Mental Illness and Christianity

[Guest]

Praying~!

[OldShep]

Abba Father, please hear my:

prayers, and my request for Encouragement for j102 and for you Lord to give j102 a spirit of boldness, to Trust in You God, that You will not give him anything that he can not handle.

Rom_15:5 May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you a spirit of unity among yourselves as you follow Christ Jesus,

I pray that God that you give him the understanding,that the church is but a group of sinners, people who are not perfect and will at times say things without thinking. I pray God that You will also give j102 the understanding and the Heart of Forgiveness to those who may say or do something that hurts him. Father God I also pray that You give him the strength to know that those other people may be just as scared of him as he is of them.

j102 my grandmother use to tell me not to be scared or fearful of making new friends, telling me that:

A stranger may only be a friend that you have not met yet.

Trust in God and He will guide you!

Rom_15:13 May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

In Jesus name, Amen

ICL Dennis

[j102]

to everyone who has prayed or try to encourage me, thanks and god bless all of you.

[glennagail]

I just wanted to post this topic to tell anybody here that may have a mental illness that they have a sympathetic ear in me. In today's world I consider mental illness to still be grossly misunderstood and feared unnecessarily. You can talk with me about anything you may think or have experienced and I will promise not to call you weird or make any assumptions about you based on the fact you have a mental illness.

I have bipolar myself and I know that to be a chemical imbalance in the brain. They like to say it's just like diabetes for instance because it is a physical illness, but people with mental illness know that isn't true because mental illness affects your physical perceptions.

If any of you have had negative experiences with people with a mental illness sorry about that but please don't generalize and assume that other people with mental illness are the same way.

So, if you consider yourself to be an intelligent and sensitive believer please don't call somebody weird or make them feel shunned if they choose to allow you the priviledge of hearing their experiences. If you can't handle what they are talking about in your own "normal" head just type "I can't handle what you're talking about it freaks me out" and they will surely have compassion upon you and quit talking about it.

Welcome to WB, and I agree with you 100 percent that mental illness is just as real as physical illness. There are a lot of Christians that will attack mental health professionals and tell those who have mental illness that any treatment outside of prayer is wrong, but I consider that nonsense. I am a firm believer in the power of God to heal, but I also believe that God is fine with us seeking out a physician when we are sick.

I'm 100% with you on this, too. And you guys can add me to the list, as I've lived with clinical depression my entire adult life. It's been under control for a while now, thanks to a combination of therapy and medication, and the grace of God. I can't remember how many times I've personally witnessed Christians display disdain at the idea of some if not all mental illness. My "favorite" line was, "We all get sad sometimes, but eventually you just have to stop feeling sorry for yourself and get over it." Spoken, of course, by someone who'd never dealt first-hand with depression. Even worse, to me, than this statement was the chorus of agreeing nods from the other Christians who were present. What a shame that so many Christians can be so condescending and dismissive of illnesses that not only dramatically impact the lives of those who have them, but that can and too often do, lead those afflicted with them to take their own lives. It's very sad how unfeeling Christians can be to each other.

So very true. I suffer from a type of depression cause by having ADDHD. It's not something I am ever going to get over. With Meds I do well. When I tell people they always say things like but you are such an upbeat person. They have no idea without Meds how much effort it takes to keep that face on

[tintiger78]

I, like glennagail, also deal with ADHD with underlaying depression. And my wife deals with her own mental health issues. It is easy to judge a person with a mental illness by what you see only on the surface. But the things that are going on under the surface often tell a very different story. For example, an ADHD person may seem like that are disinterested/bored/distracted, but in reality (though, not all cases submit to this) they just lack enough stimulus to keep them fully engaged in their tasks. For me, I do not currently have the means to medically treat my ADHD, so I must deal with it as best I can. I can describe my thoughts as a room full of radios. Each one is playing a different station, and I am interested in all of what is being played, but I can only concentrate on one at a time. Trying to choose which one is most important is a challenge at times and I can become frustrated trying to figure it out for myself.

If I thought my wife would be ok with me posting her struggles (which at this time I do not have that liberty) you would see a person that hurts deeply inside. Outside, she is able to hide it from most people. But inside she is torn up. I guess what I am saying here it that if you know someone with a mental illness, please do not write them off as unreachable. They will likely take more time to respond and it will take a great deal of patience on your part. Just as each disorder is different, so are the people they affect.

The love, time, patience, friendship and understanding you show them could just be the very key to unlocking the door of their lonliness and help them take their first steps toward the Savior.

Your Brother in the Relentless love of Jesus Christ,

Tin

[Guest]

Praying~!