Mental Health, Christians, and Counseling

I recently have noticed that a lot of the church does not seem to fully understand how to deal with people that suffer from a mental illness. Of course, mental illness is something that is hard for many people to understand, but what I mean is that a lot of believers don't know how to relate to a mentally ill person other than by saying, "I'll pray for you." Other believers seem to think the mentally ill have brought on their illness through sin or that the person in question is possessed by demons.

Still, I do not discount that there could be people who have "brought the illness on themself" or who have possibly been possessed by demons. So what should be done to help our brothers and sisters in the Lord who have mental illnesses? Well, I have come to believe that the use of medication and therapy is vastly underrated in the church and may even be looked down upon in some denominations because taking medicine means you are not really "trusting God to heal you".

YES, God can heal a person of mental illness, BUT He can also use medicine or therapy (hopefully Christian counseling too!) to heal the person or to help them get better over time. Why aren't there more people in the church reaching out to mentally ill brothers and sisters in Christ who are hurting and possibly avoiding church because everyone there belittles them to "have more faith and be healed"?!? Instead shouldn't we, as Christians, leave room for belief that MAYBE God has a different plan for them to be healed or that is be their "thorn in the side" as the Apostle Paul speaks of in regard to his personal imparement?

I speak as someone who suffers from chronic depression, among other things, and have always found the church lacking in this area of counseling.

Maybe I should try to counsel others I meet and live out what I am saying? I have considered going to school to get training for counseling...maybe I will.

I am the face of someone who lives DAILY with depression and I choose to not take meds, but that does not mean I look down on anyone who does need them.