Was Mother Teresa Depressed? A Look at Catholic Configurations of Depression and Holiness in View of Mental Health Stigma

Abstract

Abstract When the 2007 publication of Mother Teresa’s private papers revealed her struggles with sadness, despair, and the absence of God, some asked: Was Mother Teressa depressed? This essay analyzes some Catholic responses to this question and argues that they reflect and perpetuate mental health stigma. Furthermore, these commentaries contribute to mental health stigma in a distinctly Christian fashion by casting depression and holiness as mutually exclusive. In response, the essay draws on Pope Francis’s Gaudete et exsultate to correct the impoverished notion of holiness that underpins this expression of mental health stigma in Catholic and other Christian communities.