How can I find hope when struggling with mental health challenges.
Information taken and adapted from our free educational guide: “How to Understand Mental Health Challenges and Recovery.”
God’s grace is for you in the journey — not distant.
Understanding mental health can be situational and genetic with hope.
Mental health recovery is possible — especially from a whole perspective.
Understanding a wholeness journey, not a broken “you” journey
Your or your loved one’s experience with mental health challenges is NOT a failure of faith or a punishment from God. Instead, a mental health challenge is an opportunity to see God’s grace guide you into greater wholeness of life.
+ God is for you to help, to heal (for therapeutic restoration).
God never defines or sees you or your loved one as a mental health challenge, illness, or other complex health condition. God sees the person with grace to respond to their condition. During Jesus’ ministry, His heart and desire (with the Father, Jn. 14:19) were to be with the person in a healing way (Matt. 4:23, 9:35; Acts 10:38). God is considerate to our every need … physically, mentally, and emotionally … a whole spiritual person.
+ God has lavished you with unmeasured grace – even within your mental health condition.
His grace pours out love and redefines you as worthy as you have always been to Him. Grace is part of your new constant identity (Rom. 5:1-5, 8:37-39 Col. 2:9-10). Grace, therefore, is part of the healing journey, the wholeness journey.
Understanding mental health challenges.
Mental health challenges can also be described as the experience of mental health difficulties or be classified as a diagnosable mental health disorder. These may share similar types of symptoms but also occur on a spectrum.
+ Genetic & situational: These mental health challenges can arise from genetic factors (e.g., hereditary, other family members' similar challenges) and/or situational conditions (e.g., trauma, overworked or under-worked, toxic environments, etc.).
+ Symptoms uniquely vary and occur on a spectrum: Someone experiencing mental health challenges will have prolonged periods and varying levels of anxiety, depression, mood instability, negative thoughts (intrusive, racing), discouraged and irritable emotions, and physical discomfort (unusually low or high energy) that can adversely disrupt life, relationships, occupation, school, etc. Though they will have similar symptoms, they will vary in experience. For example, someone with general anxiety may not have the same symptoms as an anxiety disorder like OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder). Someone experiencing lower levels of anxiety needs just as much grace, care, and support as someone experiencing more severe symptoms (God cares for ALL).
+ Professional & community strength: Mental health professionals can significantly assist with mental health challenges, including medication and therapy. In addition, being involved in an understanding community with similar lived experiences is often vital to their overall well-being. Every aspect of supportive care is strength- and faith-building for general well-being.
That’s why we offer our free groups with workbooks.
What is mental health recovery?
““We are on a wholeness journey, not a brokenness journey.””
+ Mental health recovery is a whole-health growth process, a transformation in resilience for improving overall well-being (physical, mental, spiritual, and relational).
This whole-health approach utilizes a two-fold system from what psychology calls “primary control” (environmental management) and “secondary control” (internal management). Over time, the person becomes more resilient with personal growth, improved well-being, and life satisfaction.
+ Mental health recovery can decrease symptoms and intervention.
It is common for those experiencing mental health recovery/resilience to see varying degrees of reduction and management of complex symptoms, decreased frequency and severity of episodes, and improved personal well-being, faith (spirituality), relationships, life satisfaction, and meaning. For some, this improved well-being aids professional intervention and can decrease periodic monitoring and mental health check-ups.
+ Mental health recovery is a new protective strength, not about being “healed” or “cured.”
Future stressors (adversity) may cause individuals to experience residual mental health symptoms. However, various studies reveal that mental health recovery/resilience helps to buffer and protect against future stressors (i.e., triggers). In other words, when they experience future stressors with new insights and tools (resilience), their symptoms may occur with less severity and for a shorter time. Some may experience a remission of symptoms and no further complications; however, most will experience mental health resilience with a lesser degree of their mental health difficulty or disorder.
+ Mental health recovery is discovering wholeness, not achieving a “better you.”
Mental health recovery/resilience is not the willpower to overcome (“beat”) the condition or diagnosis. It is not a “self-help” focus on trying to achieve a “better version” of yourself (or other self-help programs that focus on “maximizing” or “biohacking” to achieve more significant results). While many of these programs have sound principles, techniques, or resources to help improve our health, the motivation to “achieve” can leave you exhausted trying to attain and maintain that ultimate result. Some of these programs are built on an underlying premise that “you’re not enough” (failure) and can be more extrinsic motivators that are proven not to sustain long-term motivation. Instead, mental health recovery/resilience is accepting the condition or diagnosis (but not as your identity).
You are enough throughout the whole journey.
While you are learning about the condition, you are still discovering who you truly are (“you’re enough,” wholeness) from a renewed perception of yourself and being empowered to create a meaningful life (as you journey with/through the condition or diagnosis). These are better empowered by fueling intrinsic worth and values that provide for long-term motivation and ongoing personal growth. Within the condition, we change by discovering wholeness, which can naturally help decrease symptoms and improve life over time.
We’ve seen many participants in our groups see transformed lives (with research to prove it). We know God’s grace in collaborating with a supportive community, a whole-health lifestyle, and with professional care can be life-changing.
Joe Padilla | Grace Alliance
