(RNS) — In 2011, when she was 18 years old, Anna Gazmarian was diagnosed with bipolar disorder.As an evangelical, Gazmarian attended church regularly, was active in her youth group, and went to a Southern Baptist high school; this was a prescription for frustration and anguish. In her new book, “Devout: A Memoir of Doubt,” Gazmarian lays bare how inadequately the church and her church-approved therapists treated her condition and how she struggled to find another way.
Fighting near-constant thoughts of suicide and long depressive episodes, Gazmarian had to leave the church behind to begin to heal. But she never gave up on her faith. Her book offers penetrating insights into the flawed theology around mental health in many evangelical settings and how they might recover a more affirming and compassionate way of attending to people with mental illness.
At its heart, it is an intimate and candid look at the dark night of the soul and how Gazmarian was able to reanimate her faith through doubt, questioning and lament — qualities her church tradition assiduously denied.
RNS spoke to Gazmarian, who lives in Durham, North Carolina, about how she copes and how she’s been able to find stability through medication, therapy, a loving husband and a baby daughter, as well as her faith.
The interview has been edited for length and clarity.
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Fighting near-constant thoughts of suicide and long depressive episodes, Gazmarian had to leave the church behind to begin to heal. But she never gave up on her faith. Her book offers penetrating insights into the flawed theology around mental health in many evangelical settings and how they might recover a more affirming and compassionate way of attending to people with mental illness.
At its heart, it is an intimate and candid look at the dark night of the soul and how Gazmarian was able to reanimate her faith through doubt, questioning and lament — qualities her church tradition assiduously denied.
RNS spoke to Gazmarian, who lives in Durham, North Carolina, about how she copes and how she’s been able to find stability through medication, therapy, a loving husband and a baby daughter, as well as her faith.
The interview has been edited for length and clarity.
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