Mental Illness and medication - Mental Health Grace Alliance is a faith-based, non-profit organization created to promote understanding in the church and provide assistance and support to individuals living with mental illness and their families.

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mental
health
GRACE
ALLIANCE
Medication
FAITH
Scripture: 2
Kings
20:1–7
Central Thought:
Hezekiah was one of the Old Testament’s greatest kings. At the age of thirty-nine he became
very sick with some type of boil or skin ulcer. The Bible tells us he was “mortally ill,” at the
point of death. During his time of suffering Hezekiah poured out his heart to God and God
graciously answered his prayer. God instructed the prophet Isaiah to tell the king’s physicians to
put a cake of figs on Hezekiah’s boil, and he recovered.
A cake (or poultice) of figs was a hot, soft mass of figs and other ingredients commonly used
in ancient times to treat lesions and infections of the skin. God used a common treatment of the
day, a physical remedy, to bring about Hezekiah’s recovery. God healed Hezekiah; the cake of
figs was merely the means by which He extended His healing grace.
FACTS
• The primary function of psychiatric medications is to alter the way that the nerve cells
(neurons) in the brain function by altering the amount of chemical messenger (called a
neurotransmitter) that the cells release or the electrical properties of the cells’ membrane.
• Psychiatric medications treat the symptoms of mental disorders; they do not cure the
illness.
• Both over active neurons (too much neurotransmitter) and under active neurons (too little
neurotransmitter) can lead to changes in thoughts, feelings and behaviors.
• The primary brain neurotransmitters of interest in mental disorders are dopamine (DA, ↑
schizophrenia), serotonin (5-HT, ↓ depression), norepinephrine (NE, ↓ depression),
Gamma-Aminobutyric Acid (GABA, ↓ anxiety).
• The side effects of psychiatric medications can be as significant, dangerous and aversive
as the symptoms of the disorder itself.
FUTURE
• Physical remedies such as medications are simply another example of God’s faithful
provision for us.
• Educate yourself about the mechanisms and potential side effects of your loved one’s
psychiatric medications.
• Help your loved one be disciplined about taking their medications.
Mental Health Grace Alliance
www.mentalhealthgracealliance.org