Back to School with Bird (pt. 3)

Originally published on Wiggles & Wonder on September 10, 2024

I think it’s time for us to wrap up this series, at least for now. So, where were we?

The bottom line of last week’s newsletter was that, although it superficially seems like the work of embracing neurodiversity and supporting neurodivergent community members would be focused on cognitive differences, it’s actually a full-body undertaking.

In talking about the complexity of proprioception, core strength, and text formatting needs, among other topics, we were able to see some of the aspects of this essential, complex scope. This week, though, I want to go back to basics in another direction. Let’s talk about mental health.

We would be remiss to try to talk about neurodivergence without talking about mental health conditions like depression and anxiety, obsessive-compulsive disorder, bipolar disorder, and eating disorders, among others.

I want to start at my own beginning, which is that I was a significantly mentally ill teen who found a lot of comfort in my church community, particularly a handful of my youth group and confirmation class friends. I have vivid memories of lying on the floor of our sanctuary on late weekday afternoons, staring up at the ceiling waiting for church band practice. I also have memories of scrupulously tearing up napkins with anxiety on a confirmation retreat and memorizing huge chunks of liturgy to try to push my deep depression further down below the surface of my consciousness.

Know Religiously-Linked Manifestations of Mental Illness: Obviously none of us want to assume that someone’s religious devotion is an indicator of mental illness, but there are a few cases in which that may be the case and can indicate the need for serious intervention or treatment. This includes preoccupation with religious obligations and moral propriety, which can be a sign of a kind of obsessive compulsive disorder known as religious scrupulosity, or cases in which someone seems to be experiencing religious delusions, including hearing voices or experiencing hallucinations, which can be symptoms of a manic episode in those with bipolar disorder or a symptom of schizophrenia.

Knowing the signs of serious mental illness as they are tied to religion is especially important for those who work with teens, as first episodes of psychosis often occur in the late teens – and there’s significant research suggesting that intensive treatment for first-episode psychosis can make a big difference in long-term prognosis. We want to foster deep and meaningful faith in our young people, but we don’t want our desire for such faith to prevent us from seeing symptoms until there’s more substantial decompensation. For those who do experience such manifestations of mental illness, it can take a lot of support to help them to reintegrate into their faith communities in healthy ways that don’t trigger those distorted beliefs.