The Bible + Mental Health

The Bible + Mental Health

The need for Biblically-rooted mental health care has never been greater. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in late 2023 released provisional data showing that nearly 50,000 people died by suicide in the United States in 2022—nearly 17 times the number killed in the 9/11 terrorist attacks. This nearly 3% increase from 2021 is the highest number ever recorded and the highest rate since 1941 — during the aftershocks of the Great Depression. , adolescent mental health, especially among teen girls, is at a crisis point.

Yet women attending religious services at least weekly are 68% less likely to die “deaths of despair”—suicide, drug overdose, or alcohol poisoning. Men are 33% less likely, from Harvard University’s School of Public Health. The National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) reported states with declining religious attendance correlated with increased deaths of despair, and vice versa. reported, “Of 93 observational studies, two-thirds found lower rates of depressive disorder with fewer depressive symptoms in persons who were more religious … Of 22 longitudinal studies, 15 [68%] found that greater religiousness predicted mild symptoms and faster remission at follow-up.”

Through an innovative gathering, Museum of the Bible illuminates the scientifically-documented mental, physical, emotional, and societal benefits of engaging in regular faith practice centered around belief in the healing power of God.

LOCATION: Museum Of The Bible Scholars Initiative Conference Room

DATE: June 12, 10 a.m.

SPEAKERS:

· Matthew S. Stanford, PhD, Psychiatry Professor at Baylor University andHouston Methodist Hospital Institute for Academic Medicine; CEO of the Hope and Healing Center & Institute; Author of five books, including Grace for the Afflicted: A Clinical and Biblical Perspective on Mental Illness

· Brandon Vaidyanathan, PhD, Associate Professor and Chair of the Department of Sociology and Director of the Institutional Flourishing Lab at The Catholic University of America

· Carrie Sheffield, author of Motorhome Prophecies: A Journey of Healing and Forgiveness; Harvard-trained public policy analyst, Congressional testimony expert witness on social/economic policy

· Moderator: Anne Snyder, editor-in-chief of Comment magazine; Fellow with Trinity Forum

Event Venue

Museum of the Bible, 400 4th Street Southwest, Washington, United States