Marja Bergen

author, mental health advocate, follower of Christ

Month: December 2018 (page 6 of 15)

Finding meaning in a life with bipolar

LIVING ROOM MEMORIES  99  (September 10, 2007) A while ago I had an article published on canadianchristianity.com with the above title. The first person to comment did not like my view at all, arguing that: “It’s bad. It’s a defect in our brain functioning. There is no gift from God about it. Mental illness is […]

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The manuals are here! (written in September 2007)

LIVING ROOM MEMORIES  98  (September 7, 2007) After a lot of work, checking and re-checking, having checked by others, having them professionally edited and then beautifully printed, the two manuals are finally finished. They’re sitting in open boxes in our hallway, where I can look at them as I pass and feel good about it […]

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Faith-based support the best

LIVING ROOM MEMORIES  97  (September 5, 2007) I’ve been meaning for a while to draw from Harold Koenig’s book, Faith and Mental Health, and share with you some of the treasures of thinking and understanding I have found there. Koenig tells of nearly 500 studies during the twentieth century that reported statistically significant associations between […]

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“Anger” at living room

LIVING ROOM MEMORIES  96  (September 1, 2007) No, we didn’t get angry at our Living Room group yesterday. We only discussed anger. Anger with God in particular. The discussion started with the question, “Do you ever feel angry or frustrated with God for your suffering with mood disorder?” Some people did feel that way and […]

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What’s good about depression?

LIVING ROOM MEMORIES  95  (August 29, 2007) A friend sent me this quote from a book by Jonathan Zeuss, M.D.: “Depression is a quest for vision; its essence is transformation. Depression wells up and encompasses us for a time in a state of painful, dream-saturated formlessness, but its true purpose is to provide the opportunity […]

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Creating living room – a manual – part 2

LIVING ROOM MEMORIES  94  (August 24, 2007) I want to share some of the neat things about Living Room that I cover in my new manual. Living Room is a Christian self-help group for people with depression, anxiety and bipolar disorders. Ideally facilitators should have one of these problems; they will be better able to […]

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Creating living room – a manual

LIVING ROOM MEMORIES  93   (August 23, 2007) Those of you who have been coming to this site for a while will remember that I’ve been writing manuals to help people who want to set up a faith-based support group. Manual number one, which describes the Living Room support group concept, is pretty well ready to […]

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How faith helps

LIVING ROOM MEMORIES  92  (August 18, 2007) The symptoms of bipolar disorder can be unbearable at times. But the question is, what kind of person do you become as a result? If you don’t become bitter, you become better. (I’m quoting someone here, but not sure who.) I truly believe that. If we can survive […]

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Finding meaning through illness

LIVING ROOM MEMORIES  91  (August 16, 2007) My most recent article about finding meaning in my life with bipolar disorder was published today. I hope you’ll take a look. There has been one comment, one I’ve responded to. The person vehemently disagrees with my efforts to take a positive spin on things. And perhaps you […]

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Forgetting ourselves through other-centeredness

LIVING ROOM MEMORIES  90  (August 8, 2007) A couple of days ago I felt so awful, even thinking I might be on the edge of depression again – all because I felt I had been leaning too heavily on my friends – bothering them too much with my phone calls and emails. Today I feel […]

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