Happy Mental Health Awareness Month! This very important month also brings the return of Disquiet Deliverance! I’m so sorry that I’ve been gone for so long, I promise this is the last time that I’ll ghost you all. While I may have been quiet on the blog and email fronts, I assure you that I’m just as passionate as ever when it comes to mental health, maybe even more so! Writing a mental health awareness post during the month that honors it seemed the perfect time to relaunch (again).
So, what have I been up to all this time? Writing. Researching. Writing some more. Loving on my kids. Most importantly, growing my relationship with Jesus. Through my new church, I joined a group of incredible ladies who have helped shape and strengthen my relationship with God. No, it’s not a cult. I’m not here to tell you where to find the Kool Aid. But these ladies have helped me grow my relationship with Jesus and I will be forever grateful to them for that.
I also wrote a book that I put on Amazon KDP. It’s a workbook, journal and pep talk all in one designed to help people stop self-sabotaging and Do The Thing! Check it out here if you’d like!
Back to my comeback mental health awareness post. We’ll talk a little about the history of this month, the work that still needs to get done, and I’ll tell you a bit more about where this blog is going next. I also want to check in on you all and give you a few ideas on how to improve your mental health fast.
Honestly, I thought that this month was a relatively new thing. It seems like it is with how much stigma still remains. But, since I wasn’t sure, I decided I’d better do a bit of research. There’s an article by Steve Fiorillo from Psychiatry Advisor that’s packed with information about it. It may surprise you (like it did me) to learn that the very first Mental Health Awareness Month was actually back in 1949! It was started by Mental Health America, which was originally called the Connecticut Society of Mental Hygiene founded by Clifford W. Beers in 1908.
Beers was an author that struggled with mental health and wasn’t too happy about the treatments the institutions had to offer him. He wrote a book about it that that you can check out here. It’s currently on the way to my house from Amazon so that I can also learn more about what he went through. Here is the link if you’d also like to check it out!
Nine years after he started this society, in 1917, the US Surgeon General came to Mental Health America with a request. The US Army and Navy were about to enter World War I and there was concern about the troops’ mental health. Mental Health America came up with a program to help them cope. Their influence continued to grow. So much so, that in in the 1930s, over 3,000 people came to Washington D.C. to attend the First International Congress of Mental Health.
Mr. Fiorillo continues by stating that in 1945, President Truman requested that Congress make mental health a priority and put more efforts into research and resources. Truman also signed the National Mental Health Act in 1945, which is when the National Institute of Mental Health was thought up and eventually started in 1949, the same year as the first Mental Health Awareness Month. How cool is that?
Since then, Mr. Fiorillo writes, the impact has been felt all over the country. More research, legislation and public awareness have made drastic improvements since that time. Presidents Kennedy, Johnson and others have signed laws in favor of better mental health support and research.
Even though there has been extensive research, advancements, and legislation, the stigma against mental health is still alive and well. Why? Because people tend to stigmatize things that they either don’t understand or don’t want to accept in themselves. That may be oversimplifying things, but it is mostly true, too.
The stigma isn’t really anyone’s fault. There is a lot of misinformation and misunderstanding in the mental health world. Mental illness is equated to weakness and that’s where the stigma gets its strength, no matter how untrue that statement is. No one wants to be considered weak. If one admits that they’re depressed, they’re going to get the same well-meaning, but actually unhelpful at best and harmful at worst advice, “Just toughen up. Your life isn’t that bad! Other people have it far worse.”
Mental illness has long since been misunderstood. Unfortunately, it probably will be until people focus on the “illness” part rather than the “mental.” An illness, as defined by the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, is “an unhealthy condition of body or mind.”
An unhealthy condition of body or mind. People don’t need to be shamed for having an illness of any kind. Just like a physical illness, a mental illness can’t be overcome by sheer mental fortitude. So, making people think that they can overcome anxiety by “just stop worrying” or sniffing a fistful of lavender is simply setting them up to feel like a failure.
Now, that’s not to say that every single person needs to be on medication for mental illness. And lavender does actually help. But what doesn’t help is making people feel like their illness can be dismissed simply because it’s mental instead of physical.
What we do need is more education and less shame. Clifford Beers got us started here in America, but what about other countries? We need to unite in our mission: better access to mental health resources for all!
I’d love to say that since I’ve grown in my relationship with Jesus, that my mental health has drastically improved. In some ways, it has. But I have had some really bad days, too. What I’ve learned is that having a relationship with Jesus isn’t a free pass to an easy, pain-free life. As a matter of fact, He tells us it won’t be in the Bible. This mental health awareness post isn’t all sunshine and rainbows.
Actually, let me take that back and turn it into one of the cliché’s I love to use so much. You can’t have a rainbow without rain! In reality, a rainbow could be a good metaphor for Christianity. The rainbow will come and it will be beautiful. But you may have to endure a little (or a lot) of rain first. My rain came in the form of self-hatred, anxiety, and depressive thoughts. There are also some physical health issues going on right now that I’m not sure what the end result will be. I don’t enjoy the not-knowing.
However, through all of this mental rain, there is always a beacon of hope. A strong hand to hold during all the uncertainty. There’s someone that I can talk to literally all the time, even if I say the same thing over and over again, switch topics like a toddler that just learned to talk, or not make any sense at all. God patiently unravels all those thoughts and gives me the guidance I need. Honestly, more often than not, I do the opposite of what He tells me and then come back to cry to Him and guess what? He comforts me anyway. I would’ve written myself off as a lost cause years ago, but He never will.
That brings me so much joy, hope and even peace. It also helps me to know that all the pain I’ve gone through in the past wasn’t for nothing. God didn’t cause it, but He will use it for good. This sense of comfort all comes from finding the right church, one that teaches from the Bible, but not in a judgy, convicting type of way. A church that recognizes we’re all sinners, but we’re all going to come together and love on each other anyway. If you want to read more about my discovery of this church, please check out this article on what finding the right church did for me. If you haven’t found the right church yet, please don’t give up. It can literally be life-changing.
One thing my growing faith has been screaming at me is that there is a megaton of suffering people in this world. So many are pasting a fake smile on their face and suffering in silence. If this is you, please don’t stay in that place. Reach out to someone, anyone. You might be surprised to learn that you’re not as alone in your suffering as you thought. There are probably a lot of people that understand what you’re going through. It takes a lot of courage to reach out. What your mental illness does NOT make you is weak. Anything but.
But if you’re not ready yet, that’s okay. I would encourage you to find some sort of outlet for your feelings. I put together a list from Amazon of things that I’ve personally tried that helped me with my mental health. While it may take some tries to find out what works best for you (because mental health is never going to be one size fits all), start by trying something to express yourself. The main thing is not to focus on perfection. Instead, focus on what feelings come out. It may surprise you!
This journal set is amazing! It has a finger maze where you can close your eyes and follow it with your finger to help ground you while allowing your mind to get in the right state to journal.
Speaking of grounding, try this grounding stone! I love the way that I can move it around fast or slow. The scent is amazing and relaxing. You can time your breathing to it so you can help regulate your heart rate, lowering levels of anxiety or helping you out of a panic attack.
I absolutely love Clever Fox products! I have a couple different ones and they have all been amazing. This one helps you realize how much you have to be grateful for. Gratitude is very important for mental health.
Another Clever Fox product. This one focuses on self-love, something I struggle with, and I know a lot of people do, too.
Yet another Clever Fox product (can you tell I’m a fan?). This journal focuses on mental health and anxiety in particular.
This is the last Clever Fox product in this post (but they will show up in other posts because I love them!). This one gives you prompts so that you can strengthen your journaling muscles in just 4 minutes!
Now, to get your creative juices flowing, this is the exact art set my dad bought me for Christmas. I love all the different types of art supplies. While I’m definitely NOT at artist, it does help me to express the feelings that I can’t put into words.
Want to hear something strange? When I was a little girl, kindergarten age, one of my favorite things to say was, “DD.” It made no sense and I have no idea why I said it. Fast forward to 2018, I started a blog called Disquiet Deliverance. It was barely a hobby at first, something I would do if I literally had nothing else to do. Blogging was harder than I thought it would be and I didn’t have the patience for it. But I couldn’t let it go.
Now, I have this faith that tells me that all my steps are ordered. So, what are the odds that it was just a coincidence that the letters I used to say over and over again when I was little ended up being the same initials I would use for the blog that God won’t let me quit?
I suffered in silence for a long time because I was afraid of what people would think of me if I told them that I had anxiety and depression. I lost my mom at the age of 13 and knew that no one would ever love me like that again. People I loved rejected me and I pretended that it didn’t hurt my feelings or make me doubt that I had any worth at all. Becoming a self-hating people-pleaser was my way of coping, even though it always set me up for more pain and resentment.
Maybe all that was part of a bigger plan. Because there are a whole lot of people that have dealt with that same thing. I want the world to know that no one is alone in their struggles. There are other people that understand. And God sees each and every one of you. He loves YOU (yes, YOU, the one reading this right now) so much and desperately wants you to come to Him with all that pains you.
It means that I’m not going to stop writing. I’m going to continue to offer love, encouragement and advice (even though I’m NOT a mental health professional, you know I had to throw a disclaimer in there!). But, now I know that this blog wasn’t just my idea. I’m working through the plan of someone FAR superior to me. I’m going to let the Holy Spirit guide my words even more.
That means more content, greater prioritization and, hopefully even better advice, love and encouragement. It means that I won’t spend days editing the same post over and over again and get it out to you all sooner. Even if you’re not a Christian, I hope you’ll stick around to watch this unfold, improve, and hopefully reach a lot more people! Maybe you’ll even decide that you do want to follow Jesus Christ. He’s worked wonders in my life and absolutely wants to do the same for you!
Another strange “coincidence” is that the church I fell in love with was started the same year that I started Disquiet Deliverance. The only difference is that they went all in right away while I had a lukewarm at best launch. They have thousands of people that come to either campus or online to hear God’s word. Every year, hundreds of people go public with their faith through baptism. We pride ourselves on generosity and leading people to Jesus through love and kindness instead of judgment. I love my church, I love this blog and I love each and every one of you. Join me in this journey to Jesus and let’s show the world that a spirit of love, kindness and generosity can be the more common way to live. We can do this together!
-All my love!
We’ve all been touched by loneliness at some point, and no one enjoys that feeling.…
If you’re a Christian, you probably remember a few mixed feelings as a kid. I…
All of us have had trouble with self-esteem at some point. I don’t think anyone…
It’s easy to say that death is just a part of life. It’s coming for…
Do you think it’s fair to say that every single person, at some point in…
I’m going to start this post with another confession. Although I consider myself a devout…