Tag: mental illness

  • My Favorite Self-Care Activities: Part 2 of 3

    My Favorite Self-Care Activities: Part 2 of 3

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    Here are 3 more self-care activities I sustain to keep myself from having another episode, aside from medication management. Staying physically active. Ever since I could run, I ran. I ran with the boys down the street. I ran with the cross-country team. I ran with the track team. And…

  • Faith It Till You Make It: And Other Tips To Improve Your Resiliency

    Faith It Till You Make It: And Other Tips To Improve Your Resiliency

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    Resiliency is not an automatic characteristic. Like any strength, it improves with practice. Exercise puts stress on the body – good stress. When I trained for a half marathon, I had to work my way up to the 13.1 miles the race called for. It took time and effort, and…

  • Elaine Creasman Guest Posts: Never Alone in Our Pain

    Elaine Creasman Guest Posts: Never Alone in Our Pain

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    Elaine is an author and inspirational speaker, founder of the Suncoast (Florida) Christian Writers Group, and kindred spirit. I met Elaine at this year’s Florida Christian Writers Conference and was delighted to hear her take on mental health in the church. Here is a guest post from her, articulating the…

  • Breakdown: An Interview with Author and L.I.C.S.W. Lynn Nanos

    Breakdown: An Interview with Author and L.I.C.S.W. Lynn Nanos

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    Lynn Nanos recently debuted her book Breakdown: A Clinician’s Experience in a Broken System of Emergency Psychiatry. From her site, “Breakdown opens a dialogue with anyone interested in improving the system of care for the seriously mentally ill population. Using vignettes based on real interactions with patients, their families, police officers,…

  • Sarah Robinson Guest Posts: This Is How To Break The Ice On Mental Illness In The Church

    Sarah Robinson Guest Posts: This Is How To Break The Ice On Mental Illness In The Church

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    I read Sarah’s recent article in Relevant Magazine and reached out to her to collaborate, and she graciously obliged. My next post will be a link to my piece on her blog about how to serve others who have mental illness in the church. We were crammed like sardines into…

  • My Stays In The Juvenile and Adult Psych Wards

    My Stays In The Juvenile and Adult Psych Wards

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    The Juvenile Psych Ward Life wasn’t so sweet to me at sixteen. It was rather sour, actually. I landed in a juvenile psych ward after switching antidepressants, while ignorant to the fact that I had bipolar disorder, causing me to enter psychosis without warning. I never knew such a place existed…

  • Lessons Learned Working With Mental Illness

    Lessons Learned Working With Mental Illness

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    Almost exactly a year ago I started a chapter in life that opened the door to the world of casework. I began my first professional job as a caseworker for a non-profit behavioral health agency. I have learned some powerful lessons over the past year and I wanted to share…

  • 5 Go-To Resources For Christians with Mental Illness

    5 Go-To Resources For Christians with Mental Illness

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    Good resources for Christians with mental illness are few and far between. For many, mental health conditions are unmanageable through prayer and Bible verses alone. Symptoms of a mood disorder may keep you from functioning effectively during the day. There is still reluctance in the church to seek out professional…

  • What Most People Misunderstand About Mental Illness

    What Most People Misunderstand About Mental Illness

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    “Popular” to Have Mental Illness? When I tell someone upon initially meeting them that I’m bipolar, and they jump to identify themselves as bipolar as well, I take it with a grain of salt. This is not to say they aren’t bipolar, they very well could be. But most people…

  • Advocate Angela McDonald Guest Posts: “Being Faithful To Someone With Mental Illness”

    Advocate Angela McDonald Guest Posts: “Being Faithful To Someone With Mental Illness”

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    Ignorance Isn’t Bliss Those in the church who know of my bipolar disorder have never sat down and asked me how I am…and I am angry about it. Am I handling my mood swings okay? Am I managing my symptoms? How is my family handling all of it?… No one…