While shopping at the local market recently, I noticed a woman who was helping two gentlemen do their shopping. We have a program in our area that pairs an aid with people who have mental or developmental disabilities to help them do routine tasks, like shopping. As she was helping them through the checkout line … Continue reading Forget About Stigma, This Is Something Uglier – Discrimination
Category: Mental Health Ministry
Church Can Be A Scary Place For Those With Mental Health Issues Like Anxiety, PTSD or Depression…
For someone living with the many different forms of anxiety or depression, attending church can be next to impossible. We must start accepting the fact that as diverse as the human race is physically, it is also diverse mentally. There are many people who cannot attend a social function of any sorts, no matter if … Continue reading Church Can Be A Scary Place For Those With Mental Health Issues Like Anxiety, PTSD or Depression…
Take The Time To Rest…
We live in a busy world that makes you feel irresponsible if you take a day off to rest. Our work week has consumed Sundays to make the non-stop selling of goods more important than what is actually "good" for us. Remember when we were younger and we were exploding with energy, that as we … Continue reading Take The Time To Rest…
Mental Health & Your Congregation: Why It Should Matter To You
As a Pastor, you have a charge given to you by God, to attend to his people. Caring for their needs and guiding them through life on the solid foundation of the Word of God, is the calling that has been placed upon your heart. You are to care for God's people, shepherding them lovingly … Continue reading Mental Health & Your Congregation: Why It Should Matter To You
We Need Less Mental Health Awareness & More Serious Mental Illness Action
On December 6, 2017 my family made a fateful decision to call 911 and seek help for my son. He had become suicidal and was hurting himself. At the time, he had spiraled into a state of psychosis, something our family had never experienced before. He had decompensated into a false reality of conspiracy theories, … Continue reading We Need Less Mental Health Awareness & More Serious Mental Illness Action
The Institutes of Mental Disease (IMD) Exclusion Is Absolutely Discriminatory
In a recent letter to all of my state representatives I have expressed my outrage over the outdated and absolutely discriminatory exclusion in the Medicaid/Medicare system that has REFUSED to properly treat those with severe psychiatric illnesses like schizophrenia and bipolar 1 for over 50 years. New legislation has been introduced to gently ease the … Continue reading The Institutes of Mental Disease (IMD) Exclusion Is Absolutely Discriminatory
Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) Review : From A Parent’s Perspective Who Cares For A Child With A Serious Mental Illness
Recently I signed up for a Mental Health First Aid Course that was put on by the Washington County Behavioral Board in Marietta, Ohio. I was very excited to attend this course. It is a free 8 hour class that educates you to the basic procedures you should employ to respond to common mental health … Continue reading Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) Review : From A Parent’s Perspective Who Cares For A Child With A Serious Mental Illness
Dealing With Anxiety As A Christian…
There are two facts you can take absolute comfort in. Fact number one, you are never alone. God is always with you, and if you are a child of God, He is inside you experiencing these feelings first hand. He is always there. And fact number two, He understands completely. Jesus Christ humbled Himself by coming to earth and putting on this flesh suit so that he could experience being in the flesh first hand. Why? So that we could have a High Priest who not only had sympathy for us, BUT even deeper, He has something even more powerful -Â empathy. He literally strapped on our earthly shoes and walked a mile in them. He knows what we are going through. He knows what emotional pain feels like. He didn't have to do that, but he did...because He loves us and desired to understand us with actual empathy.
Empathy For Those With A Mental Illness
Many of us wake up every day and thank God for the healthy body he has given us. Many of us do not even think about the fact that we have been blessed with a sound mind as well. We often take this very important point of wellness for granted. For over 10 million people … Continue reading Empathy For Those With A Mental Illness
Christian Mental Health Books
Below you will find several books written from a Christian faith perspective on the subject of mental health. I recommend each and every one of these books. Some deal with personal issues and other deal with ministerial roles and their responsibilities to the congregation. Every book is well written, faith-based, and will help you understand … Continue reading Christian Mental Health Books