December 11, 2016 | David F. Coppedge

Don't Be a Snowflake

Psychologists find that people willing to face spiritual challenges have better mental health.

Snowflakes, safe zones, micro-aggressions – we’ve all heard these new vocabulary words. Instead of preparing students for the real world, many universities are shielding them from anything that might make them feel uncomfortable. Most recently, left-leaning students had cry rooms where they could play with coloring books and try to comfort one another after the election of Donald Trump (these are young adults, mind you; see WND report).

By shielding students from conflict, universities may not be working in students’ best interest, say some psychologists.

Fear of confronting the tensions and conflicts brought on by existential concerns—the “big questions” of life—is linked with poorer mental health, including higher levels of depression, anxiety and difficulty regulating emotions, according to a new Case Western Reserve University study.

“Religious and spiritual struggles—conflicts with God or religious people, tough questions about faith, morality, and the meaning of life—these are often taboo topics, and the temptation to push them away is strong,” said Julie Exline, professor of psychological sciences at Case Western Reserve and co-author of the research.

“When people avoid these struggles, anxiety and depression tend to be more intense than if they faced these struggles head-on.”

Here’s a good therapy: read Creation-Evolution Headlines daily, where we deal with the big issues of life. We take on religious, philosophical and scientific controversies daily. Make it a citizen-science clinical trial and tell us if your mental health improves.

God knows what He is doing by bringing discouragement, discomfort, and pain into our lives sometimes. According to Hebrews 12:4-13, God trains us like a loving father, chastening us for our good. He makes us strong, able to take some heat without melting.

 

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