Becoming mentally aware Sarah Harding talks to Dr Ken Yeow about his insights and advice into the whole area of mental health.
D
r Ken Yeow is a consultant psychiatrist who is currently working in the field of intellectual disability, having previously specialised in eating disorders. He has aided PCI in its work with mental health for many years, having been a keynote speaker at ‘Breaking the Silence’ (a Youth Assembly initiative back in 2014) and is a regular seminar speaker at PCI’s pastoral care roadshow (regional events aimed at training congregations in pastoral care). He is passionate about helping churches and individuals to tackle the problem of ill-mental health, and says it’s unclear whether the problems associated with it are getting worse or whether there is just more awareness. “It’s hard to know…you hear about it more. I think the stigma is becoming less. In the media it’s quite an open topic…So that’s certainly helped reduce the awkwardness of the issue.” He believes there are a number of factors contributing to poor mental health in our society today: “Families are not as cohesive as before; new technology; social media; pace of life; complexity. We share the burden of global distress, so I think the way in which information is so quickly and intensely distributed is key. It’s information overload and our brains are not fully prepared to handle all that. “But then again, I’ve only lived less than 50 years. If I was living during World War Two – would I have said that was a stressful time? Or during the Roman Empire? Are there just cycles of intense periods in life? Maybe it’s hard whenever you live.” Perhaps one thing that is different about our current age lies in our ability to handle stressful situations and our
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Herald February 2020
Dr Ken Yeow
apparent lack of resilience to cope. Dr Yeow cites the rise of the self-esteem movement, dating back to the 1960s, which began a focus on nurturing the inner being. “The risk is you sway too much towards being self-focused and thinking of your own needs primarily. You need a balance of the inward (dealing with stuff on the inside), but there also needs to be an outward focus – the ability to help others and contribute to society. That’s a more fully orbed approach to mental health.” Dr Yeow believes that expressing emotion in a healthy way is a significant factor to maintaining good mental health. “The inability to cope with/ express/share/process/work through emotional difficulties in a healthy way, means it comes out in a less healthy way. Addictions is a good example of that. If you’ve learnt to cope with your distress or conflict through the use of a substance or an activity that brings temporary relief, then you can very easily get stuck in a cycle of addiction.”
Spiritual health Dr Yeow is clear that the whole area of mental health is intertwined with our spiritual health. “We have body, mind and spirit and we’re all one, so you can’t divorce your physical body and your mental life from your spiritual life.”
He recognises that there is often a difficulty for individuals or churches when dealing with the issue because of the guilt that can be present – caused by the assumption that people of faith should not struggle mentally. “We need to get better at that – that’s why I enjoy doing seminars and talking to people, because churches have a role to teach people well about these things and to have a mature view on it. There are many instances where good professional help is needed in addition to any spiritual practices or disciplines.” However, he also identifies that situations can be complicated. “The Christian life is one of seeking to become more Christlike – of holiness and purity. And there is such a thing as sin, and such a thing as disobedience, and those things in themselves can lead to mental health struggles. If you are living in persistent, flagrant disobedience and sin, then it would not be inappropriate to have some negative feelings about it, which may well motivate you to check and repent and come back to the Lord. So, we need to get better at the emotional and supportive side, but we also need to get better at the admonition and pastoral discipline side of things.”
Church response So, are we as the church getting better at broaching the subject of mental health and tackling it? Dr Yeow believes so. “In my little sphere, I’ve had the opportunity to meet with different Churches [denominations] and do talks here and there. The very fact that Churches are organising these things is a great sign. What I would like to see is some central coordination where you can bring these Churches together and encourage one another.”
