Does anyone have a mental disorder?

[reen12]

Welcome to CAF, fyrefly.

quote: fyrefly

I am not the only one, I see. I have had some psychological problems since I was in my one-digits (six or seven) due to some trauma. I grew up in my teens troubled, got married and am still having problems…

Please know, fyrefly, that you are not alone - in terms of psychological suffering.
I have been very ill, with same, for decades. Since childhood.
I was traumatized, too.
Surely God watches over those of us who experienced trauma, so early in life.
Even when I did not know that He cared, He did.

quote:fryefly

So I handle it by just going on.

You remind me of what Father Groeschel said:
“Take the next good step.”

And sometimes, I’ve noted, they are more like little baby steps. But that’s OK, to me.
At least I’m moving. http://bestsmileys.com/nono/9.gif

Blessing to you, fryefly.

reen12

 

[strngrnrth]

I have many layers of PTSD and I don’t know if that’s all or not but it’s plenty for me:hypno: I was diagnosed almst 20 years ago with borderline and dissociative disorders but a later checkup found no sign of those. All these are results of things that happen as you go along, not born. I can’t figure out how to get past it. Meds aren’t the answer, not alone, because they only calm. That’s not the whole battle. The real battle is to gain strength and wisdom to roll through things. Only God can help this problem, but then we all need God.
I was also really mentally messed up by the social environment I spent most of my youth in, where I learned a weird idea of what is normal and how to live. And then the dope didn’t do any good either. Or the liquor. So I’m putting my healing in God’s hands again and again.

 

[fyrefly]

I’m putting my healing in God’s hands again and again.

That is the best thing you can do—just offer over and over again your troubles to God. Meds are only good as long you are working on your problems too, I agree. God is ultimately the One in control—I just imagine that He is leading me, even if it doesn’t feel like it. And especially when I fail by doing and saying the wrong stuff.

And thanks Reen12 for your encouragement and welcoming to the forum. You make me feel SPAYSHUL (special, ha ha )
God bless you too.

 

[strngrnrth]

If schizophrenia is anything like a bad acid trip, I’m praying for everyone who has it right now.

 

[Sheeniac]

I have depression, although it is pretty much under control.

Look at it this way - we all will suffer purification before we meet God face to face. Perhaps you will have virtually no time spent in Purgatory.

 

[RWMorris]

I have suffered from PTSD with reactive psychosis. It was pretty bad. But when I make sure to take my meds regularly it seems to be okay most of the time. Sometimes I think that people don’t understand how hard it is to be “crazy” ! It can be a very difficult thing.
I try to pray often and I do feel a special grace from God; I think sometimes He is blessing me because of my affliction…???

 

[Kathrin]

I try to pray often and I do feel a special grace from God; I think sometimes He is blessing me because of my affliction…???

I can imagine that well.

 

[Miserissima]

I know a woman who would become so depressed due to Bi-Polar and PTSD that she would lay on the floor with her head wrapped between her arms or sitting in a Taize chair before a statue of the Blessed Mother. She would pray the Rosary, or a chaplet, or just, “Lord, thank you for this gift, I offer it back to you,” or something similar. She also did this kneeling during Adoration, if she could get out of the house that day. Hope that helps a little.

 

[244Rocket]

Still praying for all of you!

 

[onaquest]

This topic has been very healing for me. Thank you all and God bless you. You will be in my prayers.

 

[ivory]

I haven’t been officially diagnosed with anything , but I am prone to frequent ticks, especially in public. I am really embarrassed by my condition. I’m sure many people believe I may be retarded or have some sort of handicap.

 

[onaquest]

It would be good for you to get a diagnosis. On top of my bipolar disorder I have anxiety that causes a lot of ticks. I’ve been able to get medication that helps me with the shakes and zoning out.
I will remain hopeful that there is help for you out there.

 

[Mini_gerbel]

Hi MG…I dont get your meaning …can you clarify please?..Barb

passionist priests. They are really good. This might fall under appartions but that man was just guided by the spirit. It was crazy when he talked. He knew things only you knew. It was crazy. Like the 12 apostles.

 

[cecilia97]

I was also diagnosed with bipolar disorder. The interesting thing is that since I reverted back to the Church, my increased spirituality has actually tempered my moods to a certain degree. I also credit years of therapy, both medical and psychological.

Though this disorder may also hinder my prayer life, I’ve gotten to a point where I don’t sweat it as much, realizing that each day is a new day in Our Lord’s creation, and it gives me another day to focus more on God.

I have been clinically depressed for most of my adult life. Medication and some talk therapy have helped, but a relationship with God has done more. Since coming back into the Church, I am more stable and deal with everyday life so much better. Someone even commented on it the other day! I can’t take credit for any of it.

When I wasn’t practicing my faith properly, I tried to fill the hole with self-medicating via alcohol, food, exercise, relationships, work. Now I can do less of that and fill the space meant for God with…God!

 

[244Rocket]

:
When I wasn’t practicing my faith properly, I tried to fill the hole with self-medicating via alcohol, food, exercise, relationships, work. Now I can do less of that and fill the space meant for God with…God!

Good for you!

 

[allhers]

I have been clinically depressed for most of my adult life. Medication and some talk therapy have helped, but a relationship with God has done more. Since coming back into the Church, I am more stable and deal with everyday life so much better. Someone even commented on it the other day! I can’t take credit for any of it.

When I wasn’t practicing my faith properly, I tried to fill the hole with self-medicating via alcohol, food, exercise, relationships, work. Now I can do less of that and fill the space meant for God with…God!

Same here, but mine has been my entire life and I have also learned that when God is first in my life, everything else is less complicated!! A really good Doctor years ago explained how when I deplete my brain chemicals (called neurotransmitters) by not eating right, sleeping enough or getting any exercise that I have to be put on medication for (me), about 6 months until they are restored. I haven’t been on any medication in years, but I know that if I don’t do the above that I will have to go back on it.
I’d rather do the right things now. (I still have a lot of panic attacks though, but those are getting better too.)
One other thing, I never left the Church, not ever, but there were times in my life where I wasn’t exactly living a Sacramental life, I am now. I pray the Rosary and the Chaplet of Divine Mercy daily too and I argee with many on here that Jesus has carried me through it all.

 

[tessi]

A really good Doctor years ago explained how when I deplete my brain chemicals (called neurotransmitters) by not eating right, sleeping enough or getting any exercise that I have to be put on medication for (me), about 6 months until they are restored. I haven’t been on any medication in years, but I know that if I don’t do the above that I will have to go back on it.

But why don’t they have a test to show me that my neurotransmitters are low? It seems there is not such a test. So why should I beleive all that nonsense about eating right, etc.? The doctors are telling you “don’t think”, “eat, sleep, exercise so you don’t think too much”

 

[allhers]

But why don’t they have a test to show me that my neurotransmitters are low? It seems there is not such a test. So why should I beleive all that nonsense about eating right, etc.? The doctors are telling you “don’t think”, “eat, sleep, exercise so you don’t think too much”

Well, I’m not at all sure what you are saying, other than wondering if they have a test for this.
However, in my case, it does do me well to not think so much, by that I mean, not to live in my head.
No Doctor ever told me not to think though. I do know how to properly use my brain. I did use to spend more time “living” in my head before I learned that my head is not a good place to be all the time and that I would do well to live in reality.
Reality isn’t all its cracked up to be sometimes too but its far better for me to deal in reality than in fantasy land. (Besides, fantasy land is mortal sin of your own making according to the Cathechism.)

 

[DavidW]

But why don’t they have a test to show me that my neurotransmitters are low? It seems there is not such a test. So why should I beleive all that nonsense about eating right, etc.? The doctors are telling you “don’t think”, “eat, sleep, exercise so you don’t think too much”

The truth is they don’t know, they’re guessing based on the symptoms you report. There is no test.

As far as eating right, getting sleep and exercise, well all I can tell you is it works. The human body, mind and spirit just seem to work better on regular sleep, exercise and prayer.

This has been a very good thread for me. For one thing its good to know that others have similar issues and are finding some healing through their relationship with God. I have found that being careful with my diet, walking daily and having a regimen of daily prayer works far better than pharmaceuticals, which seemed to stop working very well for me a couple years ago.

Prayer beats Prozac, so to speak.

I also have come to think of it as demons, or my demon. Doesn’t really matter if that’s true or not, but it helps me because if its a demon, I can’t lose. All I have to do is ask God for help with it and I cannot lose that battle.

I do the St. Michael prayer daily, its one of the first things I do every morning:

Saint Michael the Archangel,
defend us in battle.
Be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the devil.
May God rebuke him, we humbly pray;
and do Thou, O Prince of the Heavenly Host -
by the Divine Power of God -
cast into hell, satan and all the evil spirits,
who roam throughout the world seeking the ruin of souls.

Amen.

Your mileage may vary. As I said, I don’t know if its demons or not. Its the sort of thing I’d imagine demons would do though as it is very effective at distracting me from focusing on my relationship with God.

This week has been a rough one for me, I’ve been doing gratitude lists a lot. That helps too.

Anyway, thanks to everyone that has posted here. Its been very helpful for me.

 

[nahbios]

First of all, this is an amazing thread. Thanks to everyone who has contributed and to Kind Bean for beginning it.

I’ve been reading posts in so many threads that I recognise some of the names here. I don’t mean this in a way to deny your illness and need for God’s Help, but I wouldn’t have thought that any of you would be living with mental illness from posts on other threads. Thank you for speaking/writing about it!

I am living with OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder) like Kathrin. I believe that it started when I was about 11 and a half with the predictions of the end of the world at the turn of the millennium. I prayed the Rosary every night asking God not end the world on 31st December 1999/1st January 2000. I hid most of this from my mom and dad, although they knew some extent of my anxiety. On 31st December '99, I woke up relieved that the world had not ended, considering that once Kiritimati (one one of the islands or island groups in the Pacific on the Eastern side of the International Date Line) had passed into the new millennium, the rest of the world would follow without danger…neglecting to consider that, following this International Date Line logic, Samoa would be last to come into the 3rd millennium, the world could end. Anyway, the International Date Line is man-made - God wouldn’t have been restricted by that.

Swiftly moving on, for fear of going off topic: I was okay for a while after that (praying the Rosary every night in thanksgiving to God and Our Blessed Lady for listening to my prayers, though I was aware that God could end the world on His own agenda, and the beginning of the new millennium may not have been the time which He chose). This went on for nine months, after which I reasoned that God knew I was thankful and just said my night prayers without the Rosary.

My grandmother, who I used to visit with my family every three months or so when I was under five, had a fall around Christmas 2000 and again Christmas 2001. She had a pain in her back which doctors passed off as nothing serious. She was transferred to another place and they found she had cancer. She had already lived with cancer about twenty years before, and overcome it, thank God. Sadly, this time it had progressed too far and she was given a few months to live. She was brought out of the hospice to my aunt’s home and on 2nd March 2002, we were at her bedside as she died. It was an incredibly sad time and a first for me (not that I hadn’t had people close to me die before…I hadn’t been at the death of anyone before.)

I’ll continue below.