Comments on: Mental illness and the church

By: bipolar people

bipolar people — Tue, 21 Sep 2010 19:40:45 +0000

Having BD is exhausting!

By: mom

mom — Tue, 21 Sep 2010 07:54:04 +0000

I have a 25 year old son that was diagnosed Bipolar in jail. He has always been a handful and reading this only confirms to me that the diagnosis is not yet quiet right. He seems to have no sense of consequences. Never did. He likes to do drugs. I suspect to numb the feeling of not ever being able to manage what the rest of us do daily. I am very concerned what the future will bring. I don’t see help from any source I have any control of. We paid countless counselors to help and they were never able to conclude much. I find him dangerous to be around. He financially terrorizes my husband and I, constantly stealing, destroying or pawning our belongings. He uses are credit cards whenever he finds one and will even use our credit card bills to charge things just to make bills for us. While most of these actions happened when he was younger and he assures me he has changed he is do to get out of jail next April and I am terrified. As a parent I want to help him. I just know I can’t. Now he is a felon, and in today’s market when most people can’t find work how does a felon get a job. Without one how is he supposed to eat? I am so lost and confused.

By: helen

helen — Tue, 14 Sep 2010 23:24:48 +0000

Hi Mike, my name is Helen. I suffered with bipolar most of my adult life, even though I did not know that’s what was wrong. Now I live with it. I’m a minister of the gospel and I’m now ready to share my testimony with other believers. My goal is to share what my life was like before treatment and my faith. The process to getting where I am now which is hole and set free,still with bepolar. And how I continue to live hole and free.Do you have any sujustions how I can introduce the topic It’s No Secrect to my church. They are still in the erea of casting demons out of people as the only methed of healing mental illness.

By: Diane E.

Diane E. — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 03:21:52 +0000

Wow, reading all of these posts has been extremely helpful for me. Thank all of you and thanks to our loving and gracious Savior God. Blessings, Diane (:D)

By: Sharon

Sharon — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 23:16:14 +0000

John I feel your pain. I was diagnosed bipoloar many years ago. My meds have been changed several times and I question why they dont leave well enough alone when I say they work. Anyway. I have been married for 30 years and have 3 boys 18 25 26. The youngest still at home the middle one moved in with his girlfriend and has been here a few months. There are many negative issues happening which has been very difficult to deal with . I put on a happy face and go out only when I have to. I feel like the life is being sucked out. I seem to attract people who need help and want advice. Not bad but I dont have boundries and this triggered ptss. Do any of your kids seem to suffer with depression? How do they deal with your illness? I too am a christian but that doesnt make us bad people. We have an illness. I know many people feel we can wish it away but we know differently. When Im having a panic attic or feel so overwhelmed I pray for strength and peace. I do take meds for this too but prayer helps. By the way my spouse is one of the ones who doesnt understand me. Someone suggested the book Blessed with Bipolar by Richard Jarzynka. sounds like a good read. Ill pray for peace and strength for you.

By: Jay

Jay — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 19:54:28 +0000

Hi Friends,

I too am a Christian believer of many years and have dealt with depression and anxiety in my life more than a few times at severe levels. This “thorn” we have can really be used to help others who are confused over their emotional challenges. It is not a weakness, but something you can feel reconciled with in having it a part of your life. My pastor has been very helpful and has prayed with me several times. He supports outside psychological therapy and also medication when a physician recommends it. Through these I’ve been able to manage my depression and come out of it, as well. Mine has been believed to be situational depression triggered by certain long term stresses but having definitely the same symptoms of clinical depression.

We need to be aware though as believers that Satan will use depression or anxiety to attempt to convince you that you are no longer “faithful” enough or do not trust or love God enough. When you are very down, your mind is more susceptible to this lie, and it requires we know the Word of God to speak it to Satan aloud to rebuke his attack.

“For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds; casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity very thought to the obedience of Christ”

2 Corinthians 10:4-5

When we do this regulary and not pay attention to his lies or our own imaginations, the feeling of being depressed or anxious is not as scary anymore. We know we are saved and still His children, despite what our mind is going through at the time. This is a refining process I believe that grows our faith further even when it looks like we’re not productive or fruitful at the time in our Christian life.

Hope this helps all the brothers and sisters out there struggling with mental illness. You’re not crazy or weak simply because you suffer from depression or anxiety.

With love in Jesus Christ,
Jay

By: Lura

Lura — Tue, 04 May 2010 16:09:48 +0000

I am a Christian with Bipolar Disorder. I have been in treatment for many years, and have had many hospitalizations. Some treatments I have had include ECT electroconvulsive Therapy (Shock Treatments). I’ve prayed for the Lord to take this affliction away. I’ve been told I was weak in spirit and weak in mind. Nothing could be further from the truth. People I have known, and I have known many, who have mental illnesses are some of the strongest people I know. They, in many cases, have survived horrible childhoods, abuse, sanctions by the church–it’s abhorent how we are sometimes treated.

I said “I use to pray” that the Lord would heal me, but after coming back time and time again to Paul, who had some affliction he prayed to have alleviated, I changed my pray. Now I pray that the Lord will give me strength to endure the problem. That strenght comes from myself, but also from a loving family, a wonderful therapist, medication–the whole gamet. But it comes from the Lord especially, who has placed within my life the means to handle this. He has not abandoned me. I was just being a petulant child saying, “make me better, make me better.” All I needed to do was change my prayer and work. Work harder than at anything else in my life–except in my relationship with Him.

There is halp out there and the Church should be helping those who suffer from these diseases. It’s time to get rid of, as one person put it, the gnostic ideas about severation of body, mind, and spirit. It’s time to elimate the Medievil mindset. It no wonder many people suffer in silence or leave the Church when suffering with mental illness. I have a wonderful pastor, who is actually on my “call list” if I get into trouble. That’s what we need more of.

By: Regina

Regina — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 00:22:05 +0000

I was in college when I first encountered depression. Though they did not know what was totally going on, it was great to know that my friends were there for me and cared about me. It is extremely hard going through it. You are aware that you are there for her. Don’t condemn her. You may think of her and look at her weirdly…this is normal because u just don’t understand. Let her know that this too will pass. And let her know that its okay for her to take meds if necessary. Just be careful, and let her know that everyone doesn’t have to know.

By: Michelle Engmann

Michelle Engmann — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 03:16:19 +0000

Andy:
It was good to be able to read your article on depression. I am 61 years old, and diagnosed with manic depression at 7 years old. I was not raised in a Christian home; however, in my desperate need, I committed my life to Jesus in 1974. In my observation, the “church” does not accept depression in believers holding the thought that Christians should be able to easily overcome mental illness. Though I have been involved in ministry over the years, I spend much time in a despairing, solitary place in my life because other brothers and sisters in Christ are not able to accept that “depression in a Christian’s life can be a real fact”. It feels, in a sense, as Paul’s “thorn in the flesh”. Since I have experienced much emotional hurt throughout my life, I am in the process of writing my second book, In The Valley, hoping it will encourage other believers who also suffer with an often debilitating depressed state of mind. I am hopeful that in eternity, we will know a completeness of the ‘joy of our Lord’ we do not experience here. Again, thank you for your written insight.
Michelle

By: Anne

Anne — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 00:19:23 +0000

To jb- you describe exactly how I feel – the helplessness, the desperation, the despair of being chronically depressed. It is such an effort to carry on from day to day. Alot of times I feel like I am the walking dead. No amount of effort or will on my part seems to shift it.
Nobody else really understands unless you’ve been there. I am tired of fighting. If this be God’s will, so be it.