recovery

I’m so thankful for God’s mercy upon me. Many things could have turned tragic but He delivered me from them all. He pulled me out of situations where my faith would suffer or my values would be compromised. And He allowed my personal mistakes to turn out for the greater good.

There is hope for recovery and healing no matter what mental health issues you find yourself in. But it may require you to seek out professional help. To tell someone who is trained to help you understand your personal struggles and put your past into perspective.

Healing will likely require proper medication prescribed by a doctor. And adhering to the restrictions that come with the prescription. To stay on it and talk to your doctor about side effects or ongoing struggles so they can adjust the doses.

Support from family and friends is also vital for recovery. If you don’t have that or have burned those bridges then a support group in a professional setting can be helpful.

And also finding a church that allows you to be honest about your mental health issues is essential. There are churches and people who believe faith and prayer are all you need for healing. I tried that and ended up in worse condition.

I have found that my faith in God has been strengthened throughput my many years of struggles. I have learned to lean into Him during especially trying times, to trust my health care professionals and to be honest with my support system and ask for help.

I’m here to tell that you that you can manage your mental health condition and live a normal life. You will struggle however. Likely in times of personal loss, unexpected changes and fractures in relationships.

It’s important to learn to read your emotions and test your responses. To seek counseling to get you through those difficult times. And just as importantly, not to turn to unhealthy ways of escape including substances.

I’ve struggled with my mental health most of my life. I had a complete breakdown in 2003 and was hospitalized. But God and all of the above have helped me keep on the path to a good life.

There is hope.

Week 2 of my Journey out of the Pit

Last week I shared insights from my Christian counselor. When I was in the pit of depression, the truths that I learned were the rungs that helped me climb my way out of the pit.

I first had to recognize that what I believed about myself was not the truth about me.

In one session, my counselor was trying to print something and had to change the default printer to a different one. She said that it was similar to what takes place in my thought process.

My “default” feelings:

Blaming myself when something goes wrong

Thinking that everything bad that happens is my fault.

Feeling that I am not worth anything or a bother to someone else.

Believing that I am less ____ than anyone else

Harboring resentment

Feeling guilty for past sins or mistakes

To find healing from the depression, I needed to let go of these thoughts. I needed to learn to Stop, to Catch my Thought, and to Change the Default.

Replace the negative thoughts with the truths about who I am. (See Previous Post: Climbing Out of Depression: Key Steps to Healing).

Phillipians 4:8 gives us an illustration about the things we as Christians are to think about:

⁸Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.

Remember, our feelings affect our thoughts, and our thoughts influence our actions.

Often times I feel like people don’t like me, or I did something dumb and they now think poorly of me. My thoughts turn against me, telling me that I’m a bad person or I’m unlovable.

When I think like that, I turn inward and pull away from people who care about me or stop going to the places where the events happened.

I am my own worst enemy. But my feelings are not facts.

A few of the facts about me are:

I’m not dumb.
I am who I am because that’s how God made me
I’m okay the way I am.
I’m not like everyone else.
I might have made a bad choice but that does not make me a bad person.

When we catch ourselves in a negative thought, we can turn it around and replace it with a positive truth, or affirmation. We can learn to change the default thought.

No one can do this for us. We can only do this for ourselves, and by the grace of God.

I’m not suggesting that this is easy. In fact, it’s very hard to change the way we’ve thought about ourselves for so long.

We need to take this healing process one step at a time. One day at a time.

Don’t look at a week, a month, or a year.

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Finding Hope in Mental Health Recovery

Finding Truth in Your Thoughts: Steps to Healing