Whether you or someone you know may be struggling with mental health, here are 5 lies about mental health and their truths that can help you break the stigma!
Lie #1:
"There's something wrong with you."
It’s easy to think you got the shaft in life, that you just got dealt a bad hand, or that there is something faulty with you. We often buy into shame or the belief that something is wrong with who we are. This often only further reinforces our struggles with mental health issues, leading to greater hopelessness. But we must remember that our identity does not lie in our status, emotions, achievements, or struggles, but in who God says we are. We are not defined by our struggles. We are defined by our identity as human beings made in the image of God. We are defined by the radical love Jesus has for us.
Lie #2:
"It's shameful to go to therapy or take medication."
The fields of psychology and medicine are gifts from God to us. When we are physically ill, we often have no qualms about going to the doctor. When we break a bone, we are quick to visit the emergency room to get help. So why is it often seen as taboo or a weakness when we seek help for our mental health? Be wary of those who over-spiritualize solutions to mental illness. God can heal through supernatural means, but He also provides help and healing through psychology and medicine. Even the Apostle Paul encouraged Timothy to seek a type of medication for his stomach ailment in wine (1 Timothy 5:23).
Lie #3:
"Mental health issues are random."
While psychologists aren’t fully in agreement on any one cause of mental health issues, many times these issues are developed as a result of painful or stressful experiences. When we start to understand what we have been through in life, we realized that our mental health issues weren’t random. These issues were developed as coping mechanisms to survive turbulent times of hardship. Our brains were literally rewired to manage the stresses and pain we experienced. Because of that, we continued to have similar responses to new stressful situations that came up.
Lie #4:
"Triggers should always be avoided."
Mental health issues actually serve an important purpose in our life. In my life, anxiety serves some by attempting to protect them from feeling unsafe and rejected. Anxiety can be brought on in a moment by the thought of loss, failure, or embarrassment and spiral out of control. Depression can creep up after experiencing rejection from someone or feeling hopeless about life circumstances. We can find understanding as we identify the fears, stresses, and particular situations that trigger our struggles. We often have situations in life that trigger, or bring on, more intense mental health episodes. But we can experience transformation as we challenge those fears and lies we may be believing about what is true of us.
Lie #5:
"You'll never feel better."
As we work through extensive therapy to identify the triggers, understand and challenge the lies, and invite Jesus and others to be part of my healing journey these become mental health struggles become more minimal issues. Through many experiences with God and others we can now start to believe more and more the truth that we are accepted, not rejected.
We all face new experiences of challenging these triggers and lies, rather than throwing in the towel and letting the anxiety, depression, and obsessions run wild. As we make the conscious decision to wire out old patterns of thinking and respond to lies with truth, we can be transformed by the renewing of our minds, as Romans 12:2 says. We can create new default brain pathways of responding to stress, pain, and difficulties in life that allows life to get easier to handle.
Truths are by Ben Bennett, Director of The Resolution Movement
