Do Biblical Counselors Oppose the Use of Medicine?

Of course not! From the outset of the Biblical Counseling movement we have worked closely with physicians.. That is a totally false charge that is often made against biblical counselors. Now, we are careful to distinguish between true disease and that which does not have an organic etiology. We are concerned to see that medicine not be used to obtain pain relief while by-passing non-organic causes of some difficulty in living.

Roughly speaking, there are two types of medicine. One is supplementary to bodily output. For instance, if the body is not producing insulin as it should, we think it proper to add insulin from the outside. Or, if one is suffering from atrial fibrillation we believe in taking a beta blocker in order to achieve a normal, steady heartbeat. The use of medicine in such cases helps the body to function as it was supposed to function.

The use of psychotropic drugs, on the other hand, inhibits the body from functioning as it should. It is that use of medicine that we deplore. Mood changing drugs affect a person in such a way that the benefits of pain and other unpleasant feelings are not realized. Discomfort was designed to call attention to some underlying problem (organic or non-organic) so that it might be dealt with. One would hardly want to desensitize the nerve endings on his fingers because he has found that touching a hot stove hurts. Otherwise, he would not realize his fingers were resting on a hot surface until he already smelled flesh burning! To desensitize these nerves, in the long run, would cause serious damage to the body. As an alerting system and warning device, then, pain is a friend. We do not believe in masking such pain by drugs.

There are, of course, many organically-caused problems. Our counselors regularly refer counselees to physicians whenever they suspect that something organic may be behind their behavior. They do not want to miss a brain tumor, an aneurysm, or anything else that might require medical treatment. While biblical counselors refuse to diagnose, since we are not trained to do medical work, whenever we suspect that something more than heart-motivated behavior is operating, we will send counselees to a physician for a medical checkup.

What we are concerned about is the use of medicine to deal with problems that have no organic cause. However, we do realize that life can often times overwhelm us for a variety of reasons, and the counselee may find himself in a state of emotional upheaval due to the pressures and circumstances in which he may find himself. Some of these may be brought about by his own failure to make proper biblical choices and others may come about by the pressures and abuses inflicted upon him by others. In these cases, we do not advocate that the counselee should stay in his pain and dysfunction until he is able to identify and solve the thinking or behavioral problems that has caused his discomfort and dysfunction. Medication may serve in a temporary way to alleviate his emotional and psychological pain in order to center him and prepare him to hear and act upon Biblical counsel.

 Yet, the biblical counselor must be cautious and balanced in his approach in dealing with life issues. Therefore, we are disinclined to promote long-term masking of pain and difficulties with medicine. For instance, if one’s conscience is troubling him by triggering unpleasant feelings, we think that the solution to the problem is not found in drugs but in dealing with whatever it is that activated the conscience in the first place. In such cases the counselor deals with sin, not with the feelings.