Response To Wadadli Initiative For Self-Care And Healing (WISH) ….. by Yves Ephraim 

RESPONSE TO WADADLI INITIATIVE FOR SELF-CARE AND HEALING (WISH)

….. by Yves Ephraim 

I wrote a piece where I was merely expounding what I believed was the essence of Psalm 32:2. Admittedly, when I wrote it, I had no axe to grind with anyone, so the deluge of objections that followed was a surprise. The fact that WISH would take the time to respond to me is quite flattering.

In an attempt to understand why such an innocuous post would justify WISH responding directly to me, I thought it necessary to read all of the comments and even to look at some documentaries on the subject before responding. Making sure that I was clear on the issue.

It is noteworthy that none of the commenters offered an alternative explanation to the passage of scripture I considered. I am therefore comforted that the responses I got were direct slugs at God’s words and not mine. 

It is my opinion that WISH’s response was more so triggered by my use of the word “Mental Health” rather than from the substance of my content and particularly because I was not cuddling the subject.

I am a bit amused that some people are unable to discern that to speak specifically of self-conflict with respect to mental health does not nullify all other genuine types of causes of mental illness. These and the biblical perspective can all be true at the same time. It is sad that WISH was unable to navigate such nuance. 

I totally reject WISH’s statement that:

“Mental health challenges are NOT a product of moral failure or lack of faith” .

Whereas I never made a claim that ALL mental illnesses are moral problems, for WISH to suggest that none are, is grossly misleading. 

WISH itself admitted that the “…involvement with communities of faith and spiritual support system are part of the treatment approach..”

It appears to me that WISH’s real objection is that they do not wish for anyone to speak in a manner that hurts their “feelings”. WISH talks about being more “compassionate”, which is code word for “don’t hurt my feelings”. Nothing I said lacked compassion. Speaking the truth is sometimes the best remedy. 

If a ship is sinking, do you rather me concern myself with how you will feel rather than shout that the ship is sinking even if that will give you anxiety?

For the record, I accept that there are many people who genuinely have mental health issues and I am sympathetic to them and feel that they should get the best care available. And I feel for the families who have to figure out how to cope. I am particularly sympathetic to those with autism. 

However, I assert that most of the modern so called disorders that get tossed in the basket of mental health disorders should not be so labelled.

Based on the low threshold that is used to consider people eligible to be seen as having a mental health issue, I honestly believe that I would qualify. And I am not being facetious. 

As a young child growing up in a very dysfunctional environment, I did suffer very serious trauma that I do not wish to make public here. By all accounts I should be angry with the world and be in some type of institution, even jail. But it was God and my faith that has transformed my life from the age of 11 years. God’s forgiveness and Word made the difference in the outcome of my life.

We know that sin in the world makes the world a hard place and what God offers is hope. That is the mechanism that helps believers cope and become resilient to whatever life throws at us. 

WISH wishes to relegate God to “spiritual escapism”. If anyone thought that Antigua and Barbuda was a Christian society, the evidence is now clear to the contrary. The apostacy is unfolding.

Moreover, I do have a close relative with a real mental health and developmental issue, so I believe I have some authority to talk on the subject.

Most of the things I am seeing pass for mental health issue has to do with people adopting a victim mindset. 

Because we have more or less removed God from our society, a direct consequence is the systematic destruction of the family unit consisting of a man, a woman and children. The family unit is being replaced with Government and human philosophy, resulting in a deluge of social ills and dysfunction. 

Romans chapter 1, starting from verse 21 to verse 32 describes the reality of a society that deliberately attempts to remove God from its national consciousness. 

The Bible states: “Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were they thankful: but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darken, professing themselves to be wise they became fools” The chapter goes on to describe the depravity and social ills including youth rebellion. I encourage everyone to read the passage. 

What most often is a spiritual issue is most often dismissed as a medical one. And we wind up drugging vulnerable people.

If it is one thing I know and that is, the spiritual begets the physical. 

Many of the people I see adopting the mental health label are just individuals who are clamouring for attention. They are usually very rebellious, intractable, rambunctious, contentious, bitter, and narcissistic. These are not always biological issues, but oftentimes spiritual ones. 

It is ironic that we are living at a time when most of us, even those we call poor, are materialistically better off than our grandparents in their day, but we see more so called mental health issues today. Our grandparents had far more existential issues then than we have today and somehow without the plethora of therapists, there was far less crime and mental disorders. 

I contend that what people lack today is resilience and that is what Jesus Christ gives. 

For the benefit of WISH, I must emphasize that I am not discounting the use of “science” for the GENUINE cases but at the same time I am not seeing “science” as the only answer. I am never quick to accept any claim of “science” because I know that some that claim to be scientist can rush to inconclusive assertions that the earth is flat. 

At the rate at which we are going, pedophiles would be shortly considered having a mental health disorder which I suspect WISH would gladly support. By the way, the new name for pedophiles is Minor Attracted Persons. MAP has a platform aimed at normalizing their fetish.

I now wish that WISH would next time take the time to read carefully before responding.

Advertise with the mоѕt vіѕіtеd nеwѕ ѕіtе іn Antigua! We offer fully customizable and flexible digital marketing packages.Contact us at [email protected]