mental illness

Strength of Character

/ E Bishop Wooten / Leave a comment

We’ve heard the old saying “Survival of the Fittest” and the famous one “God helps those who helps themselves.” Is this Biblical? Who are the fittest and the ones to whom God helps that help themselves?

Mental illness along with illnesses of the body are usually not found in those that consider themselves “strong.” Even the “strongest” person admits they have weaknesses. So why don’t we acknowledge our illnesses, particularly mental, as our weaknesses? We admit our character defects which for the most part include our sins. So why don’t we consider our infirmities as weaknesses? After all when you struggle with something for a long time it can wear down your body’s immune system. This is especially true when as we get older and prolonged years of stress & anxiety “weaken” our immune system and we end up having to take medicine as we get older.

So who are the ones who are the fittest? Some have a strong faith in God and some are strong in and of themselves. However no one is entirely that strong in and of themselves apart from God. Therefore it’s God who gives you the grace to make it through each day. You’re just deluded into thinking you’re such a “good person” in and of yourself.

Years of being grounded in the Word of God can “strengthen” your character as well. As you pray and seek God you can better discern His Will for you life so that you know almost exactly what to pray for. Then you stand on the Word and trust in God’s timing for the answer. God for the most part either says Yes when He grants it to you or wait. He only says no if it goes against His Word. Although all your prayers have their yes in Messiah Yeshua as everything you ultimately seek can be found in Him; security, significance, salvation, purpose,

So to sum it up Survival of the Fittest can best be attributed to Survival of the Faithful. Although no matter how godly or faithful you can get you can always get struck down with cancer, heart disease, mental illness. You will be healed of it even if it kills you; i.e. if God uses it as His means of Grace to call you home.

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Repression leads to depression

/ E Bishop Wooten / Leave a comment

Jeremiah 17:9. . .”The heart is hopelessly dark and deceitful, a puzzle that no one can figure out. But God searches the heart and examines the mind and gets to the heart of the human, the root of things, and treats them as they really are and not as they pretend to be.” (Message Bible)

The Apostle Paul said he became all things to all people so that he may win a few. I learn more about my faith by relating to non-believers and seeing what it is about my faith that they are really rejecting. The biggest thing that comes to mind is they see Christians as repressing their desires in an attempt to live for God. I learned in 12-Step groups that repressed desires are the leading cause of mental health issues. This could explain the Religious Trauma Syndrome that many people suffer from when they leave the Church.

Repressing our desires is not the freedom that God calls us to in Christ. While our desires are natural, they are not always Godly. When we turn from our own path and seek out the path of righteousness that God laid out for us, He begins to show us a new path to take; aka being born again, or a fresh start in life.

We don’t have to struggle with our desires. Maybe they are something good that God wants us to have. We should go after these as long as the Spirit doesn’t convict us and we put God first. Every desire is basically good at its starting point because it serves a basic need that we have. Our relationship with God meets every need that we have at its core.

We don’t struggle with or repress our desires. We simply rise above them and become fully human and live the life that God calls us to live. This is what Jesus meant when He said our faith is the victory that overcomes the world.

Spiritual roots of anxiety

/ E Bishop Wooten / Leave a comment
Prov. 12:25. . .”Anxiety in the heart of man causes depression, But a good word makes it glad.”
Ever wonder why a lot of people have anger & emotional issues? Or even depression, for that matter? Since I’ve struggled with this in the past, I’ve come to realize (by the grace of God) that depression/anxiety isn’t necessarily a chemical imbalance. Of course, in a way it is, I don’t knock the use of medications, maybe some people do need them.

I heard on a christian radio show one day that the main cause of anger was unfulfilled expectations. On the same station I also heard that depression is a result of quenching the Holy Spirit in some way. So if a person struggles with these they may have something that God is calling them to do that they haven’t realized yet. Probably due to feelings of inadequacy or even doubts that God wants to use them or bless them in a certain way.

Remember the best way to discover God’s will for you life is by asking what desires are in your heart? (Psalm 37:4). As you delight (or surrender) yourself in the Lord, He gives you whatever desires He wants you to have. Of course it’s human nature to doubt due to fear or unbelief, so many people end up living average lives with unfulfilled dreams.

Every christian has a God-sized dream that God wants them to accomplish that requires a closer walk with Him to carry out.

The nature of chemical dependency

/ E Bishop Wooten / Leave a comment

Chemical dependency goes a lot deeper than just drugs and alcohol. Although if you have a drinking or drug problem you’re guaranteed a free place to stay while you work the program. There are other forms of chemical dependency other than drugs and alcohol; Just not as many damaging effects.

Caffeine is the most widely abused drug in the world. The best part of waking up? I always thought it was interesting that any chemical dependency group I visited always had a big ass coffee pot in the center of the room.

Do you ever really overcome an addiction? It seems when we stop using one drug of choice we merely replace it with something else. For example we become addicted to work, religious activities or even the groups themselves.

Relationships can be an addiction as well. Codependency is when we become too dependent on people to fill some void in our lives.

Pharmaceutical drugs are also a chemical dependency. This is why I never liked taking psychiatric medication. It takes months before it really works. It is almost like they are designed that way so people become dependent on them.

In closing I once heard a pastor say there are no addictions. Addictions are merely strongholds. My dad quit smoking after 35 years when he found out he had spots on his lungs. He even said if you really want to quit then all you need to do is just make the decision to.

Since we tend to replace one addiction with another, maybe the healthiest addiction is life’s most important relationship. Everything addiction outside of that is merely just a form of idolatry.

But then again what do I know? I am not a licensed addictions counselor anyway.

P

Emotional intelligence and the spiritual life

/ E Bishop Wooten / Leave a comment

As I reflect on how I lost my ambition over the last ten years, I can’t help but wonder if is a sign of spiritual growth or mental illness.

It has been a whole decade since I made the decision to abandon all conventional medicine. I replaced it with a wellness kick. For a while my wife was into it as well. It was the closest we had been in a short five year relationship.

You might ask if I consulted my doctor before I made that decision. I consulted the Great Physician. I was seeing a Christian counselor. It took me awhile to find him.

If you knew how the healthcare system worked, you would understand what led to my decision. Doctors will never condone a mentally ill person weaning off their medication due to the safety risk and possible loss of license.

Also once you are diagnosed with a mental illness, you may likely never be diagnosed with any physical illness. Any symptoms could easily be attributed to being depressed or manic.

I pretty much lost most of the friends I had then. We pretty much became unequally yoked since they still believed in modern medicine. I just read a verse in one of the books of Chronicles about how King Asa died because he trusted in physicians rather than seeking God for healing.

To sum up the healing process, I learned to value myself more for one thing. I also practiced meditation and staying present. This isn’t a new age term of you are meditating on the things of God in the Bible.

Over time I became more aware of my emotions. I confess I do still have minor episodes. Maybe they are right in mental illness being a lifelong condition.

However through mindfulness meditation I am able to ride out the episodes within a very short period of time. I just have to avoid people so they won’t freak out and contact the authorities.

The fruit of the spirit is self control. In addition to managing the symptoms of mental illness I became more resilient to the pressures of life. This may make me look poor on paper, but it is called discovering one’s true wealth within.

Some scientists have proved the body can heal itself. These scientists can’t figure out why we even have to die in the first place.

Modern medicine was designed to treat symptoms. Most illnesses are rooted in stress, anxiety, and other emotional problems. Many of these underlying issues may never be treated in a profit based system.

The good news is they don’t have to be treated by the system. True freedom is found in a personal and intimate relationship with the Divine. Even Jesus asked the man at the well if he wanted to be healed.