Succor

I did a Google search this morning of "Jesus and the Mentally Ill." It was disappointing. This passage from lds.org was much better than anything else I found. You can see the entire page at http://disabilities.lds.org/disabilities/eng/disability-list/mental-illness. I have highlighted some of the phrases which have particular meaning to me.

Understanding Mental Illness

Mental illness is often poorly understood. This keeps many people from seeking help and receiving treatment. It may be difficult for people with mental illness to talk about it and get support and understanding from others. When others respond with compassion, it can help the person feel more comfortable. The causes of these illnesses are complex. They are usually the result of problems in brain functioning, genetic vulnerability, trauma, chronic thinking patterns, or other emotionally difficult experiences. Sometimes people with mental illness may develop an addiction. People with mental illnesses cannot just will themselves to get better. Blaming the person or others for the illness is harmful.

Most people with mental illnesses are neither violent nor dangerous. Recent advances in treatment have made it possible to manage or treat most mental illnesses. Most people are helped by treatment from a trained mental health professional. Other people can help by providing loving concern, support, and spiritual strength.

Recognizing Mental Illness

Common symptoms include the following:

• Prolonged sadness, extreme feelings of unwarranted guilt, hopelessness, and despair
• Changes in appetite, sleeping, energy, and the ability to concentrate
• Severe anxiety; irrational fears; panic; or recurring, unwanted thoughts
• Confused, disorganized thinking; delusions or hallucinations; extremely poor judgment
• Speech that does not make sense or is very rapid and rambling
• Difficulty doing normal daily activities; withdrawal from family, friends, and normal activities

The person may not recognize that he or she is ill. Many people try to feel better through addictions or substance abuse, but this makes the mental illness worse. Thoughts of suicide or self-harm should be taken seriously.

Ways to Help

• Learn about mental illness from professional sources, LDS Family Services, and mental health professionals. A bishop may give a referral to a licensed therapist through LDS Family Services.
• Treat the person with understanding and compassion. Reassure the person that Heavenly Father loves him or her.
• Remember that mental illness is not a punishment from God.
• Realize that a mental illness cannot be overcome by willpower alone. It does not indicate that a person lacks faith, character, or worthiness.
• Help the person develop confidence through knowing God supports his or her efforts to cope and build strengths.
• Do not take problems that are a result of the illness personally. People with mental illness may feel frustrated and upset because of the illness.
• Include the person in Church activities and appropriate service opportunities. Consult with the person, family members, and others who know the person well to identify limitations as well as strengths.
• Do not argue with delusional ideas or pursue topics that increase agitation. Be aware that stress can make the illness worse.
• Mental illness may require a person to make major life changes. Where appropriate, prayerfully consult with priesthood leaders, family members and caregivers, professionals, and the individual concerning a need for change.

Light in the Woods

Dawn in the pine forest, originally uploaded by J. Star.

My husband applied and qualified for this.

Good, good news.

Glenn Close Campaigns to End Stigma

See more at Bring Change 2 Mind.

Staying Afloat Unemployed

Last Friday marked the three month anniversary of my husband's last day at the Boeing Company after having received a layoff notice. Despite due diligence in a job search, he continues to be unemployed. Here is what has happened in the last three months:

(1) Due to provisions in the contract between the SPEEA union and the Boeing Company, under which my husband was working, Boeing has continued to pay for our medical insurance--up until now. We just received a bill for $1,373.91 to be paid by September 1, for one month's health insurance premiums. But I will have more to say about that later.

(2) We have been receiving about half of our former income in the form of a weekly check from the Employment Security Department of Washington State (commonly called an "unemployment check"). By using food from storage and cutting back, we have managed to get by on these checks by supplementing them with 200 dollars per week from our savings account. Our savings are still in good shape.

(3) Mental-health-wise, this has been a good season for me. I seem to have finally settled on the right combination of medications, and having my best friend husband spend every day with me has been wonderful, as well. Because of savings and food storage (thank you, Prophets of God) and a good worker's contract (thank you, union and company) and unemployment checks (thank you, legislators), we have not had worries this summer and have been able to enjoy the time together, taking walks, grocery shopping, watching a favorite television series, and sitting at the beach, tossing pebbles into the water. It has been a very healing time for me, and I have been more and more able to function like I used to. It has been a time of Peace.

(4) With continuing assistance from state and federal programs, we will be able to subsist on our savings and food storage for six months more, while my husband goes to college for the first time. He is all signed up. His tuition will be paid by the State of Washington.

Our savings are depleting, but should last for another six months, despite the jump in medical insurance costs. This is because our insurance premiums will not be as high as indicated by the statement we received in the mail last week. As part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), which was signed into law by President Obama on February 17, 2009 as part of the Economic Stimulus Package, we are entiled to COBRA premium assistance.

COBRA (the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985) made it possible for workers to keep their health insurance after layoffs by paying their premiums out-of-pocket. ARRA cuts the costs of those COBRA payments by two thirds. The bottom line is, we need pay only 35% of our total insurance premium for each of the next six months. (A thank you to the President and Congress.) We have already sent our first check for $480.87, and we have just enough left in our savings account to do that five more times.

(5) Our hope is that husband can stay in school and complete a two-year degree in business management. The next six months look good. After that, we will see what Father has as our next surprise. His plan for us is certainly working out so far. (A call back to Boeing would sure be nice, I think.)

A thank you to lapstrake for the photograph.

NAMI Memebers Talk About Mental Illnesses

NAMI has posted a collection of videos of members speaking about their experiences with mental illnesses. I found them quite riveting; encouraging, too. Here is the link.

Those Who Support

How blessed we are that the world has men such as these.


I am so very thankful for my husband, who is in so many ways like Bill.

Joey Pantoliano Speaks Out Against Stigma

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Joe Pantoliano is the founder and president of "No Kidding, Me Too!"  For more information on the work being done there and a link to a trailer for an upcoming documentary, visit the website home page at NKM2.org.

I like to visit there and read and watch the videos to help me remember that I am part of a community, that there are others who understand what I feel and experience.

"Everybody Deserves a Roof"

A thank you to franco folini for sharing this photograph on flickr.

As I wrote about on this blog before, I feel a great affinity with the homeless among us. I particularly empathize with a need to have more privacy than what is afforded by a homeless shelter. I was heartened, therefore, to find this website about the EDAR (Everybody Deserves a Roof) project. You may want to go visit the site and see and read more there. Here is bit of history.

"Peter Samuelson began counting the homeless people on his bicycle route from Westwood, Los Angeles to the beach in Santa Monica and return. There were 62 homeless people on those streets, including many women and several children. Peter interviewed all 62 of them and then conceptualized a mobile single-person device that would facilitate recycling (a principal source of income for many who are homeless) by day and at night convert into a dry, safe tent-like enclosure for sleeping, raised off the concrete, with privacy and storage space.

"Peter sponsored an EDAR design competition at the Pasadena Art Center College of Design. As a result, Peter met designers Eric Lindeman and Jason Zasa, who won the prize, and they have been working pro bono ever since. Wire design and fabrication have been provided free of charge by John Ondrasic and Mike Orozco of Precision Wire Inc."

(Read more here.)

Divine Design

"Now, as you and I look at our lives . . . , we sometimes do not understand that through which we are passing, but, being submissive, we can trust Him.

"The day will come, brothers and sisters, when the tapestry of your life will be unfolded, and you will see divine design all though it, and praise God for the experience and the tutoring which, in His goodness, He has given you"

(Neal A. Maxwell, "Willing to Submit" [address given at BYU-Hawaii devotional, 9 Feb. 1988, p.8).

A thank you to Whatknot for sharing this photo on flickr.

When you have 20 minutes to do so, I urge you to watch this TED talk by Elizabeth Gilbert. I wept through it. It speaks so eloquently to the connection between creativity and mental illness. I am confident that you will be moved by it, too.

A thank you to Timothy K Hamilton for sharing this picture on flickr, and to Chris Hathaway for bringing the TED talk to my attention.

"The Blessing of the Blackberry Bush"

“The Saints should always remember that God sees not as man sees; that he does not willingly afflict his children, and that if he requires them to endure present privation and trial, it is that they may escape greater tribulations which would otherwise inevitably overtake them. If He deprives them of any present blessing, it is that he may bestow upon them greater and more glorious ones by-and-by.”

--Elder George Q. Cannon, as cited in the story linked below.

Those who know me best will not be surprised when I confess that
this story resonated deeply with me when I read it in this month's Ensign magazine.

It is always encouraging for me to remember the purposefulness of thorns.

See more from Greg Newbold, the artist who illustrated the story for the Ensign, here.

When Guilt Breaks Through the Calm

Stormy Coast
Originally uploaded by orvaratli

Reminders are good. Reminders in writing by experts are sometimes especially good. I try to live life as simply and as stress-free as possible, but unwarranted guilt repeatedly disturbs my calm. ("You are selfish. You are spoiled. You are not doing your share.")

I'm thankful for this passage from Matters of the Mind: Latter-day Saint Helps for Mental Health, page 164, under suggestions for helping others cope with bipolar illness:

"Create a low-stress, comfortable environment. Keep sensory stimulation, such as noise, at a low level. Keep life predictable."

These are exactly the conditions I feel are critical for me to maintain. I am thankful to have this additional witness that my impressions are correct, and my desires valid.

It is not only okay; it is right and good and proper to take care of myself.

A thank you to orvaratli for sharing this photograph on flickr.

Imperfection

imperfect 殘念
Originally uploaded by Shenghung Lin

". . . although sin is an imperfection, not all imperfection is sin."

Quote taken from this article in this month's Ensign magazine.

A thank you to Shenghung Lin for sharing this photograph on flickr.

The Truth About Perfection

Ready to fly (II)
Originally uploaded by marcelgermain

"Perfection is pending.
It can come in full only
after the Resurrection
and only through the Lord."

Elder Russell M. Nelson
General Conference
September -October 1995

(Italics added.)

A thank you to marcelgermain for sharing this photo on flickr.

Repost: A Reminder

Sunday, September 7, 2008

"Painful Things Happen Even to the Pure"

"To those who stagger or stumble, He is there to steady and strengthen us. In the end He is there to save us, and for all this He gave His life. However dim our days . . . may seem, they have been a lot darker for the Savior of the world. As a reminder of those days, Jesus has chosen . . . to retain for the benefit of His disciples the wounds in His hands and in His feet and in His side--signs, if you will, that painful things happen even to the pure and perfect; signs, if you will, that pain in this world is not evidence that God doesn't love you; signs, if you will, that problems pass and happiness can be ours . . . It is the wounded Christ who is captain of our souls, He who yet bears the scars of our forgiveness, the lesions of His love and humility, the torn flesh of obedience and sacrifice.

These wounds are the principal way we are to recognize Him when He comes."

Elder Jeffrey R. Holland
CES Conference at BYU
8 August 2000

A thank you to midiman for sharing this photograph on flickr.

Nearer to God than you Think

will
Originally uploaded by zachstern

President Harold B. Lee once remarked:
"Don't be afraid of the testing and trials of life. sometimes when you are going through the most severe tests, you will be nearer to God than you have any idea . . . "
(In Conference Report, Munich Germany Area conference, 1973, 114.) [Ensign February 2009]

Thank you to zachstern for sharing this photograph on flickr.

Tapestries of the Divine

"Now, as you and I look at our lives . . . we sometimes do not understand that through which we are passing, but, being submissive, we can trust Him.

"The day will come, brothers and sisters, when the tapestry of your life will be unfolded, and you will see divine design all through it, and praise God for the experience and the tutoring which, in His goodness, He has given you" (Neal A. Maxwell, "Willing to Submit" [address given at BYU-Hawaii devotional, 9 Feb. 1988, p.8).

A thank you to SullyT64Photography for the picture.

The One

"Some are lost because they are different. They feel as though they don’t belong. Perhaps because they are different, they find themselves slipping away from the flock. They may look, act, think, and speak differently than those around them and that sometimes causes them to assume they don’t fit in. They conclude that they are not needed.

"Tied to this misconception is the erroneous belief that all members of the Church should look, talk, and be alike. The Lord did not people the earth with a vibrant orchestra of personalities only to value the piccolos of the world. Every instrument is precious and adds to the complex beauty of the symphony. All of Heavenly Father’s children are different in some degree, yet each has his own beautiful sound that adds depth and richness to the whole.

"This variety of creation itself is a testament of how the Lord values all His children. He does not esteem one flesh above another, but He 'inviteth them all to come unto him and partake of his goodness; and he denieth none that come unto him, black and white, bond and free, male and female; . . . all are alike unto God.'”--Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin, Conference, April 2008

Thank you to Breathez for pointing out this touching quote. See the entire article here.
Show Off
Originally uploaded by nickwheeleroz

A Thank you to nickwheeleroz for sharing this photograph on flickr.com.

Litmus

PH eddies in a litmus solution
Originally uploaded by gever tulley

"Why did the Lord ask such things of Abraham? Because, knowing what his future would be . . . he was determined to test him. God did not do this for His own sake; for He knew by His foreknowledge what Abraham would do; but the purpose was to impress upon Abraham a lesson, and to enable him to attain unto knowledge that he could not obtain in any other way. That is why God tries all of us. It is not for His own knowledge; for He knows all things beforehand. He knows all your lives and everything you will do. But he tries us for our own good, that we may know ourselves."

(George Q. Cannon, in Conference Report, April 1899, 66).

Thank you to gever tulley for sharing this photograph, "PH eddies in a litmus solution," on flickr.

Beauty in the Deep

"For thou hadst cast me into the deep,
in the midst of the seas; and the floods compassed me about:
all thy billows and thy waves passed over me.

Then I said, I am cast out of thy sight; yet I will look again toward thy holy temple.

The waters compassed me about, even to the soul:
the depth closed me round about,
the weeds were wrapped about my head.

I went down to the bottoms of the mountains;
the earth with her bars was about me for ever:
yet hast thou brought up my life from corruption, O Lord my God."

Jonah 2: 3-6

Galapagos from Darek Sepiolo on Vimeo.