“My world view, my view on people and life and faith, was completely transformed because of struggling with mental illness.”
Lindsay Robinson (39) speaks fluently about her role as a mental health advocate.
Married to East Belfast DUP MP Gavin Robinson, Mrs Robinson suffered severe mental health problems following the birth of her son Reuben, now nearly eight.
After several years as a perinatal mental health campaigner, she joined Left Side Up, a progressive Belfast-based faith organisation set up by theologian Andrew Cunning, last summer.
The group has published ‘Call to Action’, a report into faith and mental health which will make tough reading for some churches.
A survey of participants from across the religious spectrum, including members of Catholic, Presbyterian and Anglican churches, found that more than half (51 per cent) felt that churches were not welcoming.
More than three-quarters of participants said churches and faith groups “hold views that limit their ability to help those struggling with mental health and wellbeing”.
And 63 per cent said they had experienced the Bible “being used in a way that is damaging to mental health and wellbeing”.
While many respondents felt that churches offered great support, others felt that advice to simply 'read the Bible and pray' had not helped people suffering from mental ill-health.
Mrs Robinson said her own experience of mental health made her reassess her Christian faith and beliefs.
“One of things for me wasn’t just the struggle with perinatal illness but the impact it had on my faith, which was really very difficult."
She added: “I felt really challenged that the church has a really important role to play and all too often what they are doing, even well-meaning, is causing hurt and harm.
“That genuinely makes me feel really sad because most churches don’t start out from that premise. They start out from wanting to be places of help and hope. But unfortunately due to lack of understanding or lack of training, that all too often isn’t the case.
“People are being left, perhaps, damaged. We heard a lot about religious trauma, about how some people are still part of the church but they carry that trauma with them, and then from others who have had to come away from their church community.”
Originally from Portstewart, Co Derry, Mrs Robinson grew up in a conservative, evangelical church.
She worked with several churches as an adult and said she now “looks at faith in a different way” than she did as a child.
“Not all of what I learned to believe is wrong. There is a lot of good in it and I stand by that,” she said.
“But as you grow into an adult you begin to ask those questions and having a child of my own as well - he has lots of questions around faith so that has encouraged me to really think about what I believe and why.”
She said Bible teaching is “only one source of theology” and has to be interpreted.
Left Side Up is part of the Ban Conversion Therapy coalition, which is opposed to gay conversion therapy.
It is also part of pro-choice group Faith Voices for Reproductive Justice and is aiming to work with Alliance for Choice on developing resources from a faith perspective.
The group, based in Richview Regeneration Centre on Donegall Road in Belfast, holds monthly groups for parents whose children are from the LGBT community, weekly Time to Unwind sessions, and an open house on Mondays and Fridays.
It also runs a six-week Reconstructions course for people who have walked away from faith or who want to know more about it.
“Some of the things that we say are not the things that are traditionally said in churches and faith communities,” she said.
“We firmly believe that as a progressive organisation we have the responsibility to say them and to bring that challenge to churches and faith communities in Northern Ireland.”
Mrs Robinson’s views on conversion therapy and abortion are in direct opposition to those held by conservatives in her husband’s party.
However, she pointed out she is not a DUP member and said her husband is hugely supportive of her work.
“I think some people would like me to play that traditional role and stay silent and stay quiet,” she said.
“The lovely thing is, from the minute Gavin and I met he’s been very aware of who I am and I’ve also been very aware of who he is. We are our own people and we allow each other space.
“We champion the work of each other.”
Mr Robinson backed Sir Jeffrey Donaldson in his failed DUP leadership bid.
Asked about the effect of party politics on her life, she said: “My husband is part of the party so there are impacts for anyone who’s married to a politician."
She added: "We have our beautiful little boy together and he is our absolute world. Whenever we come in at night we try and make sure it is the Three Musketeers, or the four, because we now have a dog.”
Mrs Robinson said she hopes the report into faith and mental health, due to be officially launched tomorrow, is just the start.
“We don’t believe we have all the answers,” she said.
“In fact, we think that’s when we fall into problems when the church actually gets to a place where they believe they have got everything right.”
She added: “If we see a few churches in the next few months getting in touch with us and asking more questions or asking us to come and work with them or to deliver courses with them we will be absolutely delighted.”
To read the 'Call to Action' report visit: www.leftsideupni.com/faith-and-mental-health
