Right now it's Mental Health Awareness Month, so it's a good time to look at ways to improve our mental health. I had a chance to interview therapist Jo Hargreaves on behalf of Glorify, a faith-based app which has high-profile investors such as Michael Buble, Kris Jenner and the Kardashians, which is launching a month-long Thought For The Day series focusing on the crossover between therapy and theology.
What are some factors that contribute to increased rates of mental health conditions?
There are many factors involved in mental health conditions, including trauma, neglect, discrimination and a huge factor over the last two years has been social isolation and loneliness. Scripturally and neurobiologically we are not designed to be on our own, that is not where we thrive. So it is no wonder that over the past two years we have seen a sharp rise in anxiety and depression with the WHO reporting a 25% worldwide rise in anxiety and depression alone.
The Glorify app offers content that is designed to address these relevant topics and to answer some of the big questions that people are asking, around life, wellness and mental health. Central to our thinking with the content we create is that we must take a holistic approach to mental health, considering our bodies, souls and our spirits.
Why is it important for Christians to have faith-based tools for mental health conditions?
Firstly the evidence shows us that there is an appetite amongst Christians for faith based tools for tackling mental health. It is wonderful that over 4.5 million Christians across the globe have downloaded the Glorify app and are interacting with it throughout their day. There has historically and even now been an element of stigma and shame around mental health, perhaps particularly in Christian communities. Genesis 1 shows us that when we feel shame our first response is to hide from God, just like Adam and Eve did in the garden. But I believe God wants to enter right into this mental health conversation and remind us that wholeness and shalom are found in Him. Glorify is an app that facilitates connection with God as well as offering great techniques and practices that people can integrate into their faith and into their everyday life.
How do theology and therapy fit together?
This is one of the unique qualities of the Glorify App in that not only does it beautifully bring together the topics of therapy and theology, but it gives the users Biblically sound techniques. These techniques such as breathwork, practicing gratitude and becoming mindful are designed to address anxiety, stress and depression. Glorify is intentional about informing our users as to how to increase their general sense of wellbeing, body, soul and spirit in a way that brings together scripture and science and therapy and theology.
Throughout The Bible we see many examples of mindfulness and meditation as well as managing your thought life and renewing your mind. The content on the Glorify App addresses topics that are relevant and current and addresses them through a scriptural lens. Science is always catching up with scripture and Glorify believes that God belongs right in the center of the mental health conversation.
Depression amongst USA adults tripled in the early stages of the global pandemic, jumping from 8.5 per cent to a staggering 27.8 per cent. Recent research from Boston University School of Public Health reveals that the elevated rate of depression has persisted, and even worsened, throughout the pandemic, climbing to 32.8 percent and affecting one in every three American adults.
Glorify, a faith-based app designed to help Christians strengthen their daily connection with God, is supporting Mental Health Awareness Month by launching a month-long Thought For The Day series focusing on the crossover between therapy and theology.
The Thought for the Day series is an established category and one of the top-performing content areas of the Glorify app, making it the perfect medium to engage and inspire Glorify’s users. The 60-second recordings are designed to fit easily into a daily routine and feed the mind and spirit with positive words of encouragement and insight.
It’s not just North America where the mental health crisis is growing. A survey conducted by Glorify amongst 1,200 Argentinians revealed 90.8 per cent of participants suffered from either stress, anxiety, insomnia or depression.
In the United Kingdom, the pandemic tipped an additional 60,000 secondary school children into clinical depression. In a new study, University College London (UCL) found that depressive symptoms such as low mood, loss of pleasure and poor concentration in adolescents increased by six per cent after Covid struck.
Glorify is available to download for free on iOS or Android. For more information on Glorify, its framework for faith, and notable users and partners, please visit www.glorify-app.com
About Glorify
Glorify is an app designed to help Christians strengthen their daily connection with God. The company was Co-Founded in 2020 by Ed Beccle and Henry Costa. Henry, the son of Ken Costa, a veteran investment banker and christian leader and who is also chairman of Glorify, understood the mass appeal of using technology to address the growing problem of anxiety and sleep, but believed there was room for something even more fulfilling from a Christian perspective. Knowing that many Christians had the desire to pray and create structure around their quiet time but often found themselves pressed for time or without the best resources at hand, they started Glorify, an app rooted in faith, to give Christians everywhere an easy path to creating a daily habit of connecting with God. Glorify was founded in 2020 and is headquartered in London, with offices around the globe.
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