DESCRIPTION

Each day men and women diagnosed with mental disorders are told they need to pray more and turn from their sin. Mental illness is equated with demonic possession, weak faith, and generational sin. As both a church leader and a professor of psychology and behavioral sciences, Matthew S. Stanford has seen far too many mentally ill brothers and sisters damaged by well-meaning believers who respond to them out of fear or misinformation rather than grace.

Grace for the Afflicted is written to educate Christians about mental illness from both biblical and scientific perspectives. Stanford presents insights into our physical and spiritual nature and discusses the appropriate role of psychology and psychiatry in the life of the believer. Describing common mental disorders, Stanford probes what science says and what the Bible says about each illness.

Consistent with DSM-5 diagnoses, this revised and expanded edition is thoroughly updated with new material throughout, including eight new chapters that cover

• bipolar disorders
• trauma- and stressor-related disorders
• dementia
• cerebrovascular accidents (stroke)
• traumatic brain injury
• suicide
• a holistic approach to recovery
• mental health and the church

About the author:
Matthew Stanford (PhD, Baylor University) is CEO of the Hope and Healing Center & Institute in Houston, Texas, and he teaches in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Baylor College of Medicine and the Department of Psychology at the University of Houston. He is the author of Grace for the Afflicted: A Clinical and Biblical Perspective on Mental Illness and The Biology of Sin: Hope and Healing for Those Who Feel Trapped. He and his wife, Julie, have four children and reside in Houston, Texas.