Condition: Mental Illnesses

God's healing covenant covers mental illnesses as well as physical ones.  It is often hard to draw the line between them.  Fortunately, you don’t have to.  If it’s an illness, Jesus is able and willing to heal it.  He already paid the price to get your healing for you.

The Insanity and Demon Possession sections cover various ailments that would be referred to as mental illnesses today.  God’s healing mercies are also extended to other mental illnesses that do not fit into either of these categories.  See the answer to the question Are We Redeemed from Mental as Well as Physical Illness? for a discussion of these.

Madness (or craziness) is specifically mentioned twice as a curse in Deuteronomy 28:15-68, a curse from which you are redeemed (Galatians 3:10-14).  (In Deuteronomy, we read that part of the curse for failure to keep the entire Law was that the Lord will smite you with madness (verse 28), and you will be mad for the sight of your eyes which you shall see (verse 34).)  Those who come against Jerusalem in the future will be smitten with madness.  Zechariah 12:4: “In that day, saith the LORD, I will smite every horse with astonishment, and his rider with madness (the same word used in Deuteronomy 28 in the original Hebrew): and I will open mine eyes upon the house of Judah, and will smite every horse of the people with blindness.”

Another mental problem, “astonishment of heart,” is specifically enumerated as a curse and is found in Deuteronomy 28:28.

Groping at noonday as the blind gropes in darkness (Deuteronomy 28:29) is surely not a normal mental state, but it is also listed as part of the Deuteronomy curse.  So are “a trembling heart” (chronic anxiety) (Deuteronomy 28:65), having your life hanging in doubt before you (Deuteronomy 28:66), fearing night and day (Deuteronomy 28:66), having no assurance of your life (Deuteronomy 28:66), and always wishing it were later because you’re so miserable now (Deuteronomy 28:67).  In the case of anxiety, God gives instructions on not being anxious – make your requests known to God with thanksgiving (Philippians 4:6).  Cast your cares on Him because He cares for you (1 Peter 5:7).

Also listed as a curse for breaking the Law in Leviticus 26:14-39 are terror (verse 16), sorrow of heart caused by chronic sickness (verse 16), running when no one is chasing you (verse 36), faintness of heart (verse 36), paranoia (running because of the sound of a shaking leaf) (verse 36), and “pining away” (verse 39).

It was Satan, not God, who was responsible for Job’s tossing to and fro at night (Job 7:4), having wearisome nights (Job 7:3), biting himself (Job 13:14), having “dim eyes from sorrow” (Job 17:7) and faintheartedness (Job 23:16).  God healed Job of all these conditions.

There is no question, based on the Scriptures above, that God considers mental illness a curse just as much as he considers physical illness a curse!  You are healed of mental illness by Jesus’ stripes.

Please understand that having something happen to you that really shakes you up is not the same as you having a mental illness.  Jesus was not mentally ill, but He was in mental agony in the garden before He was taken to be tortured (Luke 22:44).  If He were like TV-influenced people today, he would have asked his disciples, “Any of you guys got some cannabis on you?  I need to rebalance my brain chemicals.”  No, what did He do?  He PRAYED.  If HE prayed when He was in mental agony, what do you suppose YOU should do?

For more discussion about mental illnesses, see the answer to Objection: Mental Illness Is Treatable but Not Curable