It’s sad that when it comes to others’ struggles, we often point fingers of judgment or disdain, rather than using it as a moment to encourage our fellow brothers and sisters, as is commanded of us in Scripture (1 Thessalonians 5:11). That’s exactly what happened to Job by his three friends; instead of encouragement, they provided accusations. In his darkest moments, his three friends were Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite, who consistently accused Job of wrongdoing to cause his trials. Eliphaz in Job 22:7-9 makes a direct accusation against Job in that he states,

“You have given no water to the weary to drink, and you have withheld bread from the hungry. The man with power possessed the land, and the favored man lived in it. You have sent widows away empty, and the arms of the fatherless were crushed.” 

Sadly, that is often our response to those who are going through hardships, and sadly, mental illness is no different. The problem with mental illness, though, is that people go even deeper, in that there are not just claims of assuming a person committed sins; they call it demonic possession. Often, because mental illness is not understood, being that this sickness is not universal to all. Even when I went through my first episode, which was depression, my family all agreed that I was demon-possessed, including myself, since we all came from a Christian background. It did not help that my depression led to psychosis, which causes paranoia because of a lack of sleep from the severity of the depression. This added another layer that neither my family nor I understood. 

I was the person in the family who never got sick, even when my family was stricken with simple colds, Covid, or even the chickenpox; I never caught anything. I wore that as a badge of honor, believing that God had a special relationship with me, since I never got sick.

So, when this happened to me, it was an utter shock to all of us. And dealing with the manic side of my illness was just as bad. It wasn’t until I was hospitalized for the very first time that the doctors revealed that this was not demonic possession but rather Bipolar Disorder Type 1. An illness that can be controlled through therapy and medicine. Even then, though, when first diagnosed, I was still in denial because again, I don’t get sick, but I had to realize I, too, am human and am not above trials and tribulations. 

Even Paul says in 2 Corinthians 12:7 that, “even though I have received such wonderful revelations from God. So to keep me from becoming proud, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger from Satan to torment me and keep me from becoming proud.” In response to Paul praying three times for this affliction to be removed from him, God responds to Paul, “each time,” saying, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” and after receiving that response from God, Paul resonated in himself that He would be, “glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me.” (2 Corinthians 12:9). Unfortunately, we are not above trials and tribulations in this life; rather, trials and tribulations are promised by God in Scripture (John 16:33, 2 Timothy 3:12, Acts 14:22). So, as opposed to assuming that someone maybe demon possessed or committed sins throughout their lives to go through something as debilitating as a mental illness, be first ready to encourage and uplift as opposed to judge.