A Bridge Between Psychology and Faith

My husband and I have been involved with the Family to Family class from NAMI for the past few weeks. NAMI stands for the National Alliance Of Mental Illness. It's an organization that tries to help caregivers as well as the mentally ill tools to recognize, deal with and find treatment for serious mental illness.

It's a pretty comprehensive program. We get a lot of printed information to take home and while in class, we have the ability to ask questions and share knowledge.

This afternoon, John and I were pondering how our faith fits into the whole idea of mental illness and today's culture of medication,psychiatry and psychology.
It's difficult  for me to tell at times what is mental illness vs. demonic activity. It seems as though Jesus healed both:
"And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people. And his fame went throughout all Syria: and they brought unto him all sick people that were taken with divers diseases and torments, and those which were possessed with devils, and those which were lunatick, and those that had the palsy; and he healed them. "
(Matthew 4:23-24)

So, is it wrong for a Christian to seek help from another human being or from a doctor whose medication seems to make a great deal of difference in the quality of your life?
I've been blessed, I think. I not only have a Christian counselor but also a Christian Doctor of Internal Medicine. With both of their help, I have been able to quiet my mind and sleep at night. I don't deal as much with paranoid thoughts nor with debilitating depression.

I still pray. I still search God's Word for answers. The difference  is largely biological. Could God heal me without the medication I take and the eclectic approach used by my counselor to help me? I would say yes. Does He sometimes use others as His ministers to minister to one who has spiritual and emotional problems as well? Why not?

Though my counselor is a believer, she counsels many who are not Christians. She knows that I am and we have spent as much time sharing biblical knowledge with one another as we have unlocking my fears.
I think , like anyone else, where and how you seek help has to do with -for lack of a better phrase-your belief system.

I prayed the Lord would guide me to someone who was a Born-again Christian. He answered that prayer.
Maybe for those many people in our class tonight, they have not connected with their faith. Maybe they don't believe in the healing power of prayer. Maybe they only see the psychiatrists, the pills and institutions as the only answers for their loved ones.

I may not be very conventional in my Christian walk: I don't go to church, I try to stay away from the lusts of the flesh...the greediness, the deceptions of mass marketing. I try not to want for more and to be thankful for the things God has allowed me to have.

It's true, my mind is battle-scarred and I sometimes feel overwhelmed and distrustful. I do know the Savior and though I am not sure why I have to go through the depressions and traumatic memories that haunt me, I have not lost faith in knowing that the Lord works all things out for the best.