What Does It Mean To Become Better?

I saw this quote image while surfing around on Pinterest.com today and it got me thinking about what it means to be better. Of course this quote is talking about becoming a better person overall and so the context is a bit different...but still...

What is the definition of "better" when it comes to mental illness and depression? Does it mean to be stable? Does it mean some form of normal? Could you even go so far as to say it is "better" than you were before you had your first major attack of depression/mania/schizophrenia?

Yes, it should mean that, like the quote is trying to get across, that you are trying to become a better person, period. Still, I would hope that maybe it will help me to understand how to define "better" in terms of my depression issues. As in: "Am I doing/being/feeling better (mentally) today than I was the other day?" (and) "Am I trying to be better as a person, as a Christian, as a fellow human being?"

For me it means having to ask myself that question every day. It is something that people who haven't had depression/a mental illness (and haven't at least had a loved one who coped with it) have a hard time understanding. Yes, everyone questions their life from time to time, but when you live with major depression many mornings it is a struggle just to get out of bed and face the day.

Sometimes I think that having an understanding of the human condition's dark side is too much for me to cope with. I have to pray in the morning for God to lift that burden from me, so I can get out of bed and get on with my day. I don't hate my life...it just makes me feel tired and let down on my bad days. The rat race sometimes is too much for me and it is then that I have to ask myself the "Am I better?" and "Do I want to be better (mentally and as a person)?" questions.

These are all good and worthy questions for us all to ponder both in relation to mental illness and just life in general.

What does it mean to you to be a better person or to feel that you are doing better in regard to your struggles with mental illness (or the mental illness of a loved one/friend)? Is there anything you'd like to add?

Mental Health, Christians, and Counseling

I recently have noticed that a lot of the church does not seem to fully understand how to deal with people that suffer from a mental illness. Of course, mental illness is something that is hard for many people to understand, but what I mean is that a lot of believers don't know how to relate to a mentally ill person other than by saying, "I'll pray for you." Other believers seem to think the mentally ill have brought on their illness through sin or that the person in question is possessed by demons.

Still, I do not discount that there could be people who have "brought the illness on themself" or who have possibly been possessed by demons. So what should be done to help our brothers and sisters in the Lord who have mental illnesses? Well, I have come to believe that the use of medication and therapy is vastly underrated in the church and may even be looked down upon in some denominations because taking medicine means you are not really "trusting God to heal you".

YES, God can heal a person of mental illness, BUT He can also use medicine or therapy (hopefully Christian counseling too!) to heal the person or to help them get better over time. Why aren't there more people in the church reaching out to mentally ill brothers and sisters in Christ who are hurting and possibly avoiding church because everyone there belittles them to "have more faith and be healed"?!? Instead shouldn't we, as Christians, leave room for belief that MAYBE God has a different plan for them to be healed or that is be their "thorn in the side" as the Apostle Paul speaks of in regard to his personal imparement?

I speak as someone who suffers from chronic depression, among other things, and have always found the church lacking in this area of counseling.

Maybe I should try to counsel others I meet and live out what I am saying? I have considered going to school to get training for counseling...maybe I will.

I am the face of someone who lives DAILY with depression and I choose to not take meds, but that does not mean I look down on anyone who does need them.