Mental Illness in the Torah

Almond Tree

Is there mental illness in the Torah/Bible? Does the text hint at causes and solutions? This podcast reveals the beginnings of new answers to these questions. Over the coming months and years, I expect these initial concepts to yield fruit that will enable a fundamentally new and powerful appreciation for the lessons of the Torah.

Please, have a listen, share your feedback, and let me know what you think!

Photo by Steffen Lemmerzahl on Unsplash

  1. Wouter says:

    Very thought provoking podcast on mental illness in the Torah/Bible.

    Starting you asked, “How can I help people more” and later helping vs. hurting by ‘adding fig leaves’ leading to hiding/avoidance/denial – a great metaphor.

    CBT is pretty standard for mental health and your podcast reminded me of the ABC of CBT – an Activating event filtered by a person’s Belief system leading to a Consequence.

    Hence the Consequence of the same Activating event, like bankruptcy or redundancy, will result in either freeze, fight or flight; paralysis vs. action; depression and anxiety vs. confidence and excitement; being crushed vs. growth.

    Belief system probably largely explains the suicide rate being 3 times higher for Americans vs Israelis that you mention as people get sicker and unhappier by either hiding from Gd or believing that they are Gd vs living in the Image of Gd – following/imitating Gd as outlined in the Torah/Bible.

    I would suggest that your shared thoughts as in this podcast are helping by not offering fig leaves as you are challenging people’s Belief system about who they are and who Gd is; moving from mental illness to mental health. Looking forward to your next one!

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