John MacArthur Denies Mental Illness: Says ‘There Is No Such Thing’ as PTSD, OCD & ADHD

Speaking recently at a church conference, renowned author and pastor-teacher John MacArthur told attendees that mental illness does not exist. He also suggested that children who take medication as a result of a mental health diagnosis become a “potential drug addict” or “potential criminal.”

“The biggest lie is that there is such a thing as mental illness,” MacArthur said during a Q&A session at the conference on April 20 at Grace Valley Church in Kingsburg, California. “Now this is not a new thing. You have Thomas Szasz back in the 1950s, who was a psychiatrist, writing a book about ‘The Myth of Mental Illness.’” (Szasz’s book was first published first in 1961.)

MacArthur continued: “There is no such thing as PTSD. There is no such thing as OCD. There is no such thing as ADHD. Those are good lies to give a reason, at the end of the day, to treat people. And Big Pharma is responsible for most of it. ”

MacArthur’s words came after Grace Church of the Valley Pastor Scott Ardavanis asked MacArthur why he wrote “The War on Children.”

“Children’s War” was originally intended to be published by Thomas Nelson. However, after Roys report (TRR) published publicly, revealing that MacArthur failed to protect victims of child abuse, and expelled a mother from the church for refusing to allow her abusive husband to return home, the agreement appears to be it ended. Other Christian publishers also rejected the book, so in March, MacArthur published the book through his ministry.

The 84-year-old pastor spoke briefly about the “sinful nature” of children and how the entertainment industry has “targeted children.” Then he talked about the book, “Profession Without Reason” by Bruce Levine. “It is a book that clearly shows – this will surprise some of you – that the mind and the mind are finally believing the beautiful lies it has been telling for the last hundred years.”

MacArthur, whose doctorate is in theology, spoke about post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, which public health officials report is more common among veterans. the military more than the general public.

“Take PTSD, for example,” MacArthur said. “What it is, is grief. You are fighting a war. You have lost your friends. You have a certain amount of survivor’s guilt because you gave back (and) they didn’t. How do you deal with grief? Grief is real. But grieving is part of life.”

In a statement to TRRclinical psychologist Philip Monroe, challenged MacArthur’s claims.

“This is the old argument that says because you don’t see PTSD on the slide, it doesn’t exist,” Monroe said. But he still wants to call PTSD grief. Well, show me sorry on the slide? You can’t. In both cases, you can show many symptoms. ”

MacArthur added: “If you can’t deal with grief, you can’t live life. But when you explain that you can give them a pill, a series of drugs, and they end up in LA, homeless on the street. ”

Dr. Monroe disputed these claims. “(MacArthur) suggests that the only way to get the disease is to take medication,” Monroe said. TRR. “Yes, sometimes medicine can help. But most people with this disease do not take much medicine.”

‘Scary’ advice for parents, says psychologist

MacArthur returned to children, the subject of his book. He said:

“The most deadly thing introduced to children (is) medicine. We try to make it clear to parents that behavior is a result of the choices that children make. And if you parent well, they will make the right decisions.

But if you blame it on something other than their choice, and make them realize they have something they can’t do but use – you’re turning your child into a fountain. what can be, not only a drug addict, but also. maybe they can become criminals because they have never learned how to lead life in a socially acceptable way.”

After watching what MacArthur had to say, Dr. Monroe called the pastor’s diagnosis “horrifying.”

“It’s almost a crime to say that kids who take medication turn them into criminals or drug addicts,” Monroe said. “Of course, he can back that up with evidence, can’t he? Or that taking medication makes you homeless. The lack of logic and statistics is alarming.”

X user Shaun Jones said that MacArthur’s view of parenthood troubled him greatly. In one clip that included MacArthur’s statement about mental illness, he added, “If you parent (the kids) right they will make the right decisions.”

Jones likened MacArthur’s claim to the gospel of prosperity. “Obviously parents should strive to train their children well, but this guarantee of ‘doing A+B to get a C’ is bs.”

As previously reported by TRRMacArthur terminated the elders from the ministry because of the wayward children.

However, last year, when MacArthur’s son, Mark MacArthur, was charged with defrauding clients in a $16 million financial scheme and agreed to pay more than $367,000 to the SEC, MacArthur did not he let himself go.

‘Zero understanding’

Christian leaders and writers have strongly criticized the words of John MacArthur.

Reverend Steve Camp placed to X, “I love my brother John MacArthur . . . but his decisions here are incredibly unwise, ill-informed and unbiblical.”

Alan Noble, Christian author and professor at Oklahoma Baptist University, said: “This is denying the truth, dangerous, arrogant, and destructive. Shame on you. Christians who believe in the Truth should not spread lies.”

This is false, dangerous, arrogant, and destructive. Shame on you. Christians who believe the Truth should not spread lies.

— 𝐎. 𝐀𝐥𝐥𝐧 𝐍𝐨𝐛𝐥𝐞 (@TheAlanNoble) May 1, 2024

Abby Johnson, a health activist who left her former role at Planned Parenthood, speak about his experience recently when he got his doctorate. “John MacArthur just announced that he doesn’t understand anything about PTSD or any other mental health illness.”

He added: “I have my degree in Christian counseling and anyone reading this who is struggling, this is NOT the truth. This is NOT what Jesus wants for you. He wants a healthy and whole life for you. of your mind, your body, and your soul. That often involves medication. . . .

Best-selling author Beth Moore accused “aging” in response to a video clip shared online.

“I’ve had several serious conversations with my daughters and my board about my public voice in my old age when the filters are naturally thinner and we’re more vulnerable to speaking out than we should.” we should talk,” he said. Please love and respect him enough to filter what should be published and what should not be published.

She noted her family’s experience with these issues: “There is no way she could know, for example, what my husband endured in the fire with his brother when he was a small child and watched him burn in disbelief that reality is real. PTSD. “

MacArthur’s friend defends MacArthur

However, Phil Johnson, executive director of MacArthur’s Grace To You Ministries and elder of MacArthur’s Grace Community Church, defended his boss.

“John MacArthur has a long, long, long history of finally being proven when he took positions that went against the popular narrative,” Johnson said.

He continued: “MacArthur’s (sic) position is NOT that depression, mental confusion, confusion, sadness, etc., do not exist, but that it does not help to call them “diseases” and pretend they are curable. drugs or psychotherapy.”

Johnson concluded by saying: “MacArthur does not have this opinion alone or without reason. JM’s view is not very different from that of psychiatrist Thomas Szasz, who detailed it in his 60-year-old book, ‘The Myth of Mental Illness.’

Several responses called Johnson’s defense inadequate.

Mark West, a worker from Batesville, Arkansas, said: “As a Christian, an SBC minister who also works for the Mental Health community, I can honestly say that this teaching is unscriptural and does not help the body.”

“It’s like an eye that says it doesn’t need hands. It is ignorant and divisive.”

An example of harming the vulnerable

In the early 1980s, GCC was sued by the parents of someone who committed suicide after receiving Bible counseling at GCC. The case was eventually dismissed. But at the time, GCC leaders said the church would change its counseling training programs.

However, last year, the Association of Certified Biblical Counselors (ACBC) removed the pastor of MacArthur’s Grace Community Church (GCC) as an accredited counselor of ACBC.

Pastor, Bill Shannon, oversees the Bible counseling ministry at GCC. And ACBC’s move comes after many victims of abuse say the GCC has a dangerous way of protecting abusers and harming victims.

It also came later TRR reported that MacArthur publicly fired former member, Eileen Gray, for refusing to return her child abuser husband, David Gray.

The following story about TRR revealed that even after David Gray was convicted in 2005 of sexually abusing his children, MacArthur and the GCC continued to shun Eileen and support David.

TRR also published a special story about Paul Guay, a former GCC pastor. According to an eyewitness, Guay admitted to MacArthur in 1979 that he molested his daughter, Wendy Guay. However MacArthur retained Paul Guay at GCC, calling him “a loyal part of our staff” in a letter obtained by TRR.

Decades later, Wendy Guay wrote to MacArthur, pleading with him to help expose her father, who was still a shepherd, as a babysitter. MacArthur refused and responded in an email, “I’m not sure why all this has come as a surprise to you after so many years.”

MacArthur has not responded to TRR’s repeated requests for comment on its handling of the Paul Guay or David Gray cases.

In addition, MacArthur’s The Master’s University and Seminary (TMUS) has videos uploaded to its YouTube channel where John Street, chair of the graduate biblical counseling program at TMUS, teaches that a spouse should to endure abuse as a missionary endures persecution.

“The victim of abuse is the first to reach out and change the abuser,” Street said in the speech.

Josh Shepherd is a reporter and production editor. Julie Roys is the founder and editor of The Roys Report.