mental health disorders?
The Family and Psychiatric Care
If we are to reverse our ever-growing mental health crisis, I firmly believe that we must also look at strengthening our home lives through intentional relationships that model our Lord’s mercy and justice. And while no family will be perfect in this, we need a universal rededication of intention for unified families. We need family’s that are fiercely intent on remaining together throughout hardship and conflict (and the Church recognizes when this is not possible due to abuse). And no one is ever too far gone to join this mission.
Intentional unity and perseverance in the family unit is how generations to come may live as they were made to, in loving relationship. And while mental health resources and psychiatric medication are very much needed, these resources can be provided in the presence of a strong support system, bolstering effects and positive outcomes. With marriage rates on the decline in the 21st century, how can we encourage young people in our lives to stand up heroically and create secure united homes where our future generations can learn and grow through safe and stable families? It starts with how we love today!
This Mental Health Awareness Month let us remember that there is a reason Mother Church has always promoted the foundational and irreplaceable role of the family. And its role, as supported by research, cannot be overlooked when considering treatment for mental illness.
This blog is not meant to be clinical advice. If you believe you may benefit from psychiatric medication please speak to a licensed psychiatrist or physician for consultation. Views expressed are not representative of mental health agencies associated with the author.