Break down the stigma of anxiety by watching this video as a family or community. Discuss. Lift the lid on the issue.
This talk is about anxiety from a Christian perspective. Anxiety includes different symptoms of anxiety, different symptoms which you can have, factors which contribute to it, there are different cultural understandings, and practical things which will help.
You can watch this talk as a group. There is a quiz with separate YouTube videos you can watch.
In Australia the government survey from 2014-2015 there were 23 million people in Australia. Some questions to discuss as a group - How many 14- to 64-year-old people have a mental illness at that time? Pause - What percentage of the population had a mood disorder? Pause - What percentage of the population had an anxiety disorder?
1/3 women and 1/5 men have anxiety each year.
2007 National Survey of Mental Health and Wellbeing 20% of people have a mental illness. Over an entire lifetime 1 in 2 people will have some form of mental disorder.
Anxiety, depression and substance abuse are the most common issues in Australia.
What is different about 15-25 age group? This period is a key developmental period for mental illness. 50% of mental disorders emerge by the age of 14 years. 75% by the age of 24 years.
If mental health issues are very common, we need to change our attitudes. We should be scared about talking about these issues. There is stigma. There is a fear. Mental illness is something you may not be able to see on the outside.
Cultural and religious beliefs can stop us from being able to identify and deal with mental health.
As Christians we need to think about our fear. The Bible and Jesus shows us how we are to respond. Jesus had a holistic understanding. Jesus did not discriminate. Jesus healed no matter what the person presented with. St James Chapter 2 talked about not discriminate against people. We need to challenge our own attitudes about how we approach mental health. “Perfect love cast out fear” we are called to love. We cannot be fear-filled and love them (1 John 4:18). We need to love them. Treat others as we want to be treated (Matthew 7:12). How do we want to treat if we ourselves were anxious? Jesus’ mission was to bring goodness to the captives and recovery for those who are blind and let the oppress go free (Luke 4:18-19). Anxiety chains people. Christ wants us to be freed from this. The solution is not overnight. Healing takes time.
What is anxiety?
Anxiety is the body’s natural response when we are under threat. We either fight or flight. God has made us in an amazing way. But with anxiety, this can create further problems for us.
(Audio Available)
