Psychological Healing
in the Catholic Mystic Tradition

Depression and Anxiety

I will lie down in peace, and sleep comes at once for you alone, Lord, make me dwell in safety.
—Psalm 4:9

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Understanding Causality | The Unconscious Aspect of Emotional Trials | Encountering Emotional Trials with Faith | Medication versus Self-Scrutiny | Vitamins and Minerals | Self-help Recommendations

 
E  know from scientific research that the brain and the mind have a mutual influence on each other.

Medical research has taught us that a hormonal imbalance, for example, can result in emotional symptoms, and that correction of the hormonal imbalance through medication or surgery can restore emotional stability.

Moreover, psychological research has taught us that pure psychological activity, such as meditation and hypnosis, can actually alter brain chemistry. Guided imagery and virtual reality, for example, can effectively deaden pain reception in the brain.

All of this tells us that when looking to determine the cause of something, we really need to consider different kinds of causes.

  
Understanding Causality

Because the brain and the mind have a mutual influence on each other, it is important to understand that even though mental disorders may have a material cause in brain neurochemistry they can also have a final cause in psychological activity.

Think, for a moment about the building in which you may now be sitting. We can ask, “What is the cause of this building?” just as you might ask about the cause of depression or anxiety. Well, in his philosophy, Aristotle (Physics, ii, 3) described several different types of causes that are relevant even today. •    The material cause refers to “that out of which a thing comes to be and persists.” In this sense, for example, the steel and concrete and glass—the materials—are the cause of a building. • The formal cause refers to the form—or plan, or pattern—by which the essence of something is stated. In this sense, the design and blueprints are the cause of a building. • The efficient cause refers to “the primary source of the change or coming to rest.” In this sense, the construction company is the cause of a building. • The final cause refers to “that for the sake of which” a thing is done. In this sense, the owner’s desire is the cause of a building.

Now, as Aristotle himself said, “it follows that there are several causes of the same thing.” In psychological practice this means that symptoms of depression, for example, which might be “caused” by a chemical imbalance in the brain (material cause) can, at the same time, be “caused” by repressed anger (final cause).

 
The Unconscious Aspect of Emotional Trials

Psychologically, locating and treating the unconscious final cause of the symptoms can be the most critical aspect of the treatment because it can have a curative effect on the other causes as well. Using medication to treat only the material cause—as if it were the rational and only cause—will leave the final cause untreated and free to continue exerting its harmful influence. In regard to depression and anxiety, the psychological treatment usually centers around unconscious experiences of anger and guilt and victimization.

The psychological basis for anxiety can usually be located in childhood experiences that lack clear explanations and guidance from parents who tend to be disinterested, critical, or abusive. Hence the children grow to dread circumstances that have unknown or unpredictable aspects. From a Christian perspective, the root of anxiety is a lack of trust in God’s providence, such that, when facing the unknown, you worry endlessly about how to “figure it out” on your own. The root of depression is a lack of trust in God’s justice, such that when encountering any hurt or insult you fall into a desire to take matters into your own hands to get revenge, but, feeling helpless to overpower others, you turn your anger onto yourself as unconscious self-blame.

This means, therefore, that some persons cling with unconscious determination to a childlike desire to make their parents admit their mistakes. These persons use their own disability as evidence of their parents’ failures—evidence to be thrown back into their parents’ faces—and, in so doing, they effectively reject divine love for the savor of revenge.

“What?” you ask. “Revenge? That’s ridiculous. I don’t want revenge. I’m past that.”

Well, no one is “past” the capacity for self-deception, and only when you can be honest about your entanglement in the unconscious can you extricate yourself from it. So, if you truly were past revenge, you would do anything it takes—pay any price and overcome any fear—to be healed, and then you would turn to your parents and, as a gift of true love, offer to them your healing, as evidence that, despite all their mistakes, they really didn’t cripple you after all. But by continuing in your self-sabotaging behavior, you show that you would prefer to send yourself to hell just to prove to someone how much he has hurt you. Note carefully that the real psychological problem here is your desire to sabotage yourself, not any particular disorder that may afflict you. Therefore, it’s simply impossible to open yourself to God’s healing grace until you let go of the secret hope that your own self-destruction will bring you the sweet satisfaction of . . . well, revenge.

 

Sending yourself to hell??? What does that mean?

All that worry and all that self-blame is rust on our souls that prevents us from getting close to God. It’s a self-limiting sort of dynamic that keeps us stuck in our own unconscious despair. For no matter how many times you say, “Jesus, I trust in You!” if you say the words only intellectually, without deep love in your heart, those words will do no more to heal your fear than a coat of paint can fix crumbling rust.

  
Encountering Emotional Trials with Faith

So consider for a moment all the emotional wounds that have afflicted you and compare it all to what happened to Saint Paul:

 
No matter what happened to him, Paul did not get depressed; he was not afflicted with PTSD; he did not stop working. Why? Well, when he said, “I have been crucified with Christ; yet I live, no longer I, but Christ lives in me” (Galatians 2:19b-20a), he wasn’t just speaking flowery poetry—he meant it, literally. He really was “dead” to psychological conflicts about pride and revenge.

 

Read a letter by Saint John of Avila about St. Paul’s suffering and faith

 
Of course, just like Saint Paul, all those who live devout Christian lives will experience periods of uncertainty and anguish—all aspects of personal suffering. Just look at the lives of the saints. But, if everything is accepted with complete faith, none of it has to become a psychiatric disorder.

	Consider it all joy when you encounter various trials, for you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.
	—James 1:2-3

And that’s true when you have guidance in faith through the Tradition of the Church and the spiritual nurturance of the sacraments and devout prayer. But when you encounter trials without the rock-solid stability of the Church to guide you and are forced to use your own wits to survive (as in dysfunctional families), then adversity commonly leads to chaos and confusion.

Read an excerpt from the writings of Saint Rose of Lima about grace and tribulation

  
Medication vs. Self-scrutiny

Psychiatric medications may be necessary in some extreme cases—such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and severe episodes of major depression.

Medications may also be useful in some cases to provide temporary relief from anxiety or depressed mood to facilitate psychotherapy.

Psychiatric medications, however, are not curative, and, for less extreme symptoms, the use of psychiatric medication primarily supports the secular scientific error that you can “feel better” without having to alter your lifestyle to assume moral responsibility for your life. Real spiritual purification, however, demands a total change of lifestyle, turning away from worldly attachments to embrace a moral and virtuous life through complete dying to self in Christ.

It’s important, then, to keep in mind that psychiatric medications merely suppress unwanted symptoms for as long as you take the medications. If you stop the medications, the symptoms will flourish again in full strength. But, psychotherapy holds the possibility of a genuine cure by resolving the deep unconscious issues that lie behind the symptoms.

Note carefully that the use of psychiatric medications therefore poses a grave spiritual danger. If someone uses medications merely to suppress symptoms, rather than use psychotherapy to renounce willingly the morally disordered inclinations underlying the symptoms, he or she can be in a perpetual state of unrepentant mortal sin, much like a clean, shiny grain of wheat that, when broken, is full of dirt inside.

So what can you do? Although severe symptoms may require emergency medical treatment, psychotherapy—or spiritual direction with someone who is also a qualified psychotherapist—can help to uncover psychological conflicts that block complete trust in God. For example, anxiety and nightmares following a trauma can often be the result of repressed anger, and if the anger is resolved in a spiritual context, rather than suppressed with medication, the “psychiatric disorder” of PTSD will resolve right along with the anger. Similarly, depression is often the result of anger turned inwards; it can derive from a desperate need for social approval and a self-condemnation for not receiving that approval. But if you seek only the mercy of Christ, not the acceptance of the world, you will have no reason for anger and no reason to condemn yourself.

 
Vitamins and Minerals

The daily diets of many persons have nutritional deficiencies that affect mental health. Most persons aren’t aware of this, and so, if they experience any mental health problems, they tend to believe that their lives must be dependant on psychiatric medications.
 
So, rather than subject yourself to harsh medications that sedate and dull your mind (and more often than not lead to substantial weight gain), consider this list of some vitamins and minerals that can help naturally with psychiatric symptoms. Be advised that the therapeutic dose may be higher than the FDA minimum daily recommendation, so a simple multivitamin tablet probably won’t have much effect on psychiatric symptoms. You might want to discuss this with a naturopath practitioner, or see the book Nutrition and Vitamin Therapy by Michael Lesser, M.D. (1980) for dosage recommendations.

Vitamin A:  anxiety / insomnia / depression / fatigue / nerve pains Vitamin B1:  depressed mood / fatigue / apathy / confusion Niacin:  anxiety / suspicion / depressed mood Vitamin B6:  depressed mood / anxiety Pantothenic Acid:  depressed mood / fatigue / quarrelsomeness Vitamin B12:  poor memory / poor concentration / anxiety Folic Acid:  poor memory / apathy / irritability / slow intellect Vitamin C:  anxiety / insomnia / fatigue Vitamin D3:  anxiety / depressed mood Calcium:  anxiety / insomnia / depressed mood / poor memory Magnesium:  anxiety / insomnia / hyperactivity / premenstrual depressed mood / grouchiness / irritability Potassium:  apathy Zinc:  apathy / lethargy Iron:  poor memory / depressed mood

   
Self-help Recommendations

Keeping in mind all that I said above about depression and anxiety in general, consider the following specific points. 

Obsessive Thoughts

If you have difficulty concentrating or are troubled by obsessive thoughts ^[1], first go to the webpage about Distractions and Fantasies and read about how to understand the troubling experiences. Then you can work on driving away these thoughts with holy thoughts by following a simple process. First say, “I don’t need to think about that right now.” Then recite the Jesus Prayer constantly to block any other thoughts. If you find yourself lapsing in the Jesus Prayer, repeat the statement “I don’t need to think about that right now.” and then return to the Jesus Prayer.

The prayer is simple: Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me.

The technique, too, is simple: recite the prayer constantly.^[2]

Still, as simple as it is, it’s hard work. No sooner will you start to say the prayer than your mind will wander and you will be off in your own thoughts. But once you realize that your mind has wandered from the prayer, stop thinking and return to the prayer. Don’t try to analyze what happened. Just immediately stop thinking and return to the prayer.

You have to hold in your heart the will to do this. But if you desire it more than anything else—more even than the desire to stay stuck in your fear and anxiety—you can do it. If you love God, and if you love your soul, you can do it.
 

Anxiety

If you have excessive worry (called anxiety in clinical terms) about an impending event, pray and trust that God will inspire you in due time as to what appropriate action you will need to take; then tell yourself, “I don’t need to think about this right now” and immediately pray the Jesus Prayer to ward off any extraneous thoughts. This will protect you from anxiety. There may be trepidation simply about the unknown; that’s normal, but keep telling yourself, “I don’t need to think about this right now.” Trust that divine inspiration will help you get through the difficulty and will tell you what to do when you need to do it.

If you have generalized anxiety that persistently troubles you about nothing in particuar, keep telling yourself, “Even though I feel anxious, that feeling is distressful but not dangerous, and so I can relax.” Then, to ward off any extraneous thoughts, repeatedly pray Into your hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit or other short prayers such as the Jesus Prayer.

When you have doubts about what you or others might do in regard to something that might occur in the future, tell yourself (with a gentle smile), “It’s none of your business.” God will let you know what you need to know if you need to know it; until then, just focus on living a chaste, modest, and humble holy life, no matter what others may do.

This does not mean that prayer will make your feelings of anxiety simply dissolve; having to face the unknown will cause distress in anyone, but prayer allows you to “sit with” your emotional pain and feelings of helplessness while knowing that God will guide you through the distress and show you what to do when you need to do it without worrying about figuring it out on your own.

Remember, worry can make nothing happen except disaster itself. You might also practice a physiological relaxation technique such as Autogenics. Once you learn how to relax and trust in your body on the physical level, you can then turn to trust in God to free you from anxiety on the spiritual level. A relaxation recording (true to the Catholic faith) from this website can help you experience such trust.

Audio CD: Guided Imagery Relaxation The Catholic Way

Insomnia

If you have a problem with waking up in the middle of the night (called insomnia in clinical terms), worrying about not sleeping will only deepen the insomnia. The psychological core of insomnia is your worrying about some impending matter such that you become trapped in obsessive thinking about the matter as you try to sleep. Many persons believe that they are experiencing some mysterious physiological problem when in actuality the problem is simply a matter of unrestrained thinking. The solution to insomnia, therefore, is relinquish your fixation on thinking and to trust that God will provide the guidance necessary to help you find your way through the trials and difficulties of life.

Therefore, follow these procedures:

1.

When you lie in bed at night in preparation to sleep, realize that in sleep you are completely helpless in the world and that only a complete surrender to God will be of any protection. Therefore, make a deliberate commitment to surrender yourself to God’s protection. To do this, lie in bed calmly, relax all your muscles, and repeat to yourself, “Into Your hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit.” But do it by coordinating the prayer with deep, calm, and regular breathing. Silently, in your mind, say the first part of the prayer while inhaling deeply, and then exhale deeply as you say the second part of the prayer. Inhale        Exhale Into Your hands, O Lord,   /   I commend my spirit Make a disciplined effort to repeat this process over and over until you fall asleep, warding off any other thoughts. When thoughts try to intrude, do not allow yourself to dwell on them. If you do slip and lapse into them, immediately stop thinking about anything and return to the prayer and the deep breathing, until you fall asleep. Note that you may have to say the prayer for an hour at a time before you fall asleep, so be careful not to give up prematurely.

2.

Whenever you wake up in the middle of the night and cannot immediately fall asleep again, then follow a process similar to the process of falling asleep initially, but you may use any of the following variations: Inhale        Exhale Into Your hands, O Lord,     /     I commend my spirit   Lord Jesus Chirst, Son of God,     /     have mercy on me   Breathe deep,     /     of holy grace   As when you first go to bed, make a disciplined effort to repeat this process over and over until you fall asleep again, warding off any other thoughts. When thoughts try to intrude, do not allow yourself to dwell on them. If you do slip and lapse into them, immediately stop thinking about anything and return to the prayer and the deep breathing, until you fall asleep. Note that you may have to say the prayer for an hour at a time before you do fall asleep again, so be careful not to give up prematurely.

Phobias

Although secular psychology will not admit this, all phobias have a basis in anger, especially anger at God. Those who have a fear of heights are afraid of falling to their death, and their fear of death derives from their fear of their anger at God. Those who have a fear of enclosed spaces are afraid of themselves because they are angry at God. Those who have a fear of open spaces are afraid of having their anger at God exposed. Those who have a fear of insects (or other vermin) intuitively understand that, in folklore, vermin are symbols of demons, and demons, by nature (that is, by their fallen nature) are creatures of anger at God, and so, if anger “crawls” within the heart of a person, that person will be “accused” of his or her anger at God when seeing crawling vermin.

Thus the cure for any phobia is in overcoming anger at God by developing trust in God’s justice and providence.
 

Fatigue

If you feel fatigued, note that in the spiritual realm, chronic fatigue can be the result of demonic oppression or parasitism and that deliverance prayer from an understanding priest or priest exorcist may help you. Note also that chronic fatigue can have a cause in medical conditions such as vitamin deficiency (especially vitamin D3), Coeliac (or celiac) disease, early menopause, hypothyroidism, Lyme disease, Morgellons disease, Obstructive Sleep Apnea, parasites, shiftlag, and Vibroacoustic Disease (VAD). See Medical Factors Affecting Psychology from my other website.
 

Eating Problems

If you have a loss of appetite or if you overeat, first remind yourself that you should hunger for nothing but the Body and Blood of Christ, and that, because your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, you must take good care of it, neither eating too little nor overeating. Then, in regard to overeating, see my webpage about Weight Reduction for more information.
 

Worthlessness

If you have feelings of extreme worthlessness or guilt or shame, first remind yourself that apart from Christ you are worthless and deserve nothing but condemnation, yet in Christ you are offered mercy whenever you make a mistake. All you have to do is, with a humble, contrite heart, call out for and accept His mercy.

Note also that whereas guilt derives from something you have done or thought that is wrong or sinful, shame derives from a belief that there is something “wrong” with your very being because others have mistreated you and you feel rejected or unloved. Nevertheless, when Christianity is lived in its mystical fullness it becomes a protection from shame because Christianity affirms that we all are created good. Even though unrepentant sin can stain your soul and send you to doom, nothing can rob you of your essential goodness. In this sense, shame can be understood to be a demonic illusion intended to pry you away from trust in God.

When you live in a state of sin, your own sins condemn you. But when you live in a state of grace, through chastity and obedience, Christ will protect you, and your confidence, which will come from Him, can never be undermined, because Christ can never be undermined: The gates of the netherworld shall not prevail (Matthew 16:18).

Depressed Mood

If you have a depressed mood, first think of Christ on the cross, hated and despised, and reflect on the fact that all who would be Christians must suffer rejection by the world and die on the cross with Christ, in order to be resurrected with Him to everlasting life.

Then consider that the psychological basis for the psychiatric condition called Depression is anger: both anger at others and anger at the self for not being able to control others. To learn more about this, see the webpage Depression on my other website.

Finally, consider that a depressed mood can also be related to medical conditions such as degenerative neurological conditions (e.g., Parkinson’s disease, Huntington’s disease); cerebrovascular disease (e.g., stroke); metabolic conditions such as vitamin deficiency (e.g., vitamin D3); endocrine conditions (e.g., hyperthyroidism, hypothyroidism, hyperparathyroidism, hypoparathyroidism, hyperadrenocorticism, hypoadrenocorticism); autoimmune conditions (e.g., systemic lupus erythematosus); viral or other infections (e.g., hepatitis, mononucleosis, HIV); certain cancers (e.g., carcinoma of the pancreas); and environmental factors (e.g., EMF radiation). See Medical Factors Affecting Psychology from my other website.
 

Thoughts of Death

If you have thoughts of death, remember that only by dying to this world can we be born to everlasting life, and that until God alone decides that our time here is finished we must devote all our energy to hard work in his service. So be honest with yourself here and recognize that suicide is just a way of saying to God, “My will—not Thy will—be done.”

Read an excerpt from a sermon by Saint Cyprian about man’s mortality

Notes.

1. On the Distractions and Fantasies page of this website I explain about understanding your fantasies rather than trying to ignore them. This work of understanding is valuable, but even when you have understood your fantasies they will not just grow wings and fly away. Distractions will keep intruding into your mind as long as you live. The advice on the present webpage is therefore intended to help you ward off the distractions you have already understood.

2. You don’t have to be concerned about getting your work done. When you need to think logically, or when you need to pray other prayers, the Jesus Prayer will not interfere. It will cease when you need it to cease; just remember to start it again when you become aware that it has stopped.

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