Catholic Medical Quarterly Volume 75(2) May 2025
Book Review
Wayfaring: A Christian Approach to Mental Health Care
by Warren Kinghorn
Eerdmans Publishing Co.
The
author of this truly impressive work is Associate Professor of psychiatry
at Duke University. He has written a work on the intersection of mental
health and faith. As an academic, he has been able to state with plenty of
evidence exactly how I feel as a retired psychiatrist.
To a certain extent, psychiatry has lost its way. We have become collectors of symptoms. Based on that collection, we formulate a diagnosis and prescribe the appropriate remedy. This normally means medication. I understand why certain Christians have concluded that this reductionism demonstrates why psychiatry is not to be trusted. I understand but, like the author, I think they are wrong. I have seen too many acutely psychotic patients to believe that medication has no role. But I agree with the author when he observes that treating humans as machines is simply not enough.
As the author says, man is composed of body and soul. The body may receive treatment by means of medication but the soul is ignored unless we address the whole person. Psychiatrists are uncomfortable with talking about the soul and they end up treating humans as machines.
For a Catholic, it was a delight to see so much attention being given to the teachings of Thomas Aquinas. Thomas really believed in and cared about the human soul. As a Christian, he always regarded the person as a union of body and soul. There is a wonderful section on Thomas on the human virtues. How often do we as doctors get to seriously reflect on the virtues and their impact on our clinical practice? Thomas offers us a rich person-centred approach. He sees persons as not mere machines, not as isolated individuals even. We are relational beings.
The word accompaniment is very much in vogue at present. There is always the danger of us accompanying souls into mortal sin unless we observe the natural moral law. Our vocation is to help souls to eternal life. We are all wayfarers in this world. We are loved into existence by God and we are called to accompany each other to God. For Christians, Jesus Christ is our wayfarer-in chief, as he was on the way to Emmaus.