Today I am grateful for my own mental health in the form of sobriety.
Addiction falls into the category of Mental Health issues. I am an alcoholic in recovery, one day at a time, for 5204 days in a row. Whew. What a miracle.
When I got sober, by the Grace of God, I realized how much more work I had to do on my mind after taking the barrier of alcohol out of the equation. Stopping drinking was just the beginning. For many, there are serious underlying issues that are hidden under our addiction. When the curtain of addiction is pulled up and removed, light is shed on issues like, suppressed anger from the past, grief, depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, thoughts of suicide, and many more.
Some of us need more help with these issues but are ashamed to seek outside help. We are slowly bringing this out of the darkness and into the light. In the past, these were thought of as “mental illness” issues. Oddly enough, if we have a physical illness, we seek help for that without a thought. As we continue to learn going forward, we can begin to understand that these issues are Mental HEALth problems—
No, I didn’t make a mistake in my typing.
I meant to highlight that the word HEAL is inside the word Health. Healing is acknowledging and seeking help with maintaining our bodies— both physically and mentally.
There’s so much stigma associated with mental health. I love that we are finally shedding the cloak of shame that surrounds us about it and putting on the garment of love, tolerance, understanding and acceptance.
I am so proud of Twin Lakes Church for hosting a Mental Health Gathering this weekend to educate people on the resources available to all for family and friends to get the help they need.
I pray that I can be source of light to someone who needs a hand coming out of hiding.
“But everything exposed by the light becomes visible—and everything that is illuminated becomes a light.”
Ephesians 5:13
To buy my books, click on the website menu bar at the top of this page.