As a pastor and shepherd of souls, you’re committed to caring for others. But who looks after you? Do you make time to nurture your mental well-being? And what does that even look like?

The difficulties faced by the clergy are well documented. Long hours and increased responsibilities, the potential for loneliness, the high expectations that you have for your own ministry and that others place on you, piled on top of the ongoing public fallout from various scandals, present unique challenges to your life satisfaction and mental health as a priest.

But there is good news. Research suggests that the mental health picture for clergy is, overall, quite positive.

Less Burnout, More Resilience

Msgr. Stephen J. Rosetti, a psychologist and author, has studied psychological trends in the priesthood for more than 30 years. A study he conducted, described in his book “Priesthood in a Time of Crisis” (Ave Maria, 2023), found that the rates of depression, anxiety and somatization disorders (i.e., physical complaints related to psychological stress) among clergy are actually consistent with the frequency of these problems in the general population.

About 20% of all people will be diagnosed with depression in their lifetime, and another 20% will be diagnosed with anxiety-related disorders. The fact that this same frequency can be found among clergy is certainly a concern. Nevertheless, it’s interesting that, despite the additional pressures placed on priests, the mental health outlook for clergy is consistent with that of people from many other life paths.

Rosetti’s research reports even more positive findings related to burnout. Think of burnout as work minus meaning. The less meaning you perceive in your work, roles or relationships, the more likely it is that you will find yourself going through the motions, getting less and less perceived benefit from those areas of your life. Burnout can be both a contributor to, and an early warning sign of, mental health problems.

Fortunately, Rosetti’s research finds that priests exhibit relatively low rates of burnout compared to the general population. They also seem to have higher rates of resilience, the measure of a person’s “bouncebackability.” Resilience tends to predict the likelihood that someone will be resistant to mental health problems in the first place, and how quickly he would expect to recover from a mental health crisis if it did occur.

Mental Health First Aid

Despite these positive findings, burnout and mental health challenges are not foreign to the priesthood. It’s helpful to understand the simple, daily steps you can take to increase your resilience. It’s equally important to know some basic mental health first aid if you start to notice early warning signs of depression, anxiety or the physical manifestations of stress.

Dr. Daniel Siegel is a psychiatrist, author and director of the Mindful Awareness Research Center at UCLA. A pioneer

in understanding what constitutes good mental health, Siegel argues that good mental health represents the ability to navigate the metaphorical river that flows between the banks of chaos on one side and rigidity on the other. Most mental health disorders are characterized either by a sense of chaos or a locked-in feeling of rigidity.

Using the metaphor of good nutrition, Siegel has developed a framework called the Healthy Mind Platter to describe the daily habits that can help any person stay the course between the two extremes of chaos and rigidity. He identifies seven activities one must put on one’s daily plate to maintain good mental health and prevent mental health challenges.

The more you engage in the seven habits on the Healthy Mind Platter, the more resistant you will be to mental health problems and more quickly you are apt to bounce back should you experience a mental health challenge. I describe the seven habits below, and offer a brief self-assessment exercise intended to help increase your ability to exercise each habit.

Assessing Your Risk

Your experience of this exercise can give you a sense of how well you are attending to your mental health overall. As Msgr. Rosetti explains, “Priests who like what they do, have a good spiritual life, good self-esteem and good friends are unlikely to burn out.” Attending to the Healthy Mind Platter in your daily life facilitates this.

If you find that you are struggling to consistently make time for three or more components of the Healthy Mind Platter, particularly if your efforts to improve them on your own aren’t working, that could be an indication that you are at greater risk for mental health problems and could benefit from professional coaching or counseling, even if you aren’t actively aware of being depressed, anxious or stressed.

Revisit the Healthy Mind Platter exercise periodically, perhaps during the more reflective seasons of Advent and Lent. Use this framework to help you discover ways to continue growing in resilience and strengthening your overall sense of well-being. 

The Healthy Mind Platter

Focus Time

When you take a goal-focused approach to the tasks of your day, you bring your whole self to bear on an activity. That allows your brain to complete tasks more efficiently and process your experience more completely — which increases your ability to learn, be productive and experience your life as meaningful.

• What practices help me focus more completely when working on tasks?
• What is one thing that might help me focus better?

Playtime

Play is serious business for mental health. When you take a little time each day to play — defined as making time to be spontaneous and creative and experience new things — you challenge your brain to keep growing and forming new neural connections. This facilitates intelligence and adaptability.

• When have I displayed spontaneity, creativity or openness to new experiences today?
• How might I make more opportunities to be more spontaneous, creative, or open a new experience in my daily life?

Connecting Time

Making time to check in with people you care about and do something to foster strong, healthy relationships is a huge factor in maintaining both mental and physical health. Research shows that people with strong connections to others are not only at lower risk for depression, anxiety and somatization problems, they also have stronger immune systems and lower inflammatory responses and experience greater longevity. In fact, studies show that having healthy relationships is a bigger contributor to longevity and health than even exercising or losing weight.

• How did I make a meaningful connection with someone today?
• What is one small thing I could do daily to remind myself to make a meaningful connection with someone I care about?

Physical Time

Physical time refers to making time to engage in activities that get your heart pumping and your circulation moving so that your brain can receive the nutrients and oxygen it needs to function at its best.

• What physical activities do I do every day that get my blood pumping in a healthy way?
• What is one small thing I could do every day to get my heart rate up?

Time In

By making time to pray, reflect and contemplate, you give your brain time to process the events of the day, learn from experiences, manage stressful events and make plans for your growth and development.

• How did I make time to reflect today?
• What is one small thing I could do daily to reflect on my day and listen to the Holy Spirit?

Downtime

When you take time to putter around, sit (without screens), let your mind wander a bit, imagine or dream, you give your brain the space it needs to recharge.

• When did I make time to just sit, dream and imagine today?
• What is one small thing I could do to “waste” a little time every day?

Sleeptime

By getting adequate rest, you give your brain the time it needs to rest, recover from the ups and downs of the day, and integrate the things you’ve experienced throughout the day more efficiently.

• What helps me sleep well and feel rested when I wake?
• What is one small thing I could do to improve my sleep?

GREG POPCAK, Ph.D., is a pastoral counselor, author, radio host and founder of CatholicCounselors.com.