The church has a key role in providing safe spaces for young people and adults struggling with their mental health, says a Christian support ministry based in Canada.
Sanctuary Mental Health Ministries, headquartered in Vancouver with a branch in the U.K, was running a mental health awareness campaign this past week to complement Mental Illness Awareness Week in Canada and the U.S. from Oct. 6 to 12, and World Mental Health Day on Oct. 10.
The campaign happens every October and this year the ministry had chosen a theme entitled: “It starts with YOUth: Mental health from Gen A to Z.”
Lizzy Ojo Martens, a spokeswoman for Sanctuary Mental Health Ministries, told Christian Daily International that the importance in the awareness campaign is that the issue of mental health affects everyone, “whether we’re currently flourishing or languishing.”
Martens pointed out that the World Health Organization records one in four people suffering mental health challenges or disorders on a global scale, at some point in their life.
“So mental health touches all of us,” added Martens, “including those of us in the church, in some way.”
Awareness campaigns can help to mobilize global efforts to support mental wellbeing, according to Martens. She also hoped it can help reduce stigma around the issues involved.
“As we listen to the voices of people with lived experience, we develop compassion and empathy, and become more aware of the prevalence of mental health challenges and mental illnesses,” Martens said.
Sanctuary shared statistics about mental health during the campaign, blog posts and information about The Sanctuary Youth Series, which is due to be released on Jan. 2025.
“This film-based resource targets the pressing questions young people are asking about mental health, to raise awareness and reduce stigma by starting these important conversations in youth ministries, small groups, and faith-based school settings,” said Martens.
“Youth ministry leaders can commit to supporting youth mental health by pledging to run the series in 2025.”
Christians can suffer mental health issues but tend to reach out to church leaders before seeking help from mental health institutions. Martens evidenced this point by referring to a study, “Patterns and Correlates of Contacting Clergy for Mental Disorders in the United States,” by Philip S Wang, Patricia A Berglund and Ronald C Kessler for Health Services Research.
“Sanctuary envisions a future where the church plays a vital role in supporting mental health and wellbeing in every community, and where the church is seen as a sanctuary for those experiencing mental health challenges,” said Martens. “We also believe that faith communities should be spaces of belonging for all people.
“The church can offer spiritual companionship, friendship, and prayer. We can mourn with those who mourn. We can offer presence, rather than only solutions. In that way, we can create spaces of security and safety so that the church is one of the first places people turn to in a time of crisis.”
The needs of young people with mental health issues is “prevalent” and Martens pointed out that depression and anxiety in this demographic is increasing, even doubling since the Covid pandemic in the U.S, she said. She added that more than 1.5 million youths in Canada live with mental health issues.
Statistics Canada released findings of a survey in 2023, following up on a similar study in 2019, at the time of the pandemic. A quarter of youths reported a change in mental health in the four-year period, with a particular concern for teenage girls reporting a “decline in their self-reported mental health since 2019.”
In 2019, 16 percent of girls aged 12 to 17 reported “fair or “poor” mental health, double that of boys (7%). This increased to 33 percent for girls aged 16 to 21 in 2023, and 19 percent for boys the same age.
The 2023 study acknowledged the impact of the Covid crisis on Canadians generally but also cited previous research showing a decline in mental health among both teens and young adults in the last decade “with a sharper decline during 2020 and 2021.”
Meanwhile youth in other countries are similarly affected with one in five young people in the U.K. experiencing a mental health challenge, said Martens.
“Many of those youths are in our church youth groups and could use support,” offered Martens.
Research by Sanctuary has discovered that young people want to talk about mental health but opt to speak with peers rather than adults about the issues, with whom they tend to be “more resilient.”
At the same time, churches are valued by young people for exploring the topic and Martend encouraged churches to think about how to create safe spaces for youngsters to discuss mental health, without fear from stigma.
“At Sanctuary, our hope is that the next generation will experience the church as a supportive place,” Martens said, “and that youth ministry leaders, parents/caregivers, and youth will all be equipped to have conversations about mental health.”
