May is Mental Health Awareness Month. It's always been a month that I hold near and dear to me. If you're someone who knows me, I've told my story endless times. The short version is I've dealt with mental illness since I was 6 years old. I have dealt with it my entire life in a family that doesn't understand, accept, or believe in mental illness.
I spent most of my early adulthood comparing my mental illness to my mother's diabetes...comparing my having to take medication to her having to take medication. It never sunk in.
I've also spent my life dealing with so-called believers in Christ who do not believe mental illness is real.
It took me until last year to accept that medication is okay and that it does not deny the sovereignty of God.
It took me until last year to have people in my life who are Christians who do believe in the reality of mental illness and who do believe in the necessity of good mental health.
I tried twice to remove myself from medication because I thought taking medicine was taking away the holiness of God.
Wrong-o!
So what exactly DOES the bible say about mental illness? Is it because of the sin in my life? Is it because of demons (as some believe)?
To be honest illness in many ways is because of the fall of man.
So yes...mental illness is because of sin.
Not necessarily my own sin, though.
There are many instances in the Bible where we see people suffering from despair, loneliness, anxiety, and depression.
King David (Psalm 38:4), Job (Job 3:26), Elijah (1 Kings 19:4), and Jonah (Jonah 4:3).
All suffered from depression.
The Lord, however, answered them in His way.
God has also given people in our lives the ability to create medication...and He's given us the ability to think and know that if we need medication for something, we should take it.
It took 20 years to figure out the best medications for me.
It wasn't easy.
I do believe medication should be taken alongside counseling.
I went off and on to a secular counselor--and then most recently to a biblical counselor. There's a major difference and a huge success rate with them coinciding.
I've had people ask me, "can you tell a difference when you don't take your medicine?"
Yes.
100% yes.
Just like anyone who is sick...once a person stops taking their needed medications there is a difference. Maybe not after a day or 2, but in time the symptoms of the illness do show up again...sometimes worse than they did before treatment.
My whole point in this post is that mental health should be taken seriously. Just like any other illness. And being a Christian does not negate mental illness.
Being a Christian does not cause immunity to mental illness.
It is real. It requires treatment.
It is OKAY to seek treatment.
It is OKAY to take medicine.
It is OKAY to ask for help!
Almost 26 years after my first diagnosis with mental illness...I've finally found my voice on the issue. Not only have I found my voice--but WITH medication and WITH counseling and WITH constant surrender to the Lord, I finally feel healthy.
Friends...if you know someone who is struggling, point them in the right direction.
And if you need help finding the right direction, let me know...we'll talk...and I'll give you my own recommendations on good counseling and psychiatry.
Take care of yourselves, friends, especially during this pandemic.
