My big sister has battled mental illness for nearly her entire life, which means I have witnessed the realities and struggles of mental illness for most of my life. As I’ve grown into adulthood, I’ve seen it affect more and more of my loved ones: my husband, several of my best friends, and girls I’ve led in small groups. I have even been through seasons of depression and postpartum anxiety myself.

According to Mental Health America’s report “The State of Mental Health in 2025,” 23.4% of adults in the US experienced some sort of mental illness in 2025.¹ Even if you do not struggle with mental health issues, it is very likely someone close to you does.

As Christians, it can be challenging to know how to think about or speak into these issues, especially because many societal commentators point to recent events and phenomena like the COVID-19 pandemic, the rise of social media and technology, and the increased threat of natural or political disasters as the cause of the prevalence of mental health struggles. You might wonder how Christianity (an ancient religion), the Bible (an ancient text), or Jesus (a man who walked the earth two thousand years ago) could have anything to say to something that seems like such a modern problem.

But the beauty of Christianity is that it is true; the beauty of the Bible is that it is inspired by God—the Creator of all things and Author of reality; and the beauty of Jesus is that He is just as alive today as He was two thousand years ago. Despite their ancient pedigree—or perhaps because of it—Christ and His Word are capable of speaking into our modern issues. Even though the Bible does not speak about all things, it does speak to all things—including mental health.

Furthermore, the Scriptures reveal that although struggles with mental health have unique expressions today, they were not unheard of in biblical times. Scripture gives many examples of people struggling in ways we would identify as related to mental health today, and what was true for them is true for us: God sees them, meets them in their suffering and brokenness, and offers them hope. God seeing His people’s brokenness, meeting them there, and offering them hope is the heart of the whole biblical story.

We can look at mental health struggles through the lens of the four movements of the biblical story: Creation, Fall, Redemption, and Restoration (which Christians call the metanarrative of Scripture). As we see what each of these movements teaches us about mental health, we will see that the whole Bible points to Jesus: our ultimate hope amid all brokenness.

Creation

From Creation, we learn that struggles with mental health were not part of God’s original design. When God created the world, He called everything He had made good (Genesis 1:31). The only time during Creation that God said something was not good was when He said, “It is not good for the man to be alone” (Genesis 2:18), and in response He immediately created a companion for the man (Genesis 2:21–22).

From there, we see humanity existing in fulfillment, harmony, and joy. They had all their needs met by God Himself. They lived at peace with God and each other. And they “were naked, yet felt no shame” (Genesis 2:25). They could be their full selves around each other and before God yet without shame—no comparison, no sadness, no anxiety. They were fulfilled and complete.

In this good world, there was no concept of mental illness. The physical sickness, corruption, and death our bodies now face was not present when God first created us, and neither was the emotional distress—unrest, overwhelm, worry, or despair. Every part of us—body, spirit, and soul—was whole.

Fall

We all know that this is not the world we currently live in. Our world is full of brokenness. But the biblical story reveals the reason for this disparity. God gave the first humans everything they could ever need. They had delicious food to eat, a beautiful garden to live in, whole bodies and souls, shame-free intimacy with each other, and a perfect relationship with God. All of this would be theirs for eternity with just one condition: “You must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for on the day you eat from it, you will certainly die” (Genesis 2:17).

But they listened to and trusted the words of a serpent, followed their own desires and temptation, and ate the forbidden tree’s fruit—thereby rebelling against God and the good life He had given them. The consequence of this rebellion was sin, brokenness, and death. Immediately, shame entered the hearts and minds of the humans. They no longer felt comfortable and whole, so they hid from each other (Genesis 3:7) and from God (Genesis 3:8).

Today, there is no part of creation, history, or humanity that sin, brokenness, and death do not touch. Sin entering the world is the cause of our wrongdoing and the wrong that is done against us. It is the cause of the brokenness we perpetuate and the cause of the brokenness that affects and harms us.

But it is important to understand that even though sin is the cause of all brokenness in the world—including mental illness—a person’s mental illness is not a consequence of or a punishment for sin. Sin is not just bad behaviour, it is also like a pathogen that lives in our air, corrupting everything around us. Mental illness—like cancer, the flu, or all other illnesses—is something that happens to us because the world is broken and not how it was created to be. We might have feelings of depression or anxiety as a consequence of our sin or the sin of another; but mental illness is not caused by individual sin or a lack of faith. Some of the most faithful and righteous people experience mental illness and anguish. There are even examples of this in Scripture.

In Psalm 88, David famously wrestles with deep despair and anguish that greatly resembles what we would call depression. He laments,

For I have had enough troubles,

and my life is near Sheol.

I am counted among those going down to the Pit.

I am like a man without strength,

abandoned among the dead.

I am like the slain lying in the grave,

whom you no longer remember,

and who are cut off from your care (Psalm 88:3–4).

Despite his imperfections, David was called a man after God’s own heart. As Israel’s greatest and most faithful king prior to Jesus, he nonetheless battled a profound sense of distance from God, at times feeling entirely devoid of joy, even feeling like he might as well be dead. He is definitely not the only one in Scripture to feel this way—we could just as easily speak of the sorrows of Elijah, Job, or Jeremiah. But the Bible doesn’t merely acknowledge the reality of brokenness and mental illness, it offers hope.

Redemption

The whole story of the Bible—Creation and Fall alike—culminates in the arrival of Jesus. Jesus is the Word made flesh (John 1:14). He is God Himself—the same God who created the earth and all that is in it. He created human flesh and breathed life into it. Then centuries later, He stepped into that human flesh to redeem the world from brokenness.

While Jesus does not sin, He still experiences the brokenness that sin has caused. He faces the same threats of physical and emotional pain that we do. He experiences the same temptation that we do. He even grieved over the suffering He knew awaited Him on the cross, asking God to allow it to pass. Christ’s human suffering speaks an essential word in the Christian discussion of mental health because it shows us that God isn’t just watching our struggles from a distance; He enters into them. He meets us in the depths of our struggles; He feels what we feel.

Mental health struggles often make us feel like we are totally alone, unloved, and unredeemable. But Jesus, the One called Immanuel, God with us, took on human flesh and thereby proclaimed that He cares deeply about every part of us—physical, emotional, and spiritual—and desires to meet us in and redeem all our struggles. Through His death on the cross, He demonstrated the depth of His love; and through His resurrection, He promised that He would heal all of our brokenness.

Restoration

Jesus paved the way for us all to experience restoration. Through His resurrection, we know that sin and death have been defeated. Even as we experience the presence of sin, we know and believe that the power of sin reigns no longer. The Spirit, sent by Christ and dwelling within every believer, works restoration in our lives now but also assures us that ultimate restoration is coming soon. Romans 8:11 says, “And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead lives in you, then he who raised Christ from the dead will also bring your mortal bodies to life through his Spirit who lives in you.”

Hope is here. Resurrection is on the horizon. And with resurrection, Jesus has promised a New Creation, where all brokenness will be done away with. Suicide, depression, debilitating anxiety, and all other mental suffering will be removed from God’s children, for in this New Creation, “He will wipe every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; grief, crying, and pain will be no more, because the previous things have passed away” (Revelation 21:4). God’s people will once again live in perfect harmony with themselves and with God. There will once again be no shame and no brokenness.

What This Means for Today

The biblical story speaks to our struggles with mental health. It agrees with our intuition that these struggles are not part of what it means to live a good life, reminding us that we live in a broken world. Yet it also provides us with hope for the future, assuring us that it will not always be this way.

Most importantly, the Bible points us to Jesus—the real and living God who loves us deeply and gave up everything for us. Often, when we are in the throes of mental health struggles, it is not enough to know that it will not always be this way—we need to know that even though it is this way right now, we are not alone and we are loved. Jesus offers us that. Jesus promises to be with us in all our pain and struggles, and He truly understands—for on the cross, He felt all the weight of the world’s brokenness. You can trust Jesus with your mental health struggles; for even when you are at your lowest, He is with you.

Notes

1. Reinert, Nguyen, and Fritze, The State of Mental Health in America 2025.

---

Author Bio

Beth White is a Staff Writer for The Daily Grace Co.® She is passionate about studying and teaching God’s Word. When she is not writing about the Bible, you can find her reading classics, drinking coffee with friends, or spending time with her family.

Additional Resources:

It Is Well | Anxiety Bible Study		Peace Under Pressure | Stress Bible Study		Emotions and the Heart Bible Study		Never Alone Bible Study
Loading price…		Loading price…		Loading price…		Loading price…
Add to Cart		Add to Cart		Add to Cart		Add to Cart