When it comes to mental health conversations, God is rarely invited in. One way to bring Him in is to remember the spiritual gifts that He has given us, and the way that He has uniquely designed us to use them for His glory. Today however, mental health conversations are mostly centered on “disorders”. When people are diagnosed as having mental health “disorders”, it makes it very easy for them to forget their spiritual gifts, and to instead believe they are special types of victims because of what Satan has given them. 

One solution is to replace the word “disorder” in mental health diagnoses and associated literature with the word condition. This would mean diagnosing an Autism spectrum condition instead of an Autism spectrum disorder, describing Down Syndrome as a genetic condition instead of a genetic disorder, and making similar replacements with other mental health conditions.  

Diagnosing mental health conditions, and not disorders, would more truthfully characterize unique overall aspects of the human condition. As a result, mental health diagnoses would not be used to control people, but would instead be used to see through their pain, and honor what God has given them.

Regarding what He has given them, those with Autism and Hyperactivity have an ability to solve complex puzzles and mathematical problems. Those with Down Syndrome have an ability to keep their minds pure and avoid being hypnotized by evil. Those with Schizophrenia and Bipolar have an ability to reach, and also return from the guarded, but fertile fringes of reality. It’s not just supposed outliers like Nobel prize winner, Economist and diagnosed Schizophrenic John Nash who have unique gifts. Each of these people has an oddly unique gift and an oddly unique challenge, meaning their gift and challenge are connected, and are both part of the same underlying condition. It’s not a coincidence that those with similar “disorders” have similar gifts.

Now, since we are all created in the image of God, and God calls us good, we should be able to shift our perspective. We should be able to see mental health conditions as an expression of both gifts and challenges.

In his first letter to the Corinthians, St. Paul writes of these gifts, stating “there are diversities of gifts…for to one is given the word of wisdom through the spirit, to another the word of knowledge through the same spirit, to another faith by the same spirit, to another gifts of healings by the same spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another discerning of spirits, to another different kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues…God composed the body[of Christ], having greater honor to that part which lacks it, that there should be no schism in the body…And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; or if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it.” (1 COR 12:4-26).

But St. Paul also acknowledges that these beautiful gifts are often accompanied by painful challenges that we must endure: “and lest I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of revelations, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I be exalted above measure.” (2 COR 12:7). God allowed this thorn to continue to buffet St. Paul in order to keep his God-given gift in check. 

Furthermore, St. Paul reminds us that thorns reinforce our need for God, and lead us closer to Him through exposing our weakness – drawing us to rely on him more fully. St. Paul “pleaded with [God] three times” that his thorn might depart, but God told him “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” (2 COR 12:9).

Though Satan gives us these thorns to separate us from God, God uses them for good. Specifically, He allows them to regulate the gifts which He has given us in order to draw us into His presence. In other words, the strength of the gifts and the opportunity to use them come from God, while the thorns, which are not from God, are what God uses to keep the gifts regulated. By ignoring the gifts, as mental health professionals do with their diagnoses, the whole system is thrown out of balance. 

For mental health professionals applying these “disordered” diagnoses, they typically focus only on the thorniest aspects of their patients’ mental health conditions, without acknowledging God’s unique design, and the connection between the gifts and the thorns. This leads to treatment protocols that aim to suppress all aspects of mental health conditions – good and bad – in an attempt to eliminate them completely. 

For those who are diagnosed, this level of suppression does not mean healing from the buffeting of their spiritual gifts. Instead, it means continued fear that God has somehow made a mistake, and that Satan is the author of the entire story. This leads to extreme isolation from others, and even further separation from God. Therapy, care facilities, and tailored, non-toxic uses of medications are certainly needed, but self-sacrificing diagnoses that account for spiritual gifts are needed more. 

Of course, many simply believe that the diagnosed are more likely than others to cause destruction due to their thorns. While those who have felt this destruction directly may find it hard to accept, we are all made in the same image and likeness of God, even if our genetics reveal the presence of thorns. We all have the same inherent potential to cause destruction as well as to heal, depending on how we respond to our thorns. So while it may be easier to perceive in some than others, the truth is – everybody has a mental health condition – one that includes both a spiritual gift and a thorn. 

This means no one is special just for having a mental health condition, regardless of how much pain they are in from that condition, or how beautifully they express a gift from that condition. It also means the undiagnosed cause destruction in exactly equal measures as the diagnosed, even though the destruction caused by their thorns is less noticeable, and their gifts are more socially acceptable.

Here however, by allowing mental health diagnoses to only reflect thorns, society ends up rejecting the gifts connected to those thorns. In other words, it does not value the gift of an Autistic person to solve a complex puzzle as much as it does the gift of a person to be abundantly faithful. The problem is, both gifts are equally important. For Christians, this is easy to see. 

In his first letter to the Corinthians, St. Paul stated, “those members of the body [of Christ] which seem to be weaker are necessary. And those members of the body [of Christ] which we think to be less honorable, on these we bestow greater honor.” (1 COR 12:22-23). He did not write these words because certain body parts are victimized more or less by Satan – they are not – Satan’s thorns do not discriminate. He wrote them because God uniquely designed the lungs, the legs, and the neck of the body to work together, with the help of the Holy Spirit, to glorify the head – Jesus Christ. 

This means that embracing, and even celebrating certain gifts as being uniquely designed by God, and not doing the same with others, only causes schism. It means that when it comes to those who have been diagnosed, society – and especially mental health professionals – are missing the mark. Those who they call disordered, God calls His children, whose identities are more than just their thorns. 

By replacing the word “disorder” with the word condition, mental health professionals would not be ignoring the very real destruction caused by thorns, and would not be yielding their power to diagnose to patients. Instead, they will only be acknowledging that connected to the thorns is something good – something which leads to answers, and not randomness. Knowing this truth offers those being diagnosed freedom to embrace the ways in which they have been uniquely designed by God, and all of the tools He has given them to fully realize their gifts. (JN 8:32). It also offers them freedom to trust that the same thorn that Satan meant for destruction, God uses for good. A good starting point to introduce this freedom to reality is called condition, and “disorder” is not the only part of it. 

Text Copyright © TXu 2-457-396, John P. Powers, 2024, all rights reserved.