Mental Health Awareness month in 2026 comes at a time when the world is overrun with wars, social violence, and interpersonal incivility. Psychological and emotional brutality—especially on social media—have become viral in nature, as aggression and bullying appear to be the coping mechanisms of choice to defend against personal (and group) insecurities, anxiety, and fear. Perhaps what is more psychologically destabilizing is the growing trend to use religion to defend war and social violence, or to use faith as an excuse to moralize the work of oppression, incivility, and emotional brutality. The recent neutering of the landmark Voting Rights Act of 1965 has left millions both disillusioned and in a catatonic shock that in some instances resembles acute stress disorder. Indeed, there is nothing new about the authoritarian logic in modern history (the misguided belief that one person or group possesses the Divine right to define and mandate what it means to be human for all others and how all others understand and interpret their own histories and cultures) and its telos of abusing power to impetuously singularize human history and the stories of the other, or to break the dignity of an entire people. Taken together, the world events of the past few years can be mentally and emotionally exhausting and debilitating for those who have been forced to exist on the underside of history, or in the words of the theologian Howard Thurman, “those who stand, at a moment in human history, with their backs against the wall.”
The Toll of Denial and Withdrawal
Mental Health Awareness month compels us to ask a critical question: as we bear witness to these events on television and social media, or for those who actually experience these events firsthand, what is the impact of this on individual and communal mental health? There is a lot of attention being given to phenomena of trauma in both professional and non-professional spaces. And while there is certainly a significant conversation to be had about trauma and current world events, there are also other areas related to mental health awareness that, if ignored, can be just as destructive to self and community.
Here, I briefly focus on the phenomena of escapism/withdrawal and denial as maladaptive psychological defenses against the pain of life and reality, especially in times of social and political unrest. In the context of extremity, or in times of great peril, escapism/withdrawal and denial can function like addictive psychic opioids that protect our beliefs of a safe and ordered universe. In the early days of psychoanalysis, Sigmund Freud, through his classical theory, and Anna Freud, through her ego psychology, both recognized the human propensity to engage in maladaptive behaviors and psychological defenses to defend against anxiety, fear, and insecurity. All human beings, in varying ways and to varying degrees, use psychological defenses as a way to bolster our sense of self-worth, and to defend against painful realities of life. Withdrawal allows individuals or groups to fall back from reality into a near autistic-fantasy world without necessarily distorting it. Denial numbs the pain and fear of life by way of cognitive gymnastics: if I don’t acknowledge it, then it does not exist. Over the long run, the excessive and malignant use of psychological defenses can undermine psychological health and wholeness and undermine human flourishing. Moreover, in times of great social and political unrest, one can see how denial and withdrawal can cause significant psychological and emotional stress that subverts the cause of justice and human compassion.
When Spirituality Becomes Avoidance
But for faith leaders and for religious adherents, escapism/withdrawal and denial can be especially toxic when manifested through religious symbols, theology, and practice. In his research on spiritual practice and psychology, John Welwood coined the term “spiritual bypassing” as a way to describe the work of psychological defenses in religious life. According to Welwood, spiritual bypassing involves “using spiritual ideas and practices to sidestep personal, emotional ‘unfinished business,’ to shore up a shaky sense of self, or to belittle basic needs, feelings, and developmental tasks, all in the name of [religious or spiritual] enlightenment.” (1) Welwood’s description of the implications of a spiritually-bypassed life is compelling, as it reflects elements of withdrawal and denial:
In a society like ours, where the whole earthly foundation is weak to begin with, it is tempting to use spirituality as a way of trying to rise above this shaky ground. In this way, spirituality becomes just another way of rejecting one’s experience. When people use spiritual practice to try to compensate for low self-esteem, social alienation, or emotional problems, they corrupt the true nature of spiritual practice. Instead of loosening the manipulative ego that tries to control its experience, they are further strengthening it. Spiritual bypassing is a strong temptation in times like ours when achieving what were once ordinary developmental landmarks—earning a livelihood through dignified, meaningful work; raising a family; sustaining a long-term intimate relationship; belonging to a larger social community—has become increasingly difficult and elusive. Yet when people use spirituality to cover up their difficulties with functioning in the modern world, their spiritual practice remains in a separate compartment, unintegrated with the rest of their life. (2)
Consequently, instead of using spiritual practice as a compensatory function that replaces low self-esteem, social alienation, fear, or anxiety, we are compelled this Mental Health Awareness month to use faith and spiritual practice as a source of strength and wisdom to discover the source(s) or cause(s) of our low self-esteem, social alienation, irrational fears, or pervasive anxieties. The cost of failing to engage in this kind of anxiety-provoking but necessary self-work, over the long run, can be detrimental to self-health, interpersonal relationships, vocational work, community health, and the viability of our democratic experiment.
Choosing the Work of Healing
The late literary genius Toni Morrison recounts another period of political and social unrest in which she became depressed and unable to do her work. As she began to share her plight with a trusted friend, she recalls that he responded with, “No!, No, no, no! This is precisely the time when artists go to work—not when everything is fine, but in times of dread. That’s our job!” (3) I believe there is wisdom here for people of faith and ministry leaders as well. I encourage us in this season of mental health awareness to engage in our own self-work, perhaps with a trusted friend or in a trusted group, in which we can help each other discover areas of escapism/withdrawal, denial, or spiritual bypassing in our own lives that we use to cover over our fears, anxieties, and emotional pain.
In this moment of history, we all have serious work to do and must be prepared to work out our own salvation with fear and trembling. We cannot allow escapism, denial, and spiritual bypassing to deprive us of the vim, vigor, and vitality that is necessary to fulfill our moral obligation to “do good, seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, [and] plead the widow’s cause” (Isa 1:17). Morrison recognizes the threat of despair, and even nihilism, in times of great social and political duress when she laments, “I know the world is bruised and bleeding, and though it is important not to ignore its pain, it is also critical to refuse to succumb to its malevolence.” Nevertheless, she directs us toward a more noble alternative when she concludes, “This is precisely the time when artists go to work. There is no time for despair, no place for self-pity, no need for silence, no room for fear. We speak, we write, we do language. That is how civilizations heal.” (4) I invite us, this Mental Health Awareness Month, to be about the work individual and communal healing.
Dr. Danjuma Gibson is professor of practical theology and psychology at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary. His research has particularly progressed study of how Black and Brown communities respond to racial violence and economic factors such as gentrification and disinvestment. He is the author of two books, Through the Eyes of Titans: Finding Courage to Redeem the Soul of a Nation (Cascade, 2024) and Frederick Douglass, A Psychobiography: Rethinking Subjectivity in the Western Experiment of Democracy (Springer, 2018), and co-editor of Justice Matters: Spiritual Care and Pastoral Theological Imaginations in Times of the COVID-19 Pandemic (Routledge, 2023). Dr. Gibson has written and spoken widely on topics related to pastoral practices, trauma, African American religions, bi-vocational ministry, mental health, and intersecting subjects. He served as senior pastor of Zion Faith Center Bible Church (Chicago, Ill.), where he ministered for more than 15 years. He is a licensed minister in the Church of God in Christ and a Licensed Professional Counselor in the state of Michigan.
[1] John Welwood, Toward a Psychology of Awakening: Buddhism, Psychotherapy, and the Path of Personal and Spiritual Transformation (Shambhala Publications, Inc., 2000), 207.
[2] Ibid, 207-208.
[3] Toni Morrison, “No Place for Self-Pity, No Room for Fear,” in The Nation 150th Anniversary edition (April 2015), 184.
[4] Ibid, 184.
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