Home > Resources For Adult Workers > Barefoot

Mitch Todd About Mitch

Conversion Disorder

"But as for me, my prayer is to you, O Lord. At an acceptable time, O God, in the abundance of your steadfast love, answer me." —Psalm 69.13

Have you heard of "Conversion Disorder"? There was a movie out several years ago starring Uma Thermon called "Hysterical Blindness." That's one example of a conversion disorder. What happens is that a person undergoes some major stress or anxiety in their life and instead of dealing with the trauma in a more conventional, psychological way, some physical symptom is presented. People suffering from conversion disorder may have their sight or hearing impaired, they may become paralyzed or unable to speak. It's an amazing condition.

We have something similar in the church. And strangely enough, we could call it by the same name.

Conversion disorder, in the Church, happens when good and faithful converts are suddenly struck by a variety of faith problems. See if any of these have ever happened to you:

—You're hard at work as part of the Church and then suddenly—blindness! You can't see God anymore. You see the work of people around you, but what about God?

—You've spent years at prayer, but all at once you can't hear God anymore. God, are you there?

—You find yourself in opportunities where you could be sharing the Good News with others... but you just can't seem to speak.

—You've been a faithful Disciple, giving of your prayers, presence, gifts, service, and witness but all at once... it's as if you're paralyzed. Your faith journey just stalls out.

It can be scary to feel your whole faith life shutting down before your eyes, but conversion disorder can happen to the best of us. It's happened to me on more than one occasion, too. Call it burnout if you want, call it a faith crisis, or a dark night of the soul, but times like these can happen.

What causes them? Well, just like the neurological kind, there's probably some stress or anxiety involved. If you get confronted by too many tough situations in life you may find yourself struggling to keep the faith. Sometimes the world presses in too hard and you'll find cracks in your foundation that seem unfixable. And of course, traumatic events like the death of a loved one or other major life transitions can leave you feeling helpless and alone.

But here's the Good News: Conversion disorders, the church kind, can be treated. They don't have to last forever, and they don't have to leave you robbed of your faith. Taking a little time for yourself may help. Keeping a journal may be a way to sort out your own thoughts. Spending some time in nature can help you reconnect with God on a basic level. Read the Psalms. And by all means, talking things over with a trusted friend, pastor, spiritual director or therapist can help you restore your seeing and hearing and speaking and moving abilities.

Above all, have patience. Pray like the Psalmist did: At an acceptable time, O God, in the abundance of your steadfast love, answer me.

We might not be able to hear God sometimes, but God can hear us. In God's way, at God's time, God breaks through all our stress and anxiety, helps us restore some order to our lives, and reminds us...

There's no reason to get all Hysterical.

Have a good week,

Mitch
rmitchelltodd@yahoo.com