What to do... what to do...

I know it's been a while since I wrote anything and I apologize for it, the last six months of 2020 were peculiar and I went through some turmoil that I may or a may not share someday here, depending if God gives me green light to talk about that. So that is one of the reasons it took me almost six months to write something new, the other one is, after I refocus I had way too many ideas and started more than one blog post than after got either erased or store for later. But after spending some quite time with God, which in itself is a miracle because I am not the type of person that’s very quiet, He showed me what to start with.

On this post I want to talk specially to those people that are going through some mental illness issues specially depression an anxiety, and give them some tips that may help them go through and overcome it.

Being a Christian psychologist and going through a process of overcoming depression an anxiety myself has given me a particular point of view of what it means to go through and overcome a mental health issue. I know the tools, natural and spiritual, that you can use to fight against the illness, but I also know that the process is that, a process and it's not easy and it doesn't go in a straight line. On the contrary goes up, down, then a loop, the up again and then down again and sometimes you think you might go crazy and you want to throw everything away and go live in a hole for the rest of your life. Nevertheless, you never go back to where you started, you might not be where you think you are supposed to, but you are not where you used to be, especially if you know God is with you.

But to start this process the first thing anyone needs to do is want to get better, and yes sounds stupid because is not like someone wants to go through the pain that brings going through episodes of depression, anxiety or any other mental health issue. However, even though is painful and the obvious response is to want to get better not everyone wants to because their illness it's profitable, it's giving them something that being well will not, so as a result they sabotage their own recovery and keep themselves ill to obtain that which they don't think can have if they are well. It's important to notice that most of the times this is an unconscious pattern of thinking, when is not we have a bigger problem that we might discuss in a later post.

That said, if you want to get well you really want to want it, because it’s going to require a lot of difficult decisions, beginning with realizing if you need professional help or no. Many times looking for professional help for a mental health issue is look like a sin in the Christian communities, because we have the idea that if you are having this type of issues you are not good enough Christian or you are not doing what you are supposed to do as a Christian, but that is a paradigm that we need to brake. I talked about this in my previous post in depth, going to a psychologist or a psychiatrist is equivalent to going to a doctor for cancer or diabetes or any physical illness. So looking for professional help can be advantageous for the process due to the fact that is going to help you treat anything that might be unbalance in your brain and also you are going to be able to gain tools that combined with the Word of God will propel you in your process.

Also, a very important part of the process is getting to really know yourself and be brutally honest with you, meaning that many times we lie to ourselves and keep getting back to the same speech, same feelings and everything we hate about our issue because is what we know and it’s our comfort zone, so in a way it makes us feel better than stepping into the unknown. Realizing this is scary because it means that many times you have to make decisions and changes in your life that can be hard, such as quitting relationships, changing the way you talk, the places you visit, things you hear, things you watch and stop relying on your senses and start trusting what the Word says about you and about your life. Making those decisions is imperative to have a successful process long term.

Another thing that it’s important is to identify the triggers that unchain the episodes of anxiety or depression, because when you do so you can tackle the issue from the root instead of just putting band-aids on it. And when I say the root I mean instead of treating just the symptoms you can treat the real issue that is causing those symptoms. One important thing on doing it is to search a Bible verse that will be your weapon against that trigger. But it has to be a verse that is specific for the area that you are fighting against; when you have a flu you don’t do chemotherapy, you take medicine against the flu, it’s the same when you take your Bible medicine, if you need help with your anxiety you don’t use a verse about prosperity. Once you have your verse or verses, declare it over your life and meditate on it so it can become a revelation in your life; also declare you are whole and that every cell, organ and system in your body works as perfect as God created it to work. In that same line, declare that your body starts to produce the normal amount of neurotransmitters and hormones it’s supposed to so they work perfectly as God intended them to work. Remember, the fight it’s never won without a battle and this is the battle you fight.

Here I leave you some verses that have helped me personally if you don’t know where to start, but I encourage you to find your own:

Depression

• Psalms 42:11

• Psalms 34:17

• Psalms 3:3

• John 16:33

• Romans 8:38-39

• 2 Corinthians 1:3-4 (Worthy to read in different versions)

• Isaiah 41:10

Anxiety

• 1 John 4:18 (AMP)

• Psalms 94:19 (Worthy in different versions specially the amplified)

• 1 Peter 5:7

Something else that you need to understand is that in order to stop thinking about something you need to replace the thought for another thought, not simply try to stop thinking something because it’s not going to work. When you have a blank space or a hole it’s always going to be filled with something, so it’s important that you are the one choosing what to fill it with. This is what the Bible means with renewing our mind, we are replacing the world thoughts with God thoughts and letting them transform our lives from the inside out; and when you a battling a mental health issue you need to do so even more, because our mind is the battle field, is the mind against the mind.

In addition to the above, you need to recognize that you can’t do this alone and you need the help of others, firstly God but also others that God uses to help you, but for this to happen you need to want to get helped for someone to be able to do it. However, always expect that help from God, believe that He is going to send the right people to help you. When you don’t do that you are setting yourself up for big disappointment, because not all people you expect are going to be there for you, and hear me when I say that most of the times is the people you least expected the ones that are there helping you go through the bad and the ugly. And when’s God the one putting the right people around you, the relationships are going to give fruit, which means that the relationships are two-way, so don’t forget that everyone is going through something, even the people that are always there for you, so be available for them too. As well, the help we need is not always what you think it should be, so let God help you the way He knows is best for you.

On the other hand, is of utmost importance that you sleep well and rest. When you are tired you are more sensible to everything around you in within you, and you don’t have the strength to stand up and fight for yourself. Additionally, eat well and drink plenary of water, this is important because even thought there are not scientific evidence that food can be use as a cure or treatment for anxiety or depression, there are studies that show that our diet can help in with mood-boosting properties. Also, exercising and being active is a great way to help ourselves, due to the fact that as we exercise the body produces different types of neurotransmitter that help reducing anxiety and depression. And last but not least, serve: put your gifts and talents to the service of God and others and watch how helping and serving others helps yourself.

But moreover, always ask God for wisdom, He know what’s best for you in your process and He knows the strategies you need to fight and overcome your battle. A lot of things are easily solved when our strategy matches our season, which means that not all of us are the same, and even though some symptoms are similar and there are universal treatments, we all have different trigger and so we need different strategies in those treatments. So something that helped someone may not help you or if something that was useful in the past is no longer useful, it’s time to change the strategy for the season you are in right now.

Finally, you need to be yourself before God, because God can’t bless who we pretend to be and pretending to be someone you are not is going to sink you more in anguish and desperation, because it becomes one more burden. You need to exit the survival mode, keep the right people around you and start fighting this even if it’s painful, even if it’s uncomfortable, even if it’s uncertain, because by doing so you are going to win, not because you will do the right things, but because God already won for you. Don’t listen to the voices that are judging you and trying to keep you down, that is the devil discouraging you because he knows what you are capable of, he is afraid of you and that’s why he tries to keep you down.

And if you are not a Christian and you are reading this and thinking, what is this crazy woman saying? Believe me, yes the treatments work, the medicine works, but nothing is as effective as God and His word, so I challenge you to get to know Him and do this with Him and see how easier it is when we are with Him. What we build our lives on determines what it can be destroy by and anything that’s not built on God, who is eternal, can be destroy by anything that’s temporary. So build on the eternal and if you need help I’m here, just reach out and let me show you that even thought we have emotions we don’t allow them to have the last word in our lives, because God is the one who does.