1,500 ministers every month drop out of the ministry.

Every year, nearly 6,000 Southern Baptist ministers fall by the wayside, victims of either burnout, depression, marital problems and even suicide.

Another 1,200 are fired. But in reality, those numbers could be higher. The stigma attached to psychological problems forces many pastors to suffer in silence. But it's not just the Southern Baptists.

Ministers of all denominations wrestle with similar problems. A 1997 survey by Barna Research Group of 601 Protestant clergy concluded that:

38 percent say burnout is the greatest danger to them and their families;

80 percent name isolation as the major problem they face;

37 percent admit to marital infidelity.

Another 80 percent think their jobs have a negative effect on their families.