Marja Bergen

author, mental health advocate, follower of Christ

Tag: shame (page 2 of 4)

Thank you God for forgiving

LIVING ROOM MEMORIES  274  (March 31, 2010) As you know, I’ve been dealing much with the effects of my disorder, the shame of sometimes saying or doing things I would not do if I were more balanced. But then, I guess everyone at some time or other does things they’re not proud of. And yet…I […]

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My great shame

LIVING ROOM MEMORIES  268 (March 11, 2010) I’ve come to a place where I haven’t been before, at least I don’t recollect having been here before. I hate having this disorder and lacking the control I would like to have over my feelings and subsequent behaviour. Last week I was hard on a person, blaming […]

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Hanging onto thankfulness

LIVING ROOM MEMORIES  214  (December 27, 2008) Regrets and shame have brought me down lately. I’m good one day, and then something triggers me to turn to those negative emotions and thoughts and I go deeply dark. But, if I were able to get things into better perspective, the way I should and the way […]

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Embarrassing truths I learned (2019)

One learns a lot when looking back on journal entries, or blog entries. Truths about yourself hit home. Truths you never noticed before but others did. And it’s embarrassing. As I’ve gone through this blog, starting in 2006, I’ve seen me mention every little ache and pain I experienced. The slightest feeling of depression – […]

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Will God accept me?

LIVING ROOM MEMORIES  188  (September 7, 2008) I had questions from a reader that I’d like to address. There may be some with similar problems. She sounds in deep pain. I hope this post will help. B. wrote, “I did things as a result of my impulses and emotions and feelings from my mania that […]

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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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Understanding people who don’t understand

LIVING ROOM MEMORIES  101  (September 19, 2007) In the last post I talked about how my congregation learned to understand and support people with mental illness. I think one important thing that helps me when I try to educate and help people understand mental health issues – whether it’s through writing or meeting with them […]

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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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Living without shame

LIVING ROOM MEMORIES  65  (April 26, 2007) At Living Room tomorrow I’m going to open a discussion on stigma and how it has – or has not – affected us. I’m sure everyone will have stories of when they’ve been hurt or misunderstood. I believe stigma is the greatest enemy of those who live with […]

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Developing confidence

LIVING ROOM MEMORIES  13  (September 26, 2006) It takes great effort to live with good self-esteem when the disorder we have is so stigmatized. It’s so utterly unfair that we, who through no fault of our own, have a disease and have to hide it, living in shame. If you’ve read some of my earlier […]

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