Christian leaders, physicians and licensed counselors called on churches to confront what they described as a deepening mental health crisis with theological clarity, practical training and renewed compassion during a panel discussion at the recent National Religious Broadcasters International Christian Media Convention.
The forum, titled “A Bible Response to the Mental Health Crisis: Human Flourishing and Better Wellbeing in the Digital Age,” examined record suicide rates, the psychological effects of social media, trauma-informed ministry, pastoral burnout and the integration of spiritual and clinical care. Panelists argued that churches must reject both stigma and simplistic solutions, instead offering a biblically grounded, whole-person response to anxiety, depression and despair.
“The church without the broken is a broken church,” said Dr. Tim Clinton, president of the American Association of Christian Counselors. “God loves to move into those places and bring light into the darkness.”
Moderated by Billy Hallowell, digital TV host and producer at CBN News, the discussion reflected growing concern among Christian communicators and ministry leaders that mental health challenges are reshaping congregational life across the United States.
Record levels of suicide and despair
Panelists cited recent federal data showing nearly 50,000 suicide deaths in 2024 — the highest annual number ever recorded in the United States. Suicide remains among the leading causes of death for teenagers and young adults, with rising rates among middle-aged and elderly populations as well.
Carrie Sheffield, founder and program manager of Healthy Faith, described the numbers as a national emergency.
“We have the highest suicide rate ever recorded,” she said. “We are in a crisis.”
Sheffield said research consistently shows that religious participation and strong faith communities correlate with lower suicide rates, reduced substance abuse and increased resilience. Yet many congregations remain uncertain how to address mental illness theologically.
Clinton said the crisis is compounded by a shortage of Christ-centered providers.
“There’s a big gap between those who need help and those who provide help,” he said. “We need an army of people trained to understand trauma and mental health.”
Fear, uncertainty and cultural pressure
Clinton traced part of the current emotional strain to the long shadow of the COVID-19 pandemic and broader cultural instability.
“The world changed,” he said. “Everything was turned upside down and people began to get afraid.”
He pointed to geopolitical tensions, school shootings, economic uncertainty and nonstop exposure to alarming headlines through smartphones.
“You get overloaded,” Clinton said. “That toxic insanity coming at you every day — it’s overwhelming.”
He added that loneliness has become pervasive despite unprecedented digital connectivity.
“We’re so disconnected anymore,” he said. “I don’t care how wired we are — we’re isolated and alone.”
Reina Olmeda, director of the Mental Health Initiative at the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference, said Scripture shows that emotional anguish is not new. She referenced King David’s lament, Elijah’s despair and Hannah’s sorrow as biblical examples of deep emotional suffering.
“What is not new is anxiety, depression, burnout,” Olmeda said. “What is new is the climate has changed.”
She described a “speed of saturation” in modern culture — the rapid intake of news, opinions and images — that leaves little room for reflection or emotional processing.
“The speed at which we are acquiring information has rocked our faith,” she said.
Olmeda recounted speaking with more than 100 pastors who privately admitted to anger, fear and grief amid political and social turmoil.
“They were saying, ‘If we can just change our environment, these emotions will go away,’” she said. “But sometimes we have to sit in those moments. Rather than just prayer, there is presence — being present with each other.”
Social media and identity formation
Several panelists warned that digital culture is reshaping how young people experience and interpret emotional pain.
Sheffield referenced research linking heavy social media use to anxiety, eating disorders and depression, particularly among teenage girls.
“If we’re constantly barraging our eyes and neural systems with comparison, it creates neural pathways that are life-draining,” she said. “The human brain — God did not design us this way.”
She cited growing concern among scholars that platforms reward emotional exhibitionism, encouraging users to publicly frame pain as identity.
Olmeda agreed, warning that when churches fail to articulate clear, biblically grounded narratives about suffering, online culture quickly fills the void.
“If the church has a void, there is a world out there that’s going to fill that,” she said. “Social media is speaking when the church does not speak.”
Dr. Pamela Pyle, an internal medicine physician with decades of experience treating patients experiencing suicidal ideation, said modern culture often promotes external solutions to internal struggles.
“We have become a society that looks for external sources of hope,” Pyle said. “But faith is an internal, outward experience.”
She described visiting post-genocide communities in Rwanda where families living in modest conditions nevertheless reported joy rooted in faith and community bonds.
“The common denominator was hope,” she said.
Pyle warned that the spread of digital comparison culture even into remote communities could undermine that resilience.
“They will begin comparing their lives to something that looks glamorous but is often more painful,” she said.
Trauma, stigma and shame
A significant portion of the discussion focused on trauma-informed ministry — understanding how adverse experiences shape long-term emotional patterns.
Clinton said churches have historically struggled to integrate psychological insight with theology, sometimes viewing counseling as inherently secular.
“There’s been a lot of silence around mental health issues, a lot of stigmatizing and shaming,” he said. “If you’re depressed, you don’t have faith — you know that.”
He argued that counseling should be understood as a form of discipleship, helping believers grow toward maturity and freedom in Christ.
“I don’t see counseling separate from the church,” Clinton said. “I see it as part of the church.”
Sheffield shared her own experience of childhood trauma and adult hospitalization, referencing the Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) score — a framework used to assess exposure to traumatic events before age 18.
“Being in religious settings where we ignore trauma — this is where people die,” she said.
Olmeda distinguished between guilt and shame in congregational life.
“Guilt says, ‘I did something wrong.’ Shame says, ‘I am wrong,’” she said. “When you name what happened, shame begins to lose its power.”
Clinton described trauma’s neurological imprint, noting how veterans often re-experience combat memories through sensory flashbacks.
“Trauma isolates. Trauma destroys your sense of safety,” he said. “It’s not about what’s wrong with you — it’s about what happened to you.”
Pastoral health and training
The panel also addressed the emotional burden carried by pastors.
Hallowell noted that congregations often elevate church leaders to unrealistic standards, leaving little room for vulnerability.
“Mental and spiritual health is ignored because people elevate pastors as though they’re superhuman,” he said.
Clinton urged churches to develop structured responses, including training lay leaders, forming mental health teams and addressing emotional struggles from the pulpit.
“My people perish because of a lack of knowledge,” he said. “There are so many incredible resources available now.”
He pointed to expanding research on human flourishing that links religious engagement with improved mental health outcomes.
“All the research — you can’t deny it anymore — faith is central to mental health,” Clinton said.
He added that pastors themselves need safe spaces for counseling and accountability.
“If you have any value to God, all hell’s going to be against you,” he said, urging leaders not to isolate themselves.
Spiritual and clinical integration
A central theme of the forum was how to avoid false dichotomies between spiritual and clinical care.
“There’s a big debate about the spiritual versus the mental,” Hallowell said. “How do we find the balance?”
Pyle said medicine increasingly acknowledges spirituality as a factor in healing, though often in generalized terms.
“Doctors will ask, ‘Are you a spiritual person?’ but they don’t go deeper,” she said.
Olmeda pointed to the biblical account of Elijah, who collapsed in exhaustion and despair after intense ministry.
“What does God do?” she asked. “He feeds him. He lets him sleep. And then He gently restores him. That is biology and theology in one.”
Sheffield said her own recovery involved both medication and spiritual renewal.
“I needed medication at certain points,” she said. “It was all integrated. We cannot separate the flesh and the spirit.”
Clinton closed with a theological reflection on hope and spiritual warfare.
“Light dispels darkness,” he said. “If we are to bring light into darkness, we must be anchored in the Spirit of God and the Word of God as we bring hope.”
As the session concluded, panelists urged Christian communicators and church leaders not to retreat from difficult conversations.
The mental health crisis, they said, demands humility, evidence-based training and unwavering theological conviction.
“We don’t need to panic,” Olmeda said. “The church is not dead. There is still hope. God is still on the throne.”
The forum ended with a challenge to congregations nationwide: move from silence to engagement, from stigma to compassion, and from fragmented responses to integrated care rooted in Scripture and community.
In an era marked by isolation, digital saturation and rising despair, panelists said the church’s calling remains unchanged — to bring light into darkness and hope into suffering, addressing the whole person in mind, body and spirit.
