Mental health
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I have mental health issues and that is why I ask. I am trying to understand why these issues keep coming up with me.
Demons are real, and their interference can have physical/mental results, but the battle is spiritual. Not all “mental illness” is physical/emotional only, nor is it all demonic.
Put your spiritual armour on (Ephesians 6:10-18) and pray against the influence of demons in your life.
Seek God’s help on how to deal with your mental illness. He is the Great Physician.
Put your spiritual armour on (Ephesians 6:10-18) and pray against the influence of demons in your life.
Seek God’s help on how to deal with your mental illness. He is the Great Physician.
Could you possibly elaborate some more on spiritual? Does spiritual have to do with mental state? Does spiritual mean when we have the Holy Spirit in us? Do you perhaps know where in the Bible I can find more about the spirit? Thank you so very much for your help.
1st Peter 5:7- "casting all your cares upon Him, for He careth for you".. ask in faith & never let down. Psalms 27:14, 55:22, 16: 8 & 9 are helpful.
Hi, my recommendation would be to just surrender yourself to the Lord with all your heart; He knows what you need better than anyone. Pray and read the Bible every day, follow where He leads.
That being said, demons can cause someone to not be in their right mind. For example, in Mark 5, Jesus cast out a legion of demons from a man. Afterword, when people started hearing about it, they came to see the man and: "saw the one who had been demon-possessed and had the legion, sitting and clothed and in his right mind. And they were afraid." (v.15) After the demons were cast out, his sanity returned. I'm not saying you'll receive and instantaneous healing, you might though. Jesus can definitely heal you, whatever the problem is; just keep trusting in Him.
A related question is whether the cause of mental aberrations is physical illness or psychological influence.
My understanding is that a chemical cause has not been discovered, but neither has a psychological cause in every case,
so more scientific/unbiased study is needed.
My preference is to try therapy including Christian doctrine first, and if that does not work then consider medicines.
Here is a way to do DIY Christian counseling.
Counsel Yourself
1. What is happening? (I am getting… upset, angry, sad, bored, etc.)
2. Why am I feeling this way? (Because of what someone said or did, because of inactivity, because of being tired or hungry, etc.)
3. How can I cope with my feelings or resolve this situation in a good way? (By taking a nap, by exercising, by eating, by talking with a caring person, etc.)
4. How can I take responsibility for my happiness? (By thinking of fun things to do, by listening to pleasant music, by watching clean shows, by going to a church with a nice youth group, by reading an interesting book, by seeking new friendships, etc.).
5. How can I cope with negative thoughts, events and people? (By doing the following
a. Accentuate the positive while eliminating the negative (cf. Bing Crosby song).
b. Make a reasonable effort, so you have no reason to be ashamed of not trying, but do not try to be perfect or to work miracles.
c. Live one day at a time, letting painful memories fade while making good memories today and not worrying about what might happen tomorrow (cf. Joe Walsh song).
d. Pray the Serenity Prayer: “Lord grant me the courage to change the things I can, the patience and strength to endure the things I cannot change, and the wisdom to discern the difference.”
e. Work on what seems to be a big forest of problems by cutting down one tree at a time.
f. Count your blessings, compared with poor kids starving around the world, who would love to be in your shoes.
g. Realize that many people (and God) care about you and are willing to help, if you ask them.
h. Listen to music that makes you happy and supports positive thoughts and moral values.
i. Learn from mistakes, preferably those made by others (including parents), so you will not repeat them and thus will have a happier life.
j. When negative events occur, counsel yourself as above.
k. When people mistreat you, consider counseling them by saying, “I know I do not deserve this, so would you like to share what is really bothering you?
l. Adopt as a motto: “Love to learn, and learn to love.”
Counsel Yourself
1. What is happening? (I am getting… upset, angry, sad, bored, etc.)
2. Why am I feeling this way? (Because of what someone said or did, because of inactivity, because of being tired or hungry, etc.)
3. How can I cope with my feelings or resolve this situation in a good way? (By taking a nap, by exercising, by eating, by talking with a caring person, etc.)
4. How can I take responsibility for my happiness? (By thinking of fun things to do, by listening to pleasant music, by watching clean shows, by going to a church with a nice youth group, by reading an interesting book, by seeking new friendships, etc.).
5. How can I cope with negative thoughts, events and people? (By doing the following
a. Accentuate the positive while eliminating the negative (cf. Bing Crosby song).
b. Make a reasonable effort, so you have no reason to be ashamed of not trying, but do not try to be perfect or to work miracles.
c. Live one day at a time, letting painful memories fade while making good memories today and not worrying about what might happen tomorrow (cf. Joe Walsh song).
d. Pray the Serenity Prayer: “Lord grant me the courage to change the things I can, the patience and strength to endure the things I cannot change, and the wisdom to discern the difference.”
e. Work on what seems to be a big forest of problems by cutting down one tree at a time.
f. Count your blessings, compared with poor kids starving around the world, who would love to be in your shoes.
g. Realize that many people (and God) care about you and are willing to help, if you ask them.
h. Listen to music that makes you happy and supports positive thoughts and moral values.
i. Learn from mistakes, preferably those made by others (including parents), so you will not repeat them and thus will have a happier life.
j. When negative events occur, counsel yourself as above.
k. When people mistreat you, consider counseling them by saying, “I know I do not deserve this, so would you like to share what is really bothering you?
l. Adopt as a motto: “Love to learn, and learn to love.”
Here is a way to do DIY Christian counseling.
Counsel Yourself
1. What is happening? (I am getting… upset, angry, sad, bored, etc.)
2. Why am I feeling this way? (Because of what someone said or did, because of inactivity, because of being tired or hungry, etc.)
3. How can I cope with my feelings or resolve this situation in a good way? (By taking a nap, by exercising, by eating, by talking with a caring person, etc.)
4. How can I take responsibility for my happiness? (By thinking of fun things to do, by listening to pleasant music, by watching clean shows, by going to a church with a nice youth group, by reading an interesting book, by seeking new friendships, etc.).
5. How can I cope with negative thoughts, events and people? (By doing the following
a. Accentuate the positive while eliminating the negative (cf. Bing Crosby song).
b. Make a reasonable effort, so you have no reason to be ashamed of not trying, but do not try to be perfect or to work miracles.
c. Live one day at a time, letting painful memories fade while making good memories today and not worrying about what might happen tomorrow (cf. Joe Walsh song).
d. Pray the Serenity Prayer: “Lord grant me the courage to change the things I can, the patience and strength to endure the things I cannot change, and the wisdom to discern the difference.”
e. Work on what seems to be a big forest of problems by cutting down one tree at a time.
f. Count your blessings, compared with poor kids starving around the world, who would love to be in your shoes.
g. Realize that many people (and God) care about you and are willing to help, if you ask them.
h. Listen to music that makes you happy and supports positive thoughts and moral values.
i. Learn from mistakes, preferably those made by others (including parents), so you will not repeat them and thus will have a happier life.
j. When negative events occur, counsel yourself as above.
k. When people mistreat you, consider counseling them by saying, “I know I do not deserve this, so would you like to share what is really bothering you?
l. Adopt as a motto: “Love to learn, and learn to love.”
I particularly like l Love to learn, and learn to love.
it, as I see is, with the first birth of flesh nature that cannot please God
therefore Father took care of this mess by Son once for us all to be new in Daddy's Spirit and Truth and love all, yes all, no more thought(s) over it, what?
Ask Dad, Father, PaPa, and trust to hear truth over error of flesh and blood
Romans 8:1-3, explains it well to me to be dead to flesh, alive to god in God's spirit and Truth given me Romans 6
And ready to give anyone that chooses God willingly
Yes, the heart if Christian counseling is belief in the Christian creed, “Accept Christ Jesus as Lord” (as in 2Cor. 4:5 & Col. 2:6). The main points of Christian orthodoxy implicit in this statement can be explained or elaborated as follows:
- There is a/one all-loving and just Lord or Creator God (Deut. 6:4, John 3:16, 2Thes. 1:6), who is both able (2Tim. 1:12) and willing (1Tim. 2:3-4, Ezek. 33:11) to provide all morally accountable human beings salvation or heaven—a wonderful life full of love, joy and peace forever.
- Human beings are selfish or sinful (Rom. 3:23, 2Tim. 3:2-4, Col. 3:5), miserable (Gal. 5:19-21), and hopeless (Eph. 2:12) or hell-bound at the judgment (Matt. 23:33 & 25:46) when they reject God’s salvation (John 3:18, Rom. 2:5-11).
- Jesus is God’s Messiah/Christ and incarnate Son, the way that God has chosen (John 3:16, Acts 16:30-31, Phil. 2:9-11) of providing salvation by means of his atoning death on the cross for the payment of the penalty for the sins of humanity (Rom. 3:22-25 & 5:9-11), followed by his resurrection to reign in heaven (1Cor. 15:14-28).
- Thus, every person who hears the NT Gospel needs to repent and accept God’s grace or justification in Jesus as Christ/Messiah the Lord or Supreme Commander (Luke 2:11, John 14:6, Acts 16:31), which means trying to obey His commandment to love one another (Matt. 22:37-40, John 13:35, Rom. 13:9)—forever (Matt. 10:22, Psa. 113:2).
- Then God’s Holy Spirit will establish a saving relationship with all who truly accept/love Him (Rev. 3:20) that will eventually achieve heaven after Christ returns at God’s resurrection of all saved souls when everyone cooperates fully with His will (John 14:6, 17&26, Rom. 8:6-17, Gal. 6:7-9, Eph. 1:13-14, Heb. 10:36, 12:1, Jam. 1:2-4).
1. Admit powerlessness: Acknowledging that addiction has made life unmanageable.
2. Believe in a higher power: Finding faith in something greater than oneself to help with recovery.
3. Turn will and life over to a higher power: Making a conscious decision to entrust one's recovery to a higher power.
4. Moral inventory: Conducting a fearless and searching moral inventory of oneself.
5. Admit wrongs: Admitting to God, oneself, and another human being the exact nature of one's wrongs.
6. Ready for defects to be removed: Becoming entirely ready to have defects of character removed.
7. Humbly ask for shortcomings to be removed: Requesting a higher power to remove shortcomings.
8. List of harmed: Making a list of people harmed and becoming willing to make amends.
9. Make amends: Making direct amends to those harmed, except when doing so would cause further harm.
10. Personal inventory: Continuing to take personal inventory and promptly admitting wrongs.
11. Prayer and meditation: Seeking guidance and connection with a higher power through prayer and meditation.
12. Carry the message: Helping others struggling with addiction and practicing these principles in all areas of life.
I believe they came to steal and destroy, .
This statement alone in the bible is enough to show they could destroy a persons mind also especially if no heed is taken from another passage from Jesus. which is to remain sober, as the enemy, meaning demons, will have more of an easy target.
Which could mean a person mind being destroyed over time.
We see in Job to that demons are also willing to destroy a persons character, by hurting the ones that you love to. What that means is they want a person to curse God and by what ever means possible they want there curse to spoken out between brother and sister father and son.
Its also clear that any of your good human morals are at risk of being obliterated should you not know how to deal with demons mentally.
Every thought as Jesus teaches must be taken captive, this could be said for many reasons, but also because you may be acting upon thoughts not of your own, this in itself speaks clearly of a mental challenge, but I know of stories where demons unnoticed can cause sever trauma to a person mind through all sorts of horrible methods.
We are also told that this battle is until the end, but once you mature in the lord this battle gets easier, but even then the battle requires you to ready for anything.
Is anything worrying you, theres no need to be scared if there is.
You can find help amongst strangers if your feeling scared.
We are also dealing with what can be a very scary situation for people.
The mental challenge when a person is being scared because of scare tactics from these creatures becomes harder to overcome should a person be living in fear.
I feal from knowledge gained they want people to be hated so that you can hate back, they also want a person bullied as well as hated, what you must do is ignore any temptation to do bad. As anything a demon can influence a person to do they will then hold it against you mentally by reminding you constantly of the anything bad you may of done.
This is also a mental hurdle to overcome as self confidence is very important, having a life one day and then being hated the next day, can lead to all sorts of issues for a person.
Another mental hurdle would be ignoring any thoughts that loved ones hate you, especially more so if your only young, as human emotions are so easily taken advantage of when it comes feeling loved.
Are you ok
2Ti 1:7 For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.
Mat 11:28 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
Mat 11:29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.
Mat 11:30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
Joh 16:22 And ye now therefore have sorrow: but I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no man taketh from you.
Neh 8:10 Then he said unto them, Go your way, eat the fat, and drink the sweet, and send portions unto them for whom nothing is prepared: for this day is holy unto our Lord: neither be ye sorry; for the joy of the LORD is your strength.
Gal 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
Gal 5:23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.
2Ti 2:19 Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his. And, Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity.
Mat 7:21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.
Mat 7:23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.
1Co 13:13 And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.
1Co 13:4 Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up,
1Co 13:5 Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil;
1Co 13:6 Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth.
Gal 5:16 This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.
Gal 5:24 And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.
Be willing to abstain from sin allowing the Spirit to lead you.
Which the Spirit will not lead a person who holds unto sin for then how is the person being led of the Spirit.
A person led of the Spirit will do the things of the Spirit.
If you do that God will give you power, love, a sound mind.
Rest for your soul,.
Joy that no person can take away.
We can lose happiness temporarily for it is controlled by us.
But joy is controlled by God so when negative things happen that joy will be there.
Which the joy of the LORD is our strength for it keeps us having an upbeat attitude when living the Christian life.
Jas 4:6 But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.
Jas 4:7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
Jas 4:8 Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.
2Co 12:7 And lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure.
Rom 7:25 I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.
If a person allows the Spirit to lead them then no devil can afflict them mentally.
God allowed Paul to be afflicted physically by a messenger of Satan to keep him humble but he was not afflicted mentally.
Mat 18:10 Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones; for I say unto you, That in heaven their angels do always behold the face of my Father which is in heaven.
Mat 18:14 Even so it is not the will of your Father which is in heaven, that one of these little ones should perish.
Not all mental issues or any body issues are the rest of a demonic being.
For people are born with mental and physical disabilities but the devil cannot touch them and cannot influence them in any way.
Which the disabilities is part of the curse caused by Adam and Eve's fall.
So we can have disabilities without being afflicted by a devil.
Which bad genes can cause affliction later in life.
And afflictions can happen because of people bringing it on themselves.
Bad eating habits, alcohol, drugs, cigarettes, dare devil stunts gone bad.
And your every day run of the mill accident, head and body injury.
that, unfortunately to me is not well for me, "A higher power" is evil itself, masquerading as good, Yet I trust this allowance from Father in risen Son for now.
The same as Son said to Pilate, who said to Jesus, do you not see the power I have over you?
Jesus replied for now it is allowed. Trusting Father to reveal to all that Dad chooses to reveal as Father knows best.
I am an Ex-Alcoholic, not an Alcoholic anymore, for over 42 years now. Thanks to Father and Son's deliverance, not any of my own, but awareness from God in the why I was one.
I thank you, all the help groups, at least trying to get people to see to not be ignorant and do the drinking and carousing anymore, I love it, any help offered. More importantly for one, anyone to be born new from God above, not a higher power to me, yet I see and stand in love to all as Father does, reveled in the risen Son to me at least
To my knowledge mental health is impacted by a factor of MANY many things.
Your body chemistry and hormonal balances, which can be affected by the time of month or what you've eaten, how much sleep youre getting, your stress levels and lifestyle
This isnt even considering our natural temperment, stress response, or how we've been raised/ the lies we've gotten conditioned to believe through the enemy's deceptive commentary on real life tragedies.
Also it's worth noting that some of the struggles we face can be caused by our own sin, though this isnt always the case.
These are my views
I believe in the natural and spiritual
Your body chemistry and hormonal balances, which can be affected by the time of month or what you've eaten, how much sleep youre getting, your stress levels and lifestyle
This isnt even considering our natural temperment, stress response, or how we've been raised/ the lies we've gotten conditioned to believe through the enemy's deceptive commentary on real life tragedies.
Also it's worth noting that some of the struggles we face can be caused by our own sin, though this isnt always the case.
These are my views
I believe in the natural and spiritual
I have suffered with severe generalized anxiety (GAD) now for 40 years.
I refused to go down the medication route and sought help with counselors is my church and it just got worse.
I could never understand why one day I did not have GAD then I did, I have always asked why did this happen?
It led to gambling addiction, alcohol addiction.
I gave up in the end seeking help.
I found no matter how many times i read the Bible verses, it made it worse.
I cried to God for so long but never heard anything.
To cut a long story short, last year I had a triple heart bypass surgery.
A few months after surgery my heart got so irregular and my blood pressure went SKU high again, that my meds were changed and I was given a machine on my arm for 24 hours to check my BP.
In the follow up my consultant noticed that my BP quite often spiked and asked about anxiety, I told him and he recommended I got help, either psychotherapy or medication.
I sought help and have had Cognitive Behaviour Therapy.
After many sessions I was diagnosed with two types of attachment disorders (now working through that)
This was a result of severe childhood trauma.
From sexual abuse, to being thrown at at 14 by mum, my mum being divorced a few times, so called father figuers (foster one who sexually abused me) and my real dad beating my mother and more.
My therapist asked me what happened on that day my GAD started.
I was engaged to my girlfriend to get married, I didn't want to marry her because she cheated on my twice but for some reason I couldn't break it up.
We were sat in church one day and this is what I told my therapist.
"We will get married, have kids, get divorced and I would get to see my children at the weekend"
All of a sudden it felt like my stomach was ripped open and a million butterflies were put in my stomach and stiched up.
I ended the relationship.
I carried the guilt and shame of my thoughts.
For all of look life, before becoming a Christian and after a Christian I have never felt loved. After all why would you given what I went through.
As a Christian I feel that God does not love me, that I'm not good enough, if fail I'm gonna get a beating.
Therefore I find it very difficult to come to him and trust him.
What I now realise after the diagnosis and help with CBT I can understand why I react, the reason why and how deal with it.
Here is why think I can move forward.
My therapist identifed that I anticipate what is going to happen and it's the worst case scenario.
He tells me stay in the moment.
Then it suddenly hits me.
What did Jesus say?
Matthew 6:34
34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.
So to finish, I believe that therapy can help.
Not wishing to be horrible but to say to people with mental health issues to just read Bible verses and will help actually does not.
We need to get behind the reasons why people struggle with it, just like I did.
My upbringing was imprinted in my brain and as a result I did everything to protect myself and not open up to what I went through.
I trusted no one.
But now I feel hope.
I have now started asking God again to help me trust him and know how that he loves me, will never beat me and throw me out.
I am asking the Holy Spirit to work in me.
So please don't be like I was.
I was ashamed as a Christian to have mental health issues.
I spent 40 years rejecting help outside of church.
I think God hurts when his children struggle with it, when they cannot trust him.
And it doesn't bother me now if OUR FATHER uses people who are not Christian to understand what is causing the anxiety.
What we need to understand there were many greats in the Bible who struggled with anxiety and depression.
Hanna
Elijah
Job
David
Jonha
Jesus
Right now I'm gonna finish with the following.
I promised myself and asked God to help me not act and be what I was used to as a child and its consequences (that is why I was so ashamed of my thoughts about getting married when I was engaged before)
I have been married to my beautiful wife for 31 years.
We have 4 kids, all are Christians.
All know they are truly loved, fully accepted and safe in our love.
I thank God he granted me that, even in my darkest days.
I refused to go down the medication route and sought help with counselors is my church and it just got worse.
I could never understand why one day I did not have GAD then I did, I have always asked why did this happen?
It led to gambling addiction, alcohol addiction.
I gave up in the end seeking help.
I found no matter how many times i read the Bible verses, it made it worse.
I cried to God for so long but never heard anything.
To cut a long story short, last year I had a triple heart bypass surgery.
A few months after surgery my heart got so irregular and my blood pressure went SKU high again, that my meds were changed and I was given a machine on my arm for 24 hours to check my BP.
In the follow up my consultant noticed that my BP quite often spiked and asked about anxiety, I told him and he recommended I got help, either psychotherapy or medication.
I sought help and have had Cognitive Behaviour Therapy.
After many sessions I was diagnosed with two types of attachment disorders (now working through that)
This was a result of severe childhood trauma.
From sexual abuse, to being thrown at at 14 by mum, my mum being divorced a few times, so called father figuers (foster one who sexually abused me) and my real dad beating my mother and more.
My therapist asked me what happened on that day my GAD started.
I was engaged to my girlfriend to get married, I didn't want to marry her because she cheated on my twice but for some reason I couldn't break it up.
We were sat in church one day and this is what I told my therapist.
"We will get married, have kids, get divorced and I would get to see my children at the weekend"
All of a sudden it felt like my stomach was ripped open and a million butterflies were put in my stomach and stiched up.
I ended the relationship.
I carried the guilt and shame of my thoughts.
For all of look life, before becoming a Christian and after a Christian I have never felt loved. After all why would you given what I went through.
As a Christian I feel that God does not love me, that I'm not good enough, if fail I'm gonna get a beating.
Therefore I find it very difficult to come to him and trust him.
What I now realise after the diagnosis and help with CBT I can understand why I react, the reason why and how deal with it.
Here is why think I can move forward.
My therapist identifed that I anticipate what is going to happen and it's the worst case scenario.
He tells me stay in the moment.
Then it suddenly hits me.
What did Jesus say?
Matthew 6:34
34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.
So to finish, I believe that therapy can help.
Not wishing to be horrible but to say to people with mental health issues to just read Bible verses and will help actually does not.
We need to get behind the reasons why people struggle with it, just like I did.
My upbringing was imprinted in my brain and as a result I did everything to protect myself and not open up to what I went through.
I trusted no one.
But now I feel hope.
I have now started asking God again to help me trust him and know how that he loves me, will never beat me and throw me out.
I am asking the Holy Spirit to work in me.
So please don't be like I was.
I was ashamed as a Christian to have mental health issues.
I spent 40 years rejecting help outside of church.
I think God hurts when his children struggle with it, when they cannot trust him.
And it doesn't bother me now if OUR FATHER uses people who are not Christian to understand what is causing the anxiety.
What we need to understand there were many greats in the Bible who struggled with anxiety and depression.
Hanna
Elijah
Job
David
Jonha
Jesus
Right now I'm gonna finish with the following.
I promised myself and asked God to help me not act and be what I was used to as a child and its consequences (that is why I was so ashamed of my thoughts about getting married when I was engaged before)
I have been married to my beautiful wife for 31 years.
We have 4 kids, all are Christians.
All know they are truly loved, fully accepted and safe in our love.
I thank God he granted me that, even in my darkest days.