Marja Bergen

author, mental health advocate, follower of Christ

Month: January 2019 (page 9 of 14)

The holes in our heart

Even my close friend, someone I trusted, one who shared my bread, has turned against me Psalm 41:9   I’ve been thinking of the elderly lady I met in the hospital recently. She was only a few years shy of a hundred but proud of her independence. Yet, as we talked, she shed a few […]

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Misconceptions. uggh!!

LIVING ROOM MEMORIES  187  Canadian Christianity has another excerpt from A Firm Place to Stand up. The title is Misconceptions and in it I outline the problem many Christians have, spiritualizing mental health problems like depression. I spell it out really well. But, lo and behold, someone comments – compassionately enough – but totally NOT […]

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An illness like any other

LIVING ROOM MEMORIES  186  (September 4, 2008) Someone approached me having difficulty accepting her diagnosis of bipolar disorder. This prompts me to share an excerpt from my first book, Riding the Roller Coaster. Throughout the writing of this book I held in mind the people who were newly diagnosed and how hard it is to […]

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Comment on publicity & stigma (2019)

In commenting on the previous post, I can only say that today – in 2019 – I had forgotten how well the media had picked up on the need for awareness. I had forgotten so much since those early days. So gratifying to see how they were listening. I’m grateful that God gave me the […]

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More publicity

LIVING ROOM MEMORIES  185 (August 28, 2008) This was a good day. I’ve been dealing a bit with the stress of the work I need to do promoting A Firm Place to Stand. Knowing that I need to get the publicity within the first three months means there’s a fair amount of pressure on me […]

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Getting on track

LIVING ROOM MEMORIES  184  (August 25, 2008) Yesterday morning I had a great two hour quiet time, journaling, writing yesterday’s post, and emailing a friend. Prayer was a big part of it. By the end of that time I felt quite a bit better. One blogging friend listed several things I needed to do to […]

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Overwhelmed – I’m only one person!

LIVING ROOM MEMORIES  183  (August 24, 2008) I’m healthy, but – I think quite understandably – feeling overwhelmed about all the things I have on my plate. I feel as though I’m trying to live the lives of half a dozen people, all at one time. And I don’t know how I’m going to manage […]

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Discussion about stigma at living room

LIVING ROOM MEMORIES  182  (August 5, 2008) At Living Room this Friday I’d like to once more discuss the topic of stigma. Stigma is something so many of us have trouble dealing with. Stigma often causes even more pain than the symptoms of our illness do. Stigma causes many of us to deny we have […]

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Comment on living with purpose (2019)

Coming back to the topic of living a life of purpose introduced in the previous post: Not long ago I published a devotional called LIVING VICTORIOUSLY that addresses the topic of purpose for people with mental health issues. You can access it by clicking http://marjabergen.com/archives/living-victoriously I must tell you how things have been throughout most […]

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“Having purpose” as a Living Room topic

LIVING ROOM MEMORIES  181  (July 26, 2008) At Living Room yesterday we talked about a topic that was prompted by Erwin Raphael McManus’s new book Wide Awake. We talked about what God made us to do. What happened to the dreams we had when we were young? I was a bit worried about bringing up […]

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