LIVED EXPERIENCE AND THE CREDIBILITY GAP Picture yourself: A capable person in most respects, having opinions and able to present them logically, having thoughts and ideas no less meaningful than those others have. Perhaps you’re a leader, a person who can make things happen. A person who can make a difference. But despite having many […]
Read More...APPEAL FROM THE OPPRESSED AND STIGMATIZED Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves; ensure justice for those being crushed. Yes, speak up for the poor and helpless, and see that they get justice. Proverbs 31:8-9 NLT “Speaking for the poor and helpless.” Is this what God really means? I think we need […]
Read More...WHEN I RETIRED FROM LEADING LIVING ROOM, I WAS EXCLUDED FROM A GROUP I NEEDED FOR MYSELF When a group was being formed promising to promote deeper relationships, I wasted no time signing up. I had for a long time waited for such an opportunity. I played a supportive role in many people’s lives. But […]
Read More...OSTRACIZED Maybe my worst emotional problems started around 2014 when frequent depression and other forms of mental health crises forced me to give up my Global Living Room ministry to the stronger Sanctuary Mental Health Ministry. I hoped that they would be able to help it grow into the big ministry I envisioned. My own […]
Read More...I FOUGHT STIGMA AND SUPPORTED THE STIGMATIZED My work started many years ago, in 1993, when I was determined to try and overcome the stigma attached mental illness. I was ready to give it my all, and I did give everything I had, still doing so today, in the year 2026. I openly revealed everything […]
Read More...UNCONDITIONAL LOVE HEALS – Please stop for a moment and think what it would feel like to be: looked down on, not understood, not believed to have credibility, shunned, rejected, excluded, made to feel ashamed, to have your abilities underrated, to have your opinions ignored, not to be taken seriously. In human terms, what […]
Read More...ONE SUCH AS ME? finally brought to light. In 2011, an organization was founded in Vancouver that promised to equip churches and parishes to support mental health recovery within their community. They did this by providing online courses that explained the ins and outs of mental health. Churches were delighted to have information that improved […]
Read More...Part of what I have not yet talked about was my misdiagnosis of borderline personality disorder, the result of a psychiatrist’s not listening carefully to my story – making assumptions on the basis of only two or three of the symptoms I displayed. This caused much of the stigma I experienced at the time. And […]
Read More...MY TRAGEDY – I’ll tell it as briefly as I can, and then move on to sharing the positives that God has for us – his unconditional love and his hope. At the end of December 2013, and probably earlier, the friends I had were drawing away from me more and more. It was probably […]
Read More...ONE SUCH AS ME? Not too long ago, when I decided to shut the door on my painful past, I said that I would only talk about the good parts of my story. And I did that—told it as fully as I could. It felt good to remember that I had done all I could […]
Read More...© 2026 Marja Bergen
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