The premise of the book is that there are no tests to diagnose mental illnesses such as depression and that all the literature that says it is a result of chemical imbalances use terms such as "believed to be", "may be", "appears to be" etc. (Similar to the weasel words you see in fake news!) Therefore, the depressed person really doesn't have a physical issue but behavior and spiritual issues that if taught properly how to apply Biblical principles can be handled without medication. Now the book is not telling people to go get off their medications, nor is it telling the Biblical counselor to encourage them to drop their meds. But if the person is making progress with applying Biblical principle to their life, and they feel like they can get off their medications, then they are to do it with the supervision of their medical doctor.
The book does mention that some depression issues can be brought on by medical problems such as thyroid problems for example and once that is corrected the depression is corrected. So a person suffering from depression not brought on by outside circumstances needs to be evaluated for medical problems that might have brought on the depression. This is where, in my opinion, things fall apart for many people. I'll explain below.
The conventional medical practitioners of today seem to be bound by the FDA, insurance companies, the CDC and the drug companies. If a test is not accepted as common practice, then that test is not done. If a particular diagnosis is not common practice, then that diagnosis is not given or even considered and may be scorned. If a patient falls into this area, they are told it's all in their head. This is a disservice to many people who are needlessly suffering mental problems and depression for no fault of their own.
This is where Biblical Counseling, while still appropriate, assumes that because the person has no diagnosed medical problem, then they are failing to apply Biblical principles to their life and thus remain depressed. It is most frustrating to the Christian person who can not get a correct diagnosis because of the failure of conventional medicine. They are left with persistent problems of depression or other mental problems and made to feel it is their fault when it is not.
Let me explain what I am talking about. There is a branch of medicine that is not accepted by conventional medical practice that is called Environmental Medicine. This branch of medicine deals with environmental causes for physical illness, mental problems, depression etc. These triggers can be chemicals, molds, foods, food additives etc. Any of these things can cause persistent depression or mental problems along with a host of physical problems.
There are very few of these doctors around the United States, but Rick and I were able to be patients of one 30 years ago and were treated for a number of food and chemical sensitivities for a period of five years. Unfortunately, due to the cost of treatment and the fact that our insurance would not pay for it, we had to discontinue treatment. We also ended up moving out of the area where the doctor was located, making it an 8 hr drive if we wanted to go back to him. It has been detrimental to Rick's mental and physical health that we could not continue treatment.
I will describe some of the testing and how it works. It is called provocation/neutralization. A minute amount of a suspected offending agent is injected under the skin. The wheal is measured and the patient waits ten minutes, writing down any symptoms and how they feel. Then the dose is neutralized by either injection or sublingual drops until the patient is back to baseline. Then the neutralizing dose is recorded.
Here is an example of what might happen during this testing. For myself, when I was tested to chemicals that were common in new building construction and plastics, I immediately dissolved into tears and uncontrollable crying. There was nothing I could do to stop it. When the neutralizing dose was given, within ten minutes I was happy as a clam. It explained to me why grocery shopping was so difficult for me. Not only would I become emotional, but I would have panic attacks in the grocery check out. The plastic produce bags were the offending trigger. Now if I had gone to a regular doctor and complained about this, I would have been sent to a shrink, convinced it was all in my head and given medication. A Biblical Counselor, bless their hearts, in the absence of definitive tests, (because a conventional doctor wouldn't order this kind of testing) would have made me feel like I was sinning in not using Biblical principles to apply to the "emotional problem".
Another example was when Rick was tested for soy sensitivities. As soon as he was given the provocation dose he became very angry. The technician suggested he go out and take a walk and come back when it was time for the neutralizing dose. For a person who has a reaction of anger to something they are eating, yet they don't know that it is something they are eating, this is very puzzling. It's a reaction that seems to come from nowhere and is hard to control because it's happening as a result of, well, a chemical imbalance of sorts due to what they just ate. The neutralizing dose returned him to his calm self.
The missionary who referred us to this doctor has a daughter. This was when their daughter was a young teen. She would just fly off the handle for no apparent reason sometimes and become so defiant they didn't know what to do with her. They got a recommendation to see this doctor. When they started testing her to various foods, one food test, in particular, sent her off the edge. She was fine, being polite and conversing with her mom and others in the room. The provocation dose was given and she flew off the handle. Everyone in the room was shocked at how mouthy she was all the sudden and for no apparent reason except that she had just been given the provocation dose of corn. They endured ten minutes of her railing at everyone in the room, then gave her the neutralization dose. Within minutes she was her happy charming self. Given how quickly she could fly off the handle for no apparent reason, if taken to a psychiatrist, she would have been medicated. Given the uncontrolled outbursts, she would have most certainly been told by a Christian Counselor that she was sinning because she was not applying Scripture and mortifying her sin. But how could she when she was being acted upon by something she had eaten. She could not control her reaction any more than a person who has an allergy to shrimp and breaks out in hives.
In all these cases the treatment was sublingual drops taken once a day, which desensitized the body to the offending substances. Rick and I were treated for our sensitivities for about five years. I no longer react to plastics and building codes have required building materials to not be toxic anymore. Rick does better with soy and some of the other things he reacted to, but he really needs more testing and treatment because he still has a lot of trouble. Sadly, distance and cost without medical insurance has prevented us from being able to get the treatment he needs.
My purpose in writing this post is to bring awareness, to those who do Biblical Counseling and other Christians, that sometimes people who present with mental health problems that do not get better with counseling and the counselee working to apply Scripture to problems could be actually suffering from reactions to things they eat or chemicals or molds or even dust mites in their environments but they don't know it and no conventional medical doctor will refer them for the proper testing and treatment.
It makes me sad to think that there are people who truly want to feel better but who never will because they don't know that it is their environment or what they eat that is sabotaging them and those who try to help them unbeknown to themselves inflict more anguish on them while either telling them it's all in their head or they have a spiritual problem. So sad. But there are no answers as to how to help these people when the medical establishment has failed them and Biblical Counselors really don't know what is happening to them either.
I wish there were some good solutions, but until the medical establishment is willing to accept that there are other effective tests and treatment out there and the insurance companies are willing to pay for these things, and the environmental doctors are not ostracized, there will be a host of people who will not be able to live the happy healthy lives they want to live in spite of applying Scripture to their problems. It's like trying to apply Biblical principles to a case of the hives and expecting them to go away just like that.
Academy of Environment Medicine
https://www.aaemonline.org/
Dr. David Buscher
http://www.drbuscher.net/
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