SCOTT SIMON, HOST:
A large part of any pastor's job is to offer emotional support through things like rituals, empathy, prayer. But there can still be stigma in churches around clinical mental health care. NPR's Katia Riddle brings us this profile of one pastor in Harlem who is battling stigma within his congregation and leading by example. And a caution, this story discusses suicide.
KATIA RIDDLE, BYLINE: Mental health was not something that Michael Walrond thought about much as a kid.
MICHAEL WALROND: And I grew up in, you know, a traditional West Indian Caribbean household. It definitely wasn't talked about.
RIDDLE: As an adult, he committed to a life of service and became a pastor. He got a master's of divinity degree, but he didn't get much explicit training around mental health. Then, in his late 30s, he found himself in a crisis.
WALROND: I had an experience out of nowhere where I had a suicidal ideation.
RIDDLE: Suicidal ideation is a kind of fantasy about dying by suicide. It can be an indicator of a serious illness.
WALROND: I didn't realize I was dealing with depression and anxiety.
RIDDLE: Research shows pastors have a disproportionate amount of these kinds of mental health issues. But Walrond says there's a stigma around talking about this occupational hazard. After his crisis, Walrond started going to therapy. He says it saved his life.
WALROND: And I remember realizing that, you know what? If this has been such a critical impact on my life, I know other people may be suffering in silence.
RIDDLE: His church is First Corinthian Baptist in Harlem. There are thousands of people in his congregation. It's a busy community hub all week, not just Sundays. On this morning, he stands outside a door upstairs. That is where his first part-time therapist worked years ago.
WALROND: Yeah, she was here. And she was the first one - when she was a pastor, there was a lot of people who were coming.
RIDDLE: At the time he didn't know of any other churches that were hiring licensed clinicians. It's still rare. But he says once he started looking for it, he saw the need everywhere.
WALROND: I think in an African American community, historically, there's been the normalization of trauma, right? So if you normalize trauma, then you don't really see the mental health impact of trauma.
RIDDLE: Now the church has a separate nonprofit to provide therapy. It's around the corner.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
RIDDLE: Throughout the office, staff play this music. It helps with confidentiality in their tight quarters. Lena Green is the executive director of this program.
LENA GREEN: So we currently have seven clinicians on staff. We have one, two, three - we have three doctors, one psychiatrist, three social workers, one psychologist.
RIDDLE: It's funded through grants and church donations. Green says they're making progress, but stigma is something they're still battling. In recent years, Black teens and adolescents, especially, have seen an increase in mental health crises like suicide and suicide ideation.
GREEN: Because for a lot of families, there's sort of what I like to call, the conspiracy of silence, right? Like, we know this thing happened, but, you know, we shouldn't be talking about it publicly. But we know we need to get help.
RIDDLE: Part of combating this stigma and encouraging people to use these services is bringing mental health struggles out into the open. This recording is from a church service a couple of years ago with Pastor Walrond.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
WALROND: I've known of moments when there were people who went to church - this is true - left church and then experienced death by suicide.
RIDDLE: People are swaying and crying, holding each other at this service. Walrond encourages congregation members to do something courageous - to stand up, to come to the front of the sanctuary if they could relate.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
WALROND: Those who are tired of life, and you're at that point where you're almost ready to give up today, I want you to come. I want you to make your way today.
(APPLAUSE)
RIDDLE: Walrond says he looks to scripture for guidance on this topic.
WALROND: Elijah, who was a prophet, he asked God to take his life. It was Moses at the time who asked God to kill him. Like, you have several people in Scripture who wanted to die because of the weight of the responsibility and the expectations. No different.
RIDDLE: He says physical needs are spiritual needs.
WALROND: Part of the responsibility is to treat the needs of the people as holy.
RIDDLE: Which means, says Pastor Michael Walrond, that mental health is holy.
Katia Riddle, NPR News, Harlem.
SIMON: And if you or someone you know is in crisis, you can call or text 988 - just those three numbers - 9-8-8 - for the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.