Am I crazy? If I am under the care of Paul Tautges, I hope not. For Tautges, the root problem to mental illness is "indwelling sin nature" - I just need to read the Bible harder and behave myself (I won't even get into the idea that my indwelling sin nature died on the cross with Christ).
I will be the first to say that some amount of what is labeled and treated as mental disease is related to self-discipline and control. But, I cannot imagine a responsible person saying all mental defect is fixed by self-control.
Additionally, Tautges fails to mention the power of God to set one free from demonic influence or bring about physical and psychological healing.
Net - while Tautges spots a real flaw in the mental health industry in that not all mental health issues are really mental health issues, his conclusion that all mental health issues are not really so and only need discipline, is as about un-Biblical and irresponsible as one can get. He takes only one possible solution (repentance, redemption, self-control, others-esteem, spiritual sobriety, taking personal responsibility for one’s behavior) and wrongly applies it to all that ails the human psyche. There are times when medical treatment and a course of psychiatric care can be helpful. And more than all of this, we simply need God to break into our lives and set us free with His healing touch - this can and does happen (I'd like more).
HT:CL
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