By Thea Jarvis

The year Larry Fricks accepted the chronic mental illness that dogged his life, he had been hospitalized three times for manic depression.

“I was doing some pretty bizarre stuff,” Fricks told participants at the second annual Conference on Homelessness and Health Care presented Sept. 13 by the Georgia Nurses Foundation at Georgia State University.

“When we are psychotic, many of us have a very compulsive, fixated relationship with God,” said Fricks. In 1985, the Cleveland, Ga., native went to St. Simons Island and bought a shrimp boat, believing “God would show me where the shrimp were.”

“I wrote the checks thinking God was going to put the money in my account,” the burly, bearded Fricks remembered, smiling at his folly. “God is many things, but he’s not a banker,” he said wryly.

Key to Fricks’ recovery was medical treatment of his disorder and a “very real” spiritual experience that awakened him to a power greater than himself. “I became aware of a spiritual realm beyond anything I had ever realized,” Fricks recalled. “Nine years later, it still remains a turning point in my life.”

Acceptance of his illness, treatment and reliance on an inner spiritual core led Fricks to recovery and a satisfying career. As director of consumer relations at the state Department of Human Resources mental health division, he now advocates at the management level for people who are mentally ill.

“Because of lithium and the grace of God I am here today,” he told listeners seated in GSU’s Urban Life Center auditorium.

Fricks related his story during a “Spirituality and Homelessness” workshop let by Mercy Mobile Health chaplain Sister Pat Thompson, RSM, who ministers to the homeless at metro Atlanta sites like St. Luke’s soup kitchen, Open Door Community, the Women’s Day Shelter and the Men’s Union Mission. It is estimated that 30 percent of the homeless population have mental illnesses.

People with a disease of the brain that involves chemical imbalance – schizophrenia, depression or manic-depressive disorder – have as much need and capacity for spiritual nourishment, faith and hope as others who are not mentally ill, Sister Thompson said. Her experience on the streets and in the clinics serving homeless people around Atlanta has taught her that tuning into a spiritual center enhances the journey to wholeness.

“All of us have an inner healer inside ourselves.” Mentally ill persons and those who serve them “have to tap into this,” she believes, because spiritual beliefs and practices are essential to recovery.

Spirituality and religious commitment are often overlooked in mental health care, said Fricks, who claims he avoided long-term homelessness only because of the care and support of a loving family network. Health specialists are often wary of introducing spiritual supports to people with mental illness because they tend to be distorted and abused by those in a psychotic state.

“Some consumers (of mental health services) hide their spirituality in treatment because they might be perceived as getting sick again,” Fricks explained. “This leads to lying to the therapist.”

A practicing Christian, Fricks became leery of organized religion when told he was “demon-possessed” by well-meaning churchgoers.

“Equating my mental illness with sin when I have a biological brain disorder” was disturbing, he said. “Organized religion can be very hard on people with disabilities.”

Despite these challenges, Fricks said the most important part of his recovery has been its “spiritual nature” and his own “turning to spirituality” as a strength and support. Spirituality has helped him release the past and give up obsessive concern for the future, he said, so he can “live in the moment.”

Citing a study by Dr. David Larson, a psychiatric epidemiologist and adjunct professor at Duke University medical Center, Fricks said spirituality can be particularly helpful in treatment of attempted suicide, depression, substance abuse and stress.

“Spirituality is what gives people strength to go on,” said Sister Thompson, because it revolves around faith in God, a higher power, something greater than oneself. “Beliefs, values, convictions direct our life and give meaning to it. It’s a power that hasn’t been touched enough.”

Recommended books on spirituality and mental illness include: Journey Out of Nowhere by Nancy Covert Smith; Personhood: The Art of Being Fully Human, by Leo Buscaglia; Treating the Homeless: Urban Psychiatry’s Challenge, by Billy Jones, M.D.; When the Mental Patient Comes Home, by George Bennett; When Someone You Love Has A Mental Illness, by Rebecca Woolis.