By Eden Morris I Reporter
There is a mental health crisis arising in college students, with 58% of students saying their mental and emotional health is declining.
A study conducted in 2020 concludes that “93% of new Baylor students and seniors identify with a religious tradition. 50% of Baylor students attend religious services at least once per week compared to 30% of the U.S. population.”
How do these two statistics correlate?
Dr. Malcolm Foley is co-pastor of Mosaic Church, a church one mile from Baylor’s campus, as well as the special advisor to the president for equity and campus engagement.
“It’s important for churches to have partnerships with mental health professionals,” Foley said.
Foley said that there are many helpful mental health professionals in the congregation at Mosaic Church.
“I am a spiritual advisor, but I also want [people] to know that there ought to be other people who have other forms of expertise that are also speaking into their lives, including mental health professionals,” Foley said.
Foley emphasized the importance of seeking professional help as well as Christian community.
“Christ uses mental health professionals for your health, just like he uses physical health professionals for your health,” Foley said. “Part of it is seeking to understand what people are going through, but also making use of all of the resources that are available to you for your health.”
Foley said a church community can be a beneficial way to help boost mental health among students.
“Students also ought to be embedded in community, communities where we have people around us to remind us that we’re never alone,” Foley said.
Dr. Burt Burleson, the dean of spiritual life at Baylor, has a doctorate in counseling and has vast life and work experience in the church and in ministry.
“We get embarrassed about our brokenness, and it’s the very thing that is used to heal,” Burleson said. “The people in society became more accepting of having a counselor. People wouldn’t have said that in the ’70s. Society began to say this is a part of what it means to be a person who’s trying to be healthy, in the same way we go to other kinds of doctors. These are resources for people who are trying to live the good life in the way that we define that as Christians.”
Houston sophomore Claire Barnard said the church saved her life during a mental health crisis.
“I did not want to continue living,” Barnard said. “The only reason I am still here is because God used the community of believers to support me in my healing. It wasn’t me going to church, but the church coming to me.”
Barnard said her youth pastor helped her during the darkest time of her life to see the light in a time where she could not see a way out.
“That is a beautiful picture of what Jesus did and why relationships are so important in the church,” Barnard said. “Christian community is so powerful.”
The Baylor Counseling Center is free and available to students struggling with mental health.
