Biblical Psychopathology

“For no good tree bears bad fruit, nor again does a bad tree bear good fruit, for each tree is known by its own fruit. For figs are not gathered from thornbushes, nor are grapes picked from a bramble bush. The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.” –Luke 6:43-45

There is an important principle here.  What comes out comes from within the heart first.  Yes, before biology, comes nature.  Biology is the filter through which our nature is put, and then actions come out – good, bad, and pathological.  You see, there is a common misconception about the biological component of psychological disorders.  Yes, we can map out the biochemical differences between those with certain disorders and those who are “normal,” but the are not causative differences it seems.  Sure, everyone with schizophrenia has lower levels of dopamine in their brain, but not everyone with low dopamine has schizophrenia.  The same goes for most every other disorder.  These are classic cases of misinterpreting correlation with causation.  Just because more people drown in pools when ice cream sales are up doesn’t mean ice cream causes people to die.  Heat causes more people to both buy ice cream and swim.  There must be something more that causes these things.  So what is the proverbial “heat” when it comes to psychopathology?

I think it’s sin.  More precisely, it’s our nature, but our nature is sinful by default.  This sinful heart is put through the filter of our biochemical genetic predispositions and you get differing results.  Sure, use therapy and meds to take care of these chemicals, but don’t think you are actually getting to the root.  Look long enough and carefully enough and you’ll see whatever sinful part of the heart was being gratified and serviced through the previous disorder will present itself in other areas of the client’s life.

This view in psychotherapy would lead to a more holistic treatment of a patient.  It treats them as a real person with a soul in need of redemption and not just a prescription with a sickness in need of a refill.  The reason why you won’t see this in psychotherapy though is because it also demands a whole lot more from the psychologist.  It’s way too easy to see us humans as a mere concoction of neurons, chemicals, and genes that you can tweak and control at your own whim, see some surface results, and get paid to do it.  It’s easy, cheap, practical, profitable, reproducible, and let’s us play god and feel good as we think we help some people.

A few possible misconceptions form what I’m saying.  First off, no I haven’t constructed this whole view of psychopathology from the one verse above.  I just thought that was the most explicit illustration of the consistent view of human psychology we see in the Bible.  Second, even in the Christian, there are still remnants of sin they will spend the rest of their lives battling.  This means that Christians are just as prone to psychological disorders as any other human.  Lastly, these sinful tendencies and predispositions in those with psychological disorders run very deep and are very strong.  That being the case, I think it is totally Biblical to use the scientific discoveries and medications of man to help aid in the fight of these things.  As long as they are seen as a temporary help with the symptoms while fighting the real disease, and not as a cure, I would whole-heartedly encourage there wise use.

I hope this makes sense and remains humbly sensitive to the issue.  This was only meant to be a cursory exposition of my current views on the topic before I start going into this graduate counseling program in Philadelphia where I can see how these views work in the real world.  More to come in the years to come, I’m sure.