Week 3, Barker Chapter 5

"In 1994, about 51 million Americans aged eighteen years and older were diagnosed with some form of mental illness" (Barker, p. 145). This stems from "family trauma" and "a loss of social and cultural connection". This idea jumped out to me as I read this chapter as the larger implications from our perspective seems to be how do we as a body respond to these staggering numbers? Barker suggests that "drugs and talk" are one of the ways we need to change brain biochemistry. But I responded to perhaps the less quantifiable idea that is presented in this chapter. The idea of how changes in our patterns of personal experience and changes in our thinking can alter our brain chemistry. I think that a large part of our mission is to discover where and how our Christian culture and secular culture intersect to create a cohesive and connecting culture.