They are real people like you and me. Yet they suffer in ways few would be able to comprehend. Please try to imagine what it would be like to be this 26-year-old woman from Wichita, KS. She writes: “I was diagnosed with BPD about seven years ago. When I was told what it was, I […]
Read More...I know it’s hard for those who don’t have mental illness to understand. I, and many of us, feel small next to our supporters. I don’t think they consciously set themselves above us, yet we feel lower. We feel inferior. For me it was like my supporters were father and mother, me the child. I […]
Read More...“Compassion.” We all know the word and we know that—among other things—it’s a description of what Jesus showed the outcasts—those the world had rejected. The Bible tells about his unconditional love, the love he has for each of us, no matter who we are, no matter how good or bad we are. We would like […]
Read More...We are social creatures. Most people need friends. We need to know we are loved. When those are lacking, our mental health suffers. Many people living with BPD end up suffering from a deep and painful sense of being unwanted. This became the case for one person, though it had not always been like that. […]
Read More...As a person with mental health challenges, I claim the right to be considered equal. I may be different, but I am equal. Equal under God, the same as everyone else. Many have accepted people with problems like mine, making us part of their church and community. But this doesn’t mean we’re necessarily counted as […]
Read More...Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. Colossians 3:13 In June 2015 I wrote: “Now-a-days I often have to preface what I say to everyone with “Have I told you this before?” My short-term memory has become […]
Read More...I wrote the following in November 2015 during one of the most difficult periods in my life. It would lead to years of ongoing suffering. Today, thank God, my life is starting to turn around…or is it? When one suffers from bipolar disorder as well as features of borderline personality disorder—two major mental health problems […]
Read More...Stigma is like a dirty word to most of us. We would not think of stigmatizing people with mental health problems or people with other disabilities. We don’t want to harm them, but try to follow Jesus by treating them with kindness. We want to help them find healing. And yet, it’s in that very […]
Read More...As mentioned earlier, borderline personality (BPD) has greater stigma attached to it than any other mental illness. Those with the disorder are feared and avoided to such an extent that it’s been referred to as “the leprosy of mental illnesses”. We know too that in his day, Jesus did not avoid or fear the leper […]
Read More...Pete Seeger, singing We Shall Overcome. An important part of the civil rights movement was the freedom songs. King called them the “soul of the movement,” as old as the history of the African-American in the U.S. There were songs of sorrow, the shouts for joy, the battle hymns, and the anthems. Words like, “Woke […]
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