The Emotional and Mental Health Crisis in Poverty

Jon Barrett

Executive Director of CVCCS
Guest Contributor

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As a local non-profit ministry on the front lines, CVCCS (and our colleagues in other organizations) are in a unique position to observe a dramatic shift in the emotional and mental health of the people we serve — so much so that it’s arguably the most pressing need we face in addressing poverty. And candidly, there are no easy fixes, blanket approaches, or government policies that will make things right. 

To be very clear, not everyone in poverty struggles with mental or emotional issues. Indeed, poverty’s root issues are always unique to each situation.

That said, the extreme number of cases we’ve observed have more to do with relief being offered as the remedy when relief is not what’s really needed. Indeed, organizations practicing charity must be very careful not to miscategorize someone’s need and therefore misapply the solution.

Relief is designed to meet an urgent need ONLY. It is temporary and not meant as a long-term fix. Keeping multitudes in perpetual relief has failed to address the root causes of poverty and is why we are facing chronic homelessness issues.

It has also caused an epidemic of dependency. Root causes have been pushed aside in favor of “meeting needs,” bringing us to a breaking point when it comes to offering appropriate aid for emotional and mental health issues.

Therefore, if we ignore root issues any longer it will be to our peril. We must recognize the practice of true charity means moving away from doing something for someone to working with them. As such, we must seek to lead others in going back in order to go forward.

What do I mean? Well, no one is exempt from unhealthy emotional patterns and behaviors learned from our families. (That’s even true of those raised in the healthiest homes). Thus, the issue no one talks about is the grave number of unhealthy, generational cycles where people repeat the messages, patterns, and scripts (the procedure for how to handle things) passed down to them from their families. These are root issues that, if not dealt with in a healthy manner, lead to destructive behaviors.

In Nehemiah 9:22-31, the people of Israel were compelled to examine how they ended up in captivity. It led them on a journey of deep exploration into their family of origin so they could unearth and remedy destructive emotional and behavioral cycles. This brief overview will help you identify what those were:

After God blessed them, verse 26 describes what took place next: 

“Nevertheless, they (Israel’s prior generations) were disobedient and rebelled against You and cast Your Law behind their back and killed Your prophets, who had warned them in order to turn them back to You, and they committed great blasphemies.”

In other words, there was disobedience, rebellion, murder, idolatry, pride, and blasphemy (among other things) in their family of origin. Do you think these things affected generations to follow?

Eventually, the people were brought to a place of honesty about themselves and their past. Continue reading in chapter 9 and we see they were prompted to go back in order to go forward: “… for You have dealt faithfully and we have acted wickedly. Our kings, our princes, our priests, and our fathers have not kept Your Law or paid attention to Your commandments and Your warnings that You gave them.” (9:33-34)

Israel’s keen awareness of negative generational cycles led them to first take responsibility for themselves. It wasn’t about blaming, bashing their families, or playing the victim. Rather, they wanted to learn from their past so they could mature in the present.

Doing the hard, inner work of going back to go forward takes deep contemplation — yet those we help can be confident God’s grace is waiting there. The Israelites came to realize that; in Nehemiah 9:38 we see that confidence fueled their commitment to go back to go forward: “Because of all this we make a firm covenant in writing; on the sealed document are the names of our princes, our Levites, and our priests.”

Likewise, as those in non-profit work, we must gently guide the people we serve in the process of emotional integration. That’s why building relationships is so key to effective charity.

Here are some helpful questions to start with in helping others recognize what is deep under the surface:

1. How were conflict, anger, and disagreements handled in your family of origin? How do you deal with those things now?
2. How did your family of origin define “success?”  How do you define it?
3. What generational patterns or themes were present in your family or origin? How do those impact who you are now?
4. What traumatic losses did your family experience when you were growing up? How have those losses affected who you are today?
5. What unhealthy scripts are you still carrying from your family of origin?

Awareness brings freedom. Yet unless we’re willing to dive deep under the surface with those we serve, our approach will continue ignoring root issues and leave them stuck where they’re at. At CVCCS, we believe people are much more than mouths to feed and bodies to clothe. Ensuring we are really helping is more important than simply having a benevolent heart.

FROM THE TRUE CHARITY TEAM: We appreciate the perspective of our knowledgeable guest contributors. However, their opinions are their own, and do not necessarily represent positions of True Charity in all respects.

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