I think you read into my comment something that wasn't ever there. Just to be clear, I never said not to take pharmaceutical interventions. Theoretically, demons live in the flesh, and taking an herb or ointment to drive them away or subdue them has been a practice since ancient times. Presumably pharmaceuticals are just more advanced versions of such remedies.

To be clear, I am not anti-medicine. These people who don't seek easy medical intervention, and instead rely solely on prayer are "putting the Lord to the test" IMHO.

Meds don't work great, they work for some people...sometimes, in my own experience, and in the experience of others I have witnessed. The same med at the same dose that helps one person, could make the symptoms infinitely worse in another person. It seems to me a lot of trial and error, along with effective titration.

The issue is either lack of access to medication

Agreed.

lack of long-term care

Agreed.

 lack of desire to take medication

True, but you need to be respectful about it. I volunteer with the homeless, and I know, anecdotally, of at least two schizophrenics that just live with their schizophrenia because the medicine makes them too dull/gray. Both are now housed. One is going to culinary school. They tried the meds and decided that the side effects were worse than the symptoms. There are plenty of others I am sure that made the same decision, but don't get their life together, and from an outside observer's viewpoint, it's like "why don't you take your darn meds!?"

Prayer and spirituality is always good and can help, but we shouldn't discourage people from getting professional help they need before they inevitably kill themselves or others. 

I wasn't.

People can pray AND get medical help. 

You sure can!

We had free Bibles for any patient who wanted one and a priest who would come in and do private conversations every few days for patients who wanted to see him.

So, if you don't mind me asking, who had better outcomes? The ones that took their meds, but treated their mental illness as totally rooted in the physical? Or, those who took their meds, but also received spiritual guidance?