Skip to content
Main Street Plaza

A Community for Anyone Interested in Mormonism.

Main Street Plaza

A Community for Anyone Interested in Mormonism.

Mental Health and Mormonism in Cyberspace

Hellmut, March 15, 2007October 1, 2011

There is a fascinating cluster of mental health posts in the Mormon blosmos.

Steve M. from the Bubble has kicked off an interesting discussion about depression and Mormonism.

From the Ashes picks up the topic and provides an excellent discussion of a peer reviewed research article on depression and Mormon women. Anyone who is more interested in facts than opinions, should read her post.

Probably by coincidence, The Cultural Hall gets a piece of the action as well.

Steve begins with his personal experience and then explores mental illness in Utah and how LDS authorities relate to mental illness.

Here is how Steve understands the relationship between genetic predisposition and Mormon culture in his own case:

Looking back, I can identify habits and thought patterns typical of OCD in myself as a young child. I believe those have been with me for as long as I’ve been able to think, and are probably the result of some biological factor. On some level, I think that my own struggles with mental health are rooted in a genetic predisposition.

However, I can’t deny that my OCD has been influenced by my environment. My dad demanded virtual perfection of me as an adolescent. I went to early-morning seminary every day, attended church every Sunday, held a part-time job, saved for a mission, earned my Eagle Scout award, participated in extra curricular activities, took a number of AP classes, maintained a 4.0 GPA throughout high school, and abstained from drugs, alcohol, and the other vices in which my friends indulged. I never stayed out too late, never got into serious trouble, and never used profanity in my parents’ presence. Yet my dad still had the audacity to call my work ethic and integrity into question whenever he spotted the slightest chink in my armor. As a result, I came to believe that nothing short of perfection was acceptable, and that I was constantly on the verge of plummeting into the dark pit of selfishness, slothfulness, and moral depravity.

With respect to Mormon culture, Steve concludes:

. . . there is at least a lack of awareness among Mormons regarding mental illness (this is likely also true of the general public at large). There is also a possibility that culture-specific factors may complicate things for those facing mental illness. Many Latter-day Saints who have personally dealt with the effects of mental disorders feel that the pressure to be “worthy” and live up to the commandments, coupled with widespread misunderstanding about the nature of mental and emotional disorders, can be debilitating to sufferers.

A case in point would be that of sixteen-year old Kip Eliason, who in 1982 committed suicide out of the anguish and depression resulting from his inability to be “worthy” by totally abstaining from masturbation.

Coincidentally, Tom Sawyer posted a masturbation confessional on The Cultural Hall.

Was your experience growing up anything like mine? Did you find the inclination difficult, if not impossible to control? Did masturbation hurt you spiritually? Should it hurt us spiritually? Have you adopted a more mature and open-minded view of masturbation as an adult? What do you teach your kids regarding masturbation? Or do you teach them anything? Is Cyndi Lauper right: do we all “bop”?

Regarding Masturbation and the Church…

Has the Church adopted a more lenient view on masturbation in the past 20-30 years? Is the masturbation question still asked of our youth? Can masturbation keep someone off his or her mission? What should the Church’s position be on masturbation (in your opinion)? Same as it ever was? Don’t ask don’t tell? Repent only if one feels it has become a “problem”? Are there any historical LDS precedents on this front? For example, was this issue even on Joseph Smith’s radar screen? Brigham’s? Does LDS views on masturbation differ significantly from mainline Christian views?

Given that mental health is a matter of life and death, we should probably all take a little time and sort out our position. Steve’s, From the Ashe’s and Tom’s essays are a good place to start.

Advice Mormon Doctrine

Post navigation

Previous post
Next post

Related Posts

splitting souls

November 8, 2007

I recently attended an academic conference where one of the presenters made a point about Catholic doctrine I found particularly humorous. The speaker mentioned that Catholicism teaches that the “soul” enters the “body” at conception (I knew that, of course, but he went on…). Technically, at that point, it’s just…

Read More

ANOTHER GAY MANIFESTO: MY PROBLEM WITH THE MORMON CHURCH

January 1, 2013

What Can I Say…I Am Still Gay! I have never been known to stay where I am not wanted.  My present Bishop and Elder’s Quorum President do not like me because I am now openly Gay and they know it.  They are both very Homophobic. L Therefore, I have been…

Read More

I am Son of Perdition (And So Can You!)

April 29, 2008January 15, 2011

As one of those ex-Mormons who has adopted the label Son of Perdition (SofP), I’d just like to toy with this a bit (continuing the discussion here). I think this label is a bit loser than some think. Here’s an intriguing post on BCC about those who would be considered…

Read More

Comments (7)

  1. Hueffenhardt says:
    March 15, 2007 at 11:56 am

    Hellmut,
    Can you change the appearance of the quoted text? The diagonal lines are unpleasant to me and perhaps others.

  2. Hellmut says:
    March 15, 2007 at 12:03 pm

    I agree, Hueffenhardt. It’s awful. Nom is working on it.

  3. Sister Mary Lisa says:
    March 15, 2007 at 10:55 pm

    Interesting reading. I am touched by the stories they shared on mental health issues and the hurts that can happen to people suffering who are misunderstood or given improper treatment or being told they are sinning and need to fix their lives in order to be happy.

    Sad.

  4. Sister Mary Lisa says:
    March 15, 2007 at 10:56 pm

    And did I REALLY just leave the word “sad” on this topic?? (shaking my head at myself)

  5. JulieAnn says:
    March 16, 2007 at 7:21 am

    I was diagnosed with severe clinical depression at the age of 17, but had been suffering with it for years before. I felt that the answer to every one of life’s problems could be handled through my faith. If I prayed enough, read enough, attended enough, it would all go away. This attitude was backed up by my LDS parents and leaders. Back then, depression wasn’t really understood, especially in teens. It didn’t work, incidentally. I remained depressed, but I was also ashamed of it.

    One of the biggest concerns for me is that the Church promotes a sense of self-sufficiency that bleeds over into mental health issues. Couple that with the belief that all answers can be found on your knees, and you have yourself a population of isolated, helpless individuals. Now there are programs (The Star Program, Church Social Services) that address these issues, but I still think there is a lot of shame attached to it. ‘You aren’t doing well enough’.

    This is underscored by current events in my life. I was finally diagnosed with bipolar II, and two years ago, bipolar I; I am going through a myriad of things, including a divorce. My brother, who is a bishop, still puts it to me that if I would ‘just come back to the Church’, the Lord has ‘blessings’ for me. It’s as if he were saying God is withholding ‘blessings'(aka my life is a mess), because I am not Mormon.

    This attitude of being the One and Only Truth is damaging on many levels. The unspoken message is that your best is not good enough; especially if you are mentally ill. It’s the worst form of spiritual sabotage.

  6. Hellmut says:
    March 16, 2007 at 8:23 am

    Good to see you here, JulieAnn. Did you see the Sugarbeet’s spoof of this attitude?

  7. JulieAnn says:
    March 16, 2007 at 9:40 am

    Not yet, but I will and thanks, it’s good to be here. I will check out the spoof…

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Mormon Alumni Association Books

Latest Comments:

  1. termal kamerayla su kaçak tespiti on LDS vs LGBTQ:  Nathan Kitchen sheds false binariesJune 21, 2025

    termal kamerayla su kaçak tespiti Ekip çok organize, kaça?? an?nda bulup çözdüler. https://bence.net/read-blog/25188

  2. Cara B. Klein on My conspiracy theory #2April 26, 2025

    Wow, I had never thought about it in that way before You have really opened my eyes to a new…

  3. chanson on LDS vs LGBTQ:  Nathan Kitchen sheds false binariesApril 16, 2025

    The haiku at the end is lovely. Sounds like a great book!

  4. Donna Banta on LDS vs LGBTQ:  Nathan Kitchen sheds false binariesApril 14, 2025

    I imagine anyone who has tried to change the church from within will identify with Kitchen's story. I especially like…

  5. Johnny Townsend on LDS vs LGBTQ:  Nathan Kitchen sheds false binariesApril 14, 2025

    This was a painful review to read. For many years, I held the same hope, that the LDS church would…

8: The Mormon Proposition Acceptance of Gays Add new tag Affirmation angry exmormon awards Book Reviews BYU comments Conformity Dallin H. Oaks DAMU disaffected mormon underground Dustin Lance Black Ex-Mormon Exclusion policy Excommunicated exmormon faith Family feminism Gay Gay Love Gay Marriage Gay Relationships General Conference Happiness Homosexual Homosexuality LDS LGBT LGBTQ Link Bomb missionaries Modesty Mormon Mormon Alumni Association Mormonism motherhood peace politics Polygamy priesthood ban Sunstone temple

Awards

William Law X-Mormon of the Year:

  • 2023: Adam Steed
  • 2022: David Archuleta
  • 2021: Jeff T. Green
  • 2020: Jacinda Ardern
  • 2019: David Nielsen
  • 2018: Sam Young
  • 2017: Savannah
  • 2016: Jeremy Runnells
  • 2015: John Dehlin
  • 2014: Kate Kelly
  • 2013: J. Seth Anderson and Michael Ferguson
  • 2012: David Tweede
  • 2011: Joanna Brooks
  • 2010: Monica Bielanko
  • 2009: Walter Kirn

Other Cool Sites!

WasMormon.org
©2025 Main Street Plaza | WordPress Theme by SuperbThemes