We all have pain and we want the pain to stop, but the pain is telling us something. What if we could identify the pain and stop the suicide slide? It’s pain and we want it to stop. It could be physical pain from body ailments, but it could […]
Mental Illnesses
23 posts
Having a Mental Illness can mean you feel very alone, but does being a Christian mean that you’re somehow on the outside? I wouldn’t have noticed it at the time, but a few years ago, I began to look at the shaping influences that happened in my early life, particularly […]
Emotional pain can bump our lives into behaviors that can hurt us further. But we can make a change by learning to listen to the pain, where it’s sourced, and what it wants us to do. He was in pain. I could see it, feel it, and totally understand it. […]
There are times we feel stress, but there is the hope of reassurance when we meditate on some Bible verses. One of my favorite bible characters was someone who seemed to need consistent reassurance when under stress. He was anxious, unsure, and seemed to want to argue with God. I […]
Yes, there is ‘Sin in my life’ but there is more going on than simplistic hurtful black and white thinking. We need to grow in grace Let’s crack the whip a bit louder against the soul. It’s always saddening when you hear the story of someone who believes their […]
The darkest valley can become a suffocating tomb, a hole that feels impossible to dig oneself out of, but with the help of others, a step can be made, and light can shine again. Recently I went to see ‘Tolkien,’ a movie about the author J.R.R. Tolkien who wrote classics […]
Agoraphobia had gripped Patsy Clairmont to the point where all she could manage was to make it to her neighborhood grocery store and safely home again. With grunt work and grace, Patsy discovered recovery. She shares with us some of her story. I was a mopey child, a sad teenager, […]
I can hear you yawning from here. Not another Prison Cell Story. The thing is, there is nowhere you can go in a Prison Cell. It is only you, 4 walls and a window with bars. You could turn the radio up really loud but that only lasts for so […]
Women have a God-given beauty within them that, when squashed and sullied, grows a depression. When we discover God’s view of what is beautiful, then hope can blossom in a seemingly barren field. She was 1.52m (5ft) high, never applied any makeup, no fancy hairstyle, diamond earrings, or expensive gowns. […]
Underneath the depression of a male is a feeling of being impotent and weightless. The man has lost connection with his potency, and the spirit has been crushed. ‘Have I made a difference’? and ‘Has my life mattered?’ are two questions that sit behind the stage curtain of many men’s […]
When God says ‘don’t be anxious’ it’s not a command it’s an invitation to grow closer in trust. We see a small corner of the picture, but God sees the whole. I was living in the sense of dread. I didn’t know what the next day would bring, and my […]
When you don’t want to wake up the next morning, pray that God may gently wake you up to the goodness happening all around you. Then soak yourself in it. Take it in and let it mindfully grow throughout your soul. Last week I was out doing some garden work […]
Ever feel like you’re all of a sudden gasping for air? Heartbeat racing out of control? Breaking out in a cold sweat? Or, clenching your teeth so hard you feel like your jaw might lock in place? These can be effects of social anxiety. More importantly, I have friends, acquaintances, […]
Overwhelming emotions can take you to where you want to die. It’s what happens when it all becomes too much for us mere humans to handle, and so we pray, ‘God, I want to die.’ The other day, I watched a news reporter standing in a stream swollen with water […]
It’s always hard to confront someone with your concerns about their mental health. Failing to do so maybe an act of collusion. Speaking the truth in love is what we need to do. Sometimes you’ve got to have the hard word. To say things that you wish you didn’t need to. Who […]
No one likes being truly honest about the reality of a Mental Illness. Progress happens when we get real and learn to understand what truly is going on. John had been to see the psychologist for some personality tests for upcoming career changes. When the psychologist just dropped into the […]
It’s the covert way that male depression hides that makes it scary. The blind spot that men can get taken out by. Men need ‘listening’ friends where they feel safe enough to tell their stories. It was like a fog was being lifted off around my brain. I was able […]
Do you think mental illness is God’s way of forcing us to slow down and change our behavior or is it the Devil messing with our minds? I recently received this question from one of the readers It’s an interesting question and one that I think has many questions under the question. […]
You don’t know what you don’t know, and if you’re mentally unwell, this unawareness can be huge. Well, that is kind of obvious, but actually, there are times when you look back over your life and wish that you knew then what you know now. Now I’m not talking about […]
If I were to describe my anxiety, as a doctor might, it might go something like this: “An overactive nervous condition when the brain predicts and over predicts and attempts to problem- solve with or without the victim’s consent and many times without concern of her best interests.” Lisa Delay Anxiety–it can race […]