Troubled Minds

Troubled Minds by Amy Simpson is a book about mental illness and the church’s mission.

Some stats:

• Mental illness is the #1 cause of disability in North America.

• 1 in 4 adults – 25% of Americans 18 and older suffer from a diagnosable form of mental illness in a given year.

• Almost 12 million people in the USA have a serious or chronic mental illness such as depression, schizophrenia, or bipolar disorder.

• Antipsychotics are the top selling medicine in the USA.

In Troubled Minds, Amy Simpson does a great job at exposing some of the myths surrounding mental illness and offers some mature advice. Amy speaks from both experience and research.

Here are some great and impressive reviews on ranging from pastors to psychologists.

“Get ready! Amy Simpson takes you on a thoughtful, vulnerable and even painful journey through the complex landscape of mental illness. There is hope, but not until you go to the emotional and textured depths Troubled Minds provides.” (John Ortberg, senior pastor, and Charley Scandlyn, healing minister, Menlo Park Presbyterian Church)

“Having written about my own family’s experience with mental illness, I know what it must have cost for Amy Simpson to root her highly informative book in her family’s heartbreaking, yet hopeful story. Because of stigma and ignorance, far too many of us live with the pain of mental illness in silence and without compassionate support from our Christian communities. Troubled Minds has the potential to help free us from that quiet loneliness and bring our churches into fuller communion with those who suffer. I highly recommend it.” (Christine A. Scheller, news and religion editor, UrbanFaith )

“In Troubled Minds Amy Simpson opens the door into the hidden struggles of those caring for a mentally ill loved one. Between descriptions of her own real-life experiences she eloquently presents information that every Christian should have on how to recognize and appropriately respond to those living with mental illness. This book will prompt you (and your church) to action among a suffering people.” (Matthew S. Stanford, professor of psychology and neuroscience, Baylor University, and author, Grace for the Afflicted )

“Drawing on her own journey and extensive research, Amy Simpson gives deep insight into the pain of mental illness for those affected and those who love them. She makes puzzling concepts understandable, and she faces head-on the troubling questions raised by mental illness for people of faith. While I was reading the book, a homeless woman struggling with mental illness came to our church. Because of what I’d read, I interacted with her more patiently and effectively. I count this a must-read for pastors and church leaders.” (Karen Miller, LCSW, executive pastor, Church of the Resurrection, Wheaton, Illinois )

“With no shortage of brains or heart, Amy Simpson courageously explores the realities of mental illness in the twenty-first century. With mental illness on the rise, all church leaders would do well to read this theologically and psychologically compelling volume.” (Linda Lake, clinical psychologist)