Mental Health: Saying Goodbye to StigmaSample

Day Three - My Story: Part 3

Romans 8:28 - And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.

Welcome back, friends. Let’s return to the final part of my story.

After assessing how I was presenting in the hospital over two weeks, my psychiatrist came back with a new diagnosis: Bipolar Affective Disorder.

I was given a new medication (one that caused me to gain four stone that I have not yet been able to fully lose) and sent on my way to slowly rehabilitate and rejoin society. All was well…for a while.

Fast-forward to 2018. I went through a season of feeling like God was leading me towards counselling to unpack and unpick some of the experiences I had had in the years growing up into adulthood. This was all going well, and God was revealing a lot of memories, which my skilled counsellor was able to manoeuvre into healing moments.

It was suggested that my Bipolar diagnosis was nothing more than childhood trauma that - after a solid season of counselling - would heal and leave me much more balanced and whole and no longer in need of medication.

I took the suggestion seriously and went to my doctor, explaining that I was in a very good place socially, mentally, emotionally, and in every sense of the word and that now might be a good time to attempt to wean off of my medication. (In all honesty, I was hoping that this would also mean I could wave goodbye to the extra four stone that I had gained).

The doctor took my pitch seriously and agreed that this was something that could be attempted. I was given a 4–5-month plan for weaning down and off of my medication and sent on my way again.

Sadly, come the summer of 2019, I had slid into another cycle of hyperbehaviour mixed with bouts of deep depression. I was admitted to a different psychiatric ward and treated, this time for a month, for Bipolar.

I tell you all this story, friends, to let you know that my health journey has neither been easy nor straightforward, but it has been worth it. I can now testify on as many platforms as the Lord gives me that He has set my feet on solid ground. He has also enabled me to balance the correct medication for my condition with the understanding that I will likely need this medication for the rest of my life if I want to remain healthy in my mind.

Illness of any kind is a high price to pay, and I do not recommend that anyone take lightly a doctor’s diagnosis or subsequent advice to medicate. Doctors, Nurses, and the medical system are God-given and there to support us when we find ourselves in less-than-peak health.

Just because you are a follower of Jesus does not mean that you need to abandon all other forms of help and assistance. Follow the Doctor’s advice. Take their recommended medicine if that is what has been advised. Live informed and healthy.

If you are a follower of Jesus, know that He will always lead you step by step and will not leave you alone in your illness. If you commit to seeking out professional, spiritual, and wise counsel, God will direct your steps to health.

He is that good.

Tomorrow, we will start digging into scripture and the ways that being a follower of Jesus can collide with the mental health conversation.