Troubled Minds: Mental Illness and the Church's Mission

Product Description Christianity Today Book Award WinnerLeadership Journal Book AwardMental illness is the sort of thing we don't like to talk about. It doesn't reduce nicely to simple solutions and happy outcomes. So instead, too often we reduce people who are mentally ill to caricatures and ghosts, and simply pretend they don't exist. They do exist, however?statistics suggest that one in four people suffer from some kind of mental illness. And then there's their friends and family members, who bear their own scars and anxious thoughts, and who'see no safe place to talk about the impact of mental illness on their lives and their loved ones. Many of these people are sitting in churches week after week, suffering in stigmatized silence.In Troubled Minds Amy Simpson, whose family knows the trauma and bewilderment of mental illness, reminds us that people with mental illness are our neighbors and our brothers and sisters in Christ, and she shows us the path to loving them well and becoming a church that loves God with whole hearts and whole souls, with the strength we have and with minds that are whole as well as minds that are troubled. Review "Simpson's sensitive recounting of her experience growing up with a schizophrenic parent forms the foundation for a book that belongs underlined and dog-eared on the shelves of every church leader. Troubled Minds is far more than an introduction to the issues surrounding mental illness and the church. It is a call to practical discipleship for everyone who'seeks to follow the One who'spent much of his ministry caring for the ill and those at the margins of society--often the same people." -- Michelle Van Loon, "The 2014 Christianity Today Book Awards," Christianity Today, January/February 2014"Amy Simpson gives deep insight into the pain of mental illness for those affected and those who love them. I count this a must-read for those of us in church leadership." -- Karen Miller, "The 2014 Leadership Book Awards," Leadership Journal, Winter 2014"In America, mental illness covers . . . a broad set of diagnoses. Simpson gives her readers a helpful, readable digest of mental illnesses. Well-researched and written in layman's terms without oversimplifying, she helps bring readers up to speed about the topic and the issues. . . . Her book is insightful, compassionate and timely. It is a must read for leaders of churches." -- Michael R. Chancellor, The Baptist Standard, July 29, 2013"Troubled Minds offers a thorough and well-researched overview of the realities of mental illness. But Simpson does not resort to professional jargon. The book's real strength lies in Simpson's empathy for those she interviewed, and the compassionate retelling of their stories. Readers will be far better prepared to care for those in their midst who'struggle with mental illness. Finally, the book offers hope, both for those who are suffering and for church leaders awakened by Simpson's prophetic call for change. . . . Troubled Minds should prove to be an excellent resource for pastors and lay leaders who minister to the mentally ill." -- Michael Mangis, Christianity Today, June 2013"In more ways than one, [Simpson's] book shines a light in the darkness." -- Jenny McDevitt, Interpretation, April 2016 Review "With no shortage of brains or heart, Amy Simpson courageously explores the realities of mental illness in the twenty-first century. With mental illness on the rise, all church leaders would do well to read this theologically and psychologically compelling volume." -- Linda Lake, clinical psychologist About the Author Formerly vice president of the church ministry media group at Christianity Today, Amy Simpson is currently editor of GiftedForLeadership.com and managing editor of marriage and parenting resources for Today's Christian Woman. She is the author of Into the Word: How to Get the Most from Your Bible (NavPress, 2008).