Today many families are dealing with mental illnesses. Many would say that our nation has a mental health crisis. Even in my own family, I have a cousin who has paranoid schizophrenia and I have seen firsthand how that affects his family. As Christians sometimes we can have church leaders that give the impression that reading a few Bible verses will free us of mental illness, or if ask Jesus Christ into our lives that is a cure for mental illness.
While God’s grace is a necessity if you have mental illness in your family, God never promises that he will relieve us of pain and sickness, he only promises that he will never leave us nor forsake us. He will walk through our struggles with us.
Here are some Christian movies that deal with the topic of mental disorders.
Nefarious
I have the Blaze App and listen to the shows on there. That is where I first heard about the movie Nefarious. This is a psychological horror film. It might seem strange to put a horror movie in the Christian movie genre, but that is what this movie does.
There are some very interesting characters, and the entire film will have you trying to figure out if the main characters are evil or demon-possessed. The lead role of Dr. James Martin is interviewing a serial killer about to be executed. The question is asked, Is the prisoner sane enough for execution?
The prisoner claims to be a demon, but Martin’s foolish demand proves to be more than he expected. While the film is not an in-your-face Christian film, the entire movie shows a strong Christian worldview and depicts the battle between God and Satan’s demonic evil.
This is not a movie for children, some scenes with extreme violence would be disturbing for a younger audience. This is a Rated Christian movie.
Wonderful Life
You can’t have Christmas without the movie It’s a Wonderful Life. Most would not consider this a Christian film. This black-and-white classic film should be a Christmas tradition you never miss. Of all the Hollywood films that come out at Christmas this great film is one everyone knows about.
If you don’t know the story, George Bailey has suicidal ideation, and the Christmas season seems to be making it worse not better. We watch a flashback of George’s life as the angels talk about him. Clarence is George’s guardian angel and shows George what his town would have looked like if it weren’t for all of George’s good deeds throughout the years.
I can’t be the only person who never misses this movie when it is Christmas season. I am reminded of my own life, the people that have impacted me, and the people I have impacted. While this movie does talk about dark subject matters such as suicide, it does so in a way that makes the movie family-friendly.
Jesus Revolution
The movie – Jesus Revolution is known for the story of the life of Greg Laurie, one of the best preachers we have today. The movie also shows the mental health conditions of his mother. We see the coping mechanism she uses to stay in her son’s life.
In the 1970s, Greg Laurie and a sea of young people descended on sunny Southern California to redefine truth through all means of liberation. Greg is trying to survive living in a home with a single mother struggling with a mental disorder.
In trying to find the truth, Laurie meets a charismatic street preacher and a pastor who open the doors to a church to a stream of wandering youth. What unfolds is a counterculture movement that becomes the greatest spiritual awakening in American history.
The United States was changed by this movement that we have come to know as the Jesus Revolution.
This is a powerful true story that was a hit at the box office last year when it came out. At the end of the film, we see how the lives of the people unfolded including the mother of Greg.
Unbroken: Path to Redemption
I have a brother-in-law who returned from Afghanistan with PTSD. This has damaged his family to the point where he is no longer able to live at home. His struggles with mental health issues have made him unsafe for his family.
This is a good movie that shows a World War 2 vet named Louis Zamperini. He meets a young lady named Cynthia who he falls in love with and marries. But the panic attack he gets from his dreams brings him back to his horrifying experiences during the war.
This leads him into a downward spiral into dark thoughts. As much as he loves Cynthia, he is afraid his marriage is going to fall apart. But then he heard Billy Graham speak in 1949. This changes everything.
This Christian movie shows us the reality of PTSD during a time when people didn’t know what that was, the impact it had on people, and the anxiety disorders that come from a time at war.
A Soldier’s Kiss: A PTSD
Here is another movie that talks about PTSD.
In America, a soldier commits suicide almost every hour. Hear the genuine tales of courageous people battling PTSD for their lives. In this movie, the church is challenged to help our soldiers recover from PTSD. If you and your families are looking for a faith-based video that is educational this is the movie to watch.
This movie includes expert commentary on the symptoms and risks of PTSD as well as how you can support our warriors more effectively.
A Vow to Cherish
My grandmother died of Alzheimer’s disease. She was diagnosed when I was in high school and moved in with our family. I watched as her mind disappeared.
In the movie “A Vow to Cherish” we see a touching film that touches the true meaning of the words “til death does us part.” The Brightons, are a happily married couple, who have a prosperous business and a devoted elementary school teacher, Ellen.
This is the family that everyone would see as a model family. Everything seems status quo. But then tragedy strikes when Ellen learns she suffers from Alzheimer’s disease.
This diagnosis sends the family into a downward spiral. John’s business is struggling, and his son wants to take over. Terri faces her mother’s illness and lack of attention, and John’s faith is shattered. What we see is the necessity of family and the love of one another. A dysfunctional family will only make a tragedy much worse.
Our Rose Garden
One of the things I have taught my children is that love is a choice. You can’t just follow your heart. Every romantic comedy says to follow your heart and you can’t help who you fall in love with. Every TikTok video is telling our children the same thing.
But the reality is that we choose every day to love. There are days when we feel head over heels in love, and there are days when we choose to be in love.
The movie Our Rose Garden tells the story of two different couples who have to choose to be in love. One couple is dealing with infidelity while the other battling mental illness.
This movie shows us through a parallel that they both demonstrate that true love is more than just a sentiment; it’s a decision that calls for forgiveness and loyalty.
Change Over You
In recent years I have seen many of my friends search for meaning in their lives. Often when we hit middle age we can wonder if we are living up to the potential God created us to be. A few months ago, my mother passed away and that led me to question many of my life choices.
In the movie Change Over You, Sarah Goodall tries to understand her life, her purpose, and her faith after the death of her mother. As she questions her life choice she begins to suffer with emotions of shame and failure that send her spiraling deeper because she spent most of her adolescent years positioning herself to find a treatment for her mother’s disease.
Her life spirals downward. Her grades drop and might lose her scholarship. Then a transfer student comes into her life and brings her hope.
Undaunted
I love to read and listen to apologetic preachers. Josh McDowell is one of my favorites. It was a few years ago when I learned the story of Josh.
Josh was born into a cruel world and was driven by shame. His father’s alcoholism and abuse were something that Josh hid from the world. There was also childhood molestation that he was hiding from the world.
When you go through childhood trauma you will find yourself dealing with mental illness. As a young man Josh did not deal with his issues, he hid them from the world.
Josh was angry and he took his anger out on the Christians in college, mocking their beliefs and scorning their faith. But then in shock, when he was trying to prove Jesus Christ never existed, he found truth in their faith, leading to grace and redemption.
He then went into church ministry with Campus Crusade for Christ has allowed him to share the good news of his Savior with millions worldwide, and he has published over 120 books in Christian apologetics, including More Than a Carpenter and Evidence That Demands a Verdict. McDowell is living proof that a life can be transformed.
This is a movie about real people who survived childhood trauma and then found peace with God. This is a story about real life, and broken people living in the real world.
Beautifully Broken
When I was in junior high, I worked with a group that helped refugees. I saw firsthand the trauma that they faced. The movie Beautifully Broken tells the story of three families. In this encouraging true story of hope, a refugee’s escape, a prisoner’s pledge, and a daughter’s agonizing secret come together.
This is a story about freeing the next generation to make sure our children do not live with the outcome of the trauma we have dealt with in our own lives.
Jimmy
Jimmy is a movie about a young man who is handicapped and unable to communicate with others the way most people do. Jimmy’s father is a lawyer and asks him to testify in a court case. The movie shows the outcome of Jimmy’s testimony and the effects it has on his family.
While this is not a Christian movie, it is a movie that Christians can watch to help them understand the issues that families deal with when they have a different child than others.
I Can Only Imagine
Amy Grant and Tray Adkins both sing in this movie about the life of Bart Millard. I enjoy the music of Amy Grant, Tray Adkins, and Bart Millard are all musicians that I love.
In this movie, we hear the true story of Bart Millard’s father, Arthur, who mistreats him physically and psychologically as a child in Greenville, Texas. When Arthur learns that he is dying he searches for atonement by recommitting to his faith and rediscovering his love for his son, Bart.
Years later, as the lead vocalist of the Christian band MercyMe, Bart draws inspiration from his troubled upbringing and his repaired connection with his father to pen the popular song “I Can Only Imagine.”