Struggling with your mental health is human

You are a spiritual, emotional, social, and physical being. You experience hardship. Your heart breaks. You enter the world carrying the wounds and trauma of previous generations. You hold stress in your body. You lose support systems. You develop specific attachment styles that affect how you connect with others. You experience a wide range of emotions. You sin and experience the sin of others. You lose sight of God. You enter into periods of desolation. You have negative thoughts and irrational beliefs. You have memories that your body won’t let you forget. You have unfulfilled longings and desires. 

This is what makes you human and simply being human affects your mental health. 

This isn’t a bad thing, an evil thing, or a thing that proves that you are defective or unworthy. 

It simply just is. Struggling with your mental health is part of the human journey, just like struggling with your spiritual health or your physical health. They are all interconnected, constantly evolving, and ever impacting you. 

There is no escaping this. Every single one of us will go through different seasons when a part of ourselves (body, mind, or soul) will suffer. 

It’s what you choose to do in the face of your suffering that matters most. 

When your mental health begins to suffer, some people find solace, restoration, and healing through strong friendships. Some people find it through profound religious experiences. Some people find it through persistent prayer. Some people find it through service to others. Some people find it through eating healthy and getting a good night’s rest regularly. Some people find it through a commitment to a workout regimen. Some people find it through medical doctors and medication. Some people find it through psychotherapy, and most people find it through a combination of all of these. 

But what is most important is that you find it. That you don’t give up on the quest to respond to your struggles with openness, curiosity, vulnerability, and compassion. 

Openness looks like: Being open to different healthy coping skills. Being open to trial and error. Being open to different external supports. Being open to the ways God may be calling you to respond. Being open to change. Being open to pain (because responding to suffering is not easy). 

Curiosity looks like: Being curious about what you are noticing within you. Being curious about your story and the bigger story of salvation that you are a part of. Being curious about what seems to be no longer supporting or helping you. 

Vulnerability looks like: Being vulnerable in the face of your story. Being able and willing to share your thoughts and feelings. Being able and willing to face your shame. Being able to admit your need for support and healing. 

Compassion looks like: “Suffering with” the parts of you that suffer. Being gentle with the parts of you that are hard to look at and accept. Allowing yourself to receive the compassion of others. Treating your mind, body, and soul with tenderness and care. 

As wonderful as all of this may sound, I know it isn’t easy. 

Facing your struggles with your mental health and the depth of your own humanness, and woundedness requires a lot of courage, patience, and persistence. 

But rest assured that as you embark on supporting your mental health, you are not alone. 

You are exactly who the Lord came to save and be with forever. You are the “brokenhearted” he came to bind, the “blind” he came to give sight, and the “captive,” he came to set free. (Luke 4:18) (Isaiah 61:1) 

As you continue to remember that you are not alone and make conscious choices in the midst of your suffering, the severity of your mental health struggles, which you may presently find yourself experiencing, will loosen its grip on your life. 

This too is part of being human. All things will shift and change just like the seasons in our natural world and you will find a reason to laugh and smile again. You will find ways to cope in healthy ways. You will adapt. You will experience the comfort and love of another. You will weep with joy. You will rest. You will have a positive thought that awakens you to new possibilities. You will enter into periods of consolation. You will feel so close to God that the very thought of Him fills you with peace. You will notice your body relaxing. You will make sense of your story. You will experience deep gratitude. 

You will accept your humanness and see your mental health as a gift.