The Mental Health Crisis Is Spiritual

The Mental Health Crisis Is Not Just Mental — It’s Spiritual

Based on the testimony and teaching of Pastor Heather Schott, Pastor Sean Gleason, and Jasmine Weiler on Holy Disruption.

America is not merely facing a mental health crisis.
America is facing a spiritual collapse.

We are watching a generation lose its mind while society calls it “progress.” Suicidal ideation is romanticized. Children are mutilated in the name of identity. Violence erupts in schools and streets. Anxiety, depression, addiction, rage, confusion, and hopelessness are now considered normal human conditions rather than warning signs of deeper spiritual bondage.

The world calls it “mental illness.”
The Bible calls it torment.

And while governments, universities, media outlets, and pharmaceutical industries attempt to medicate the symptoms, they continue ignoring the spiritual root.

On a recent episode of Holy Disruption, Pastor Heather Schott sat down with Pastor Sean Gleason and Jasmine Weiler to expose one of the most controversial realities in modern culture:

Not every mental battle is merely chemical.
Many are spiritual.

The Silence Killing a Generation

Pastor Sean Gleason shared a testimony that should shake every pastor, parent, counselor, and leader awake.

At only 10 years old, he was already suicidal.

Abandoned by his parents as an infant and raised by his grandparents, Sean internalized rejection at a young age. He believed the lie many broken children silently believe:

“I am unwanted.”
“I am unworthy.”
“I should hate myself.”

Those lies became torment.

He described holding knives to his wrists as a child. Searching for his grandfather’s rifle to see if his arms were long enough to pull the trigger. Living with a darkness he could not explain.

When he finally gathered the courage to tell a therapist he was suicidal, she laughed at him.

Another therapist later responded by saying:

“Don’t ever say that again.”

So he learned what millions of Americans learn:

Suppress it.
Hide it.
Perform.
Pretend.

Behavior modification replaced healing.

Nobody asked:

• What happened to you?
• What wounds are you carrying?
• What lies did you believe?
• What doors were opened spiritually?

Instead, the focus became controlling behavior while the torment deepened internally.

Sean learned how to suppress the symptoms while demons still whispered:
“You should hate yourself.”

The Lie of the “Chemical Imbalance”

One of the most disruptive moments in the conversation came when Pastor Sean addressed one of the most repeated statements in modern psychology:

“You probably have a chemical imbalance.”

According to Sean, this popular narrative was never scientifically proven in the way culture presents it today. He explained that the theory was heavily popularized through pharmaceutical marketing campaigns tied to antidepressants like Prozac.

Yet millions of people have accepted these labels as permanent identities:

• Bipolar
• Schizophrenic
• Anxiety disorder
• Depression disorder

Instead of seeing these as battles, struggles, wounds, or even spiritual attacks, many now wear them as identities.

That is dangerous.

Because whatever you identify with, you eventually empower.

The enemy no longer has to whisper:
“You are worthless.”

Now the person says it themselves.

The Church’s Failure

Pastor Heather Schott confronted a painful reality many churches refuse to acknowledge:

The church has largely surrendered its authority.

Rather than operating in discernment, healing, deliverance, and discipleship, many churches outsourced spiritual battles to secular systems that do not acknowledge the spiritual realm at all.

The result?

People suffering from demonic torment are often:

• Sedated instead of discipled
• Diagnosed instead of delivered
• Managed instead of healed

Meanwhile, many Christians have become uncomfortable with the supernatural power Jesus explicitly commanded believers to walk in.

Scripture never presents Jesus as merely managing demons.

He cast them out.

He restored people to their right mind.

When Mental Illness Is Actually Spiritual Oppression

Sean shared multiple encounters while working in mental health facilities that radically changed his perspective.

He described coworkers involved in witchcraft, transgender ideology, and openly anti-Christian lifestyles attempting to counsel deeply tormented youth.

He recounted moments where individuals manifested demonic behavior while discussing God, including:

• Hissing
• Violent rage
• Sudden personality shifts
• Deep voices
• Hatred toward Jesus

One schizophrenic speaker at a conference whispered into Sean’s ear the exact lies demons had tormented him with since childhood:

“You should hate yourself. Nobody loves you.”

It exposed something terrifying:
The spiritual realm is real whether modern culture acknowledges it or not.

Deliverance Is Real

Sean’s breakthrough did not come through a pill.

It came through the presence of God.

After years of torment, panic attacks, suicidal breakdowns, self-harm, and demonic oppression — even while serving in ministry — Sean finally reached the end of himself.

Then one day while painting inside Mercy Culture Church, worshiping God alone, something shifted.

No crowd.
No spotlight.
No dramatic stage moment.

Just the presence of God.

And suddenly:

• the torment lifted
• the fog disappeared
• peace flooded his mind
• even his eyesight changed

For the first time since childhood, he experienced true peace.

Not emotional hype.
Not temporary relief.
Freedom.

Deliverance Is a Moment. Freedom Is a Walk.

One of the most important truths shared in the discussion was this:

Deliverance happens in a moment.
Freedom is walked out daily.

This is where much of the modern church fails.

Some deny deliverance entirely. Others obsess over casting out demons while neglecting discipleship.

But Jesus does both:

• He delivers
• He disciples

After Sean’s deliverance, he still had to renew his mind.

He had to confront lies with truth.

Using 2 Corinthians 10:5, he learned to:

• take thoughts captive
• identify the source
• reject lies
• replace them with God’s truth

This became the process of freedom.

Because freedom is not pretending the devil never whispers again.

Freedom is recognizing the voice, refusing agreement, and standing in truth.

America’s Real Crisis

The crisis in America is not merely political.
It is not merely psychological.
It is not merely educational.

It is spiritual.

We have normalized:

• pride
• rebellion
• sexual confusion
• occultism
• pornography
• hatred
• selfishness
• fatherlessness
• identity confusion

And then we act shocked when minds collapse under the weight of darkness.

Romans 1 describes what happens when societies reject God:
They are handed over to a “depraved” or “reprobate” mind.

That is not ancient history.
That is modern America.

The Solution Is Not Less Jesus — It’s More

The answer is not abandoning spiritual authority.

The answer is not mocking deliverance.

The answer is not replacing the Holy Spirit with pharmaceuticals.

The answer is Jesus.

Not shallow Christianity.
Not motivational sermons.
Not religious performance.

Real surrender.
Real holiness.
Real disciplehip.
Real authority.
Real encounters with God.

Because Jesus is still:

• healing minds
• breaking chains
• silencing demons
• restoring identity
• delivering addicts
• healing trauma
• setting captives free

He is still the Prince of Peace.

The Invitation

Maybe you feel trapped right now.
Maybe you have been diagnosed, labeled, medicated, abandoned, or tormented.
Maybe you hear voices of shame, hatred, fear, or suicide.

The answer is not pretending the battle is fake.

The answer is bringing the battle into the light and running to Jesus.

Not just for a deliverance moment.

But for relationship.

Because as Pastor Sean said so powerfully:

“One encounter with God can set you free.
But daily encounters with God will keep you free.”

The goal is not merely freedom from demons.

The goal is falling in love with God.

And in His presence, chains still break.