The Marketplace Magazine March/April 2022

What means normal in an abnormal world?

Not Quite Fine: Mental health, faith and showing up for one another by Carlene Hill Byron (Herald Press, 2021 223 pp., $16.99 US)

This book is an important reflection on the growing mental health crisis in the Western world, one that has seemingly accelerated since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.

Author Carlene Hill Byron is well-versed in the subject, having

struggled with depression and bipolar disorder throughout her adult life.

She notes the skyrocketing number of people who have been treated for mental health problems since the introduction of mass market psychiatric drugs. And yet these chemical interventions have been inadequate at best.

Suicide rates in the US increased by 35 percent between 1999 and 2018. Shifts in societal values have contributed to the problem, Byron suggests. Before the 20th century, grief was viewed as a long, painful experience. Now, deep sadness following a loss for more than a short time is not socially acceptable.

Loneliness, anxiety, and depression are American epidemics. A study of mental health in 26 countries found generalized anxiety disorder is three times as common in high-income nations as in low-income ones.

Not Quite Fine examines questions of meaning, purpose and belonging. It explores the importance of listening and helping people feel included, issues of people not feeling qualified to help, and the appropriate role for the church.

A 2017 European study found that engagement in communities of faith are the most effective depression preventive measures. Byron concurs, writing: “Congregations are social enterprises that are intended to nurture hope.” .