Mental illness is far more common in religious communities than many realize, yet the lived experience of worshipping, believing, and belonging while struggling with chronic mental-health conditions is rarely discussed openly. In this five-part series, writer Mary Grey offers an honest, deeply personal exploration of what it means to navigate faith, agency, trauma, and belonging while living with persistent mental illness.
These essays—published at Times & Seasons—invite readers to see mental illness not as a moral failing or a lack of faith, but as a human reality that deserves understanding, compassion, and space within the church community. The series challenges assumptions about happiness, righteousness, agency, and healing while opening a conversation many Latter-day Saints have long needed.
Explore the full collection below.
1. Mental Illness at Church
(June 20, 2025)
Link: https://timesandseasons.org/index.php/2025/06/mental-illness-at-church/
The opening essay introduces the series and lays out its central aim: to describe what it actually feels like to live with mental illness in a church setting. Instead of framing illness as a temporary trial to “overcome,” Grey writes candidly about long-term suffering, faith, and the challenge of finding spiritual footing when your mind is an unpredictable place.
Topics: LDS mental health, anxiety at church, religious expectations, belonging.
2. “Mental Illness at Church”: A Personal Story
(June 28, 2025)
Link: https://timesandseasons.org/index.php/2025/06/mental-illness-at-church-a-personal-story/
This vulnerable personal narrative traces Grey’s early experiences with trauma, bullying, scrupulosity, and the spiritual narratives that shaped her sense of worth. She reflects on how religious messages about obedience, perfection, and worthiness can intersect with PTSD and make participation in church feel overwhelming.
Topics: PTSD and religion, scrupulosity in Latter-day Saint contexts, trauma and faith.
3. Mental Illness: The Weight of Happiness
(July 11, 2025)
Link: https://timesandseasons.org/index.php/2025/07/mental-illness-the-weight-of-happiness/
Why does church culture put so much emphasis on being happy? This essay examines the spiritual and cultural pressure to be cheerful, positive, and optimistic—even when one’s mental illness makes happiness feel inaccessible. Grey reframes “meaning” not as achieving happiness, but as living honestly and compassionately with the life we have.
Topics: toxic positivity, happiness culture, meaning-making with mental illness.
4. Mental Illness and Agency
(July 18, 2025)
Link: https://timesandseasons.org/index.php/2025/07/mental-illness-and-agency/
Many Latter-day Saints frame spiritual growth through the lens of personal responsibility and agency. Grey argues that mental illness can limit or complicate agency in ways religious teachings rarely account for. What happens when the mind simply cannot respond “correctly”?
Topics: agency and mental illness, LDS doctrine, moral responsibility, spiritual burdens.
5. Mental Illness at Church (Part II): Living Without Easy Answers
(September 21, 2025)
Link: https://timesandseasons.org/index.php/2025/09/mental-illness-at-church-2/
In the concluding post, Grey reflects on why so many people with mental illness live their lives without clear healing, resolution, or relief—and why church communities must make room for those who remain “in the dark.” She calls for compassion, patience, and genuine inclusion for people whose suffering is lifelong.
Topics: chronic mental illness, church inclusion, suffering, unconditional worth.
What This Series Offers
Honest stories.
No clichés, no forced optimism—just real life, lived faithfully and imperfectly.
Theological insight.
Grey approaches mental illness through doctrines of agency, worthiness, healing, and divine love—inviting deeper reflection.
A compassionate framework for community.
Her essays call for churches to become places where people who struggle can still belong, even when healing does not come.