i believe everyone has a “mental illness” because everyone is a sinner… But some of us suffer more “that way” because of what we ahve been through (abusive parents… etc…).
You’re welcome, Nathan! and God Bless you!
I’m not brave enough to discuss details in an open forum. I realize that I’ve dropped hints and made allusions. I am reticent because someone will know who I am, but even in the anonymity of an open forum, I could hear less than encouraging things.
i don’t like to say that i have a “mental illness” either, but some peple would put that label on it… I hate that term because it conjures up images of… well, you know… crazy people doing crazy, dangerous, irrational things…I have PTSD myself… and it also began in childhood, although i didn’t suffer from the kinds of blatant abuses others did… Mine was a more “subtle”, seemingly un-detectable kind of abuse… which is, in many ways, worse than the outrageous stuff… at least you can SEE that…
people in the Church… are still people. I dont’ tell anyone i have … well… i don’t even use the term mental illness… I don’t believe anyone should… because of the negative, scary connotation… I just tell people i have been through “weird” stuff… ad that kind thing… I have had awful experiences with people in the Church treating me (and others) in a very un-Christian way…(though not for “mental Illness”)_ I gues that’s probably mostly due to the fact that satan attacks Catholics more than others… and in mostly non-Catholic areas… Catholics are under a lot of “pressure”… Still.,. it seems so strange to me that charity is sometimes SO lacking in Catholics…
I’m in a really small parish and it seems like I get the inquisition after mass…where do you live, work, what do you do for fun…people digging. You must know what that is like having PTSD like I do. You want to be charitible, but part of you wants to tell them to get out of your face from the stress and they can sense something is off. I had a guy give me a hard time for not bringing my kids to bowling night in the parking lot of the church once and I turned on him. He didn’t know I was going through a med change that week. My priest knows, but because of that, has refused my offers to help out saying “you have enough on your plate”. I’m turned off on the whole deal now and don’t know if I’ll ever go back to church. I still believe, but I can’t bring myself to go to mass and when I decide to, I have been up all night making driving impossible in the morning. Problems “normal” folks don’t understand. Tim
I didn’t know this until a few years ago, but it is a mortal sin to miss Mass on Sunday… so i am concerned…
I live in the panhandle of WV on the edge of my home parish. There is 3 churches 30 miles in every direction and I have gone to the bigger one in Northern Va. It was huge, way bigger then my own parish. It was really uncomfortable there. I like my priest and parishioners in my home parish, but we are a one of 2 or 3 young large families there and get more attention then I care for. If I were to go back, it would be there.I didn’t know this until a few years ago, but it is a mortal sin to miss Mass on Sunday… so i am concerned…
I know what (some of what) you are going through because i have thought of missing Mass myself because of people… I just go to a different Church… i may have to go out of my way and all that, but it is sometimes necessary. Also, i noticed that i was making people’s opinions too important to me… and that Jesus was getting crowded out of my mind… and i didn’t even realize this fully until… well, it is kind of a long story… all the details… but Jesus revealed some VERY interesting things about what was going on in my heart and soul… the very depths thereof… things i didn’t consciously have much of a clue about…
I have found what helps the very most is spending time with Jesus at the Blessed Sacrament… as long as possible… preferably ALONE with him, so as to have no distractions… but being there with strnagers is good too… I like going ot a Church or chapel where no one knows me… Jesus shows me amazing things about myself and my life that i did not know before… or fully realize or whatever… He sees us totally differently than peple do… They don’t even know us… Our most intimate human frined/companion/family member does not know the real person we are … They think they do… but they only know the tip of the ice-berg… compared to Jesus…
God bless…
Scott, Nathan and other fellow-sufferers, look on the bright side: Being excluded and rejected is hard. Being included can be harder: forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?t=254174 At the very least, it might call for social skills you (and I – I have an autistic spectrum disorder) don‘t have. Being the only one not invited when the whole department goes out every week may be humiliating, but it beats having to deal with the situation described in this thread.
you are right… no one will ever understand you perfectly except God… (reminds me of that spriitual song Lonesome Valley… Jesus walked this lonesome valley. He had to walk it by himself… oh, nobody else could walk it for him, he had to walk it by himself… And then it says, instead of Jesus, WE… have to walk that lonesome valley…)… though, of course, with Jesus, we are never alone.
) i calm down and realize that it isn’t God i should be angry at… except that he DOEs test us in some “weird” ways… When i go out into a place where it is just me and nature and God… I “interestingly” never get angry at Him there… so i believe it is really the “human realm” that causes us to feel anger/hate toward God… As you know, the devil uses humans to do his work… sometimes the humans don’t realize they are being used as a pawn… Sometimes they know but don’t care… AnywAy… The Bible says Be angry but sin not… As long as your anger doesn’t lead you into sin, there is nothing wrong with it… God understands and is big enoug to handle it… (as you know in your head… but possibly not in your heart??)…
No one has ever walked in your shoes before and no one else ever will… (exactly)… so i wouldn’t say you are on any “wrong” path… Only God knows what path you are on…
been there… and Jesus was there also… He suffered worse than we do… (hard as that is to believe:hypno:
) Do you ever offer up your sufferings in union with those of Christ, for the conversion of sinners?? I love that aspect of the Catholic faith… how we can get something meaningful out of our sufferings. We can also use them to expiate for past sins… the stains of which still may cling to our fallen souls… It took me a long time to get to this place of not caring about losing “loved ones” For one thing, they weren’t all that “lovign”… so why did i feel it was such a loss?? I am human… that’s why… But anyway… blessings come from curses (and vice versa)… I love being alone with God… who loves me unconditionally. People don’t…me too…
hate to sound like a broken record (I’ve said this on other threads many times but): have you ever spent much time in the Real Presence of Christ in the Church?? I began to see things There that i didn’t see before… (very long story…)… I am so thankful i found out about it… I don;t take meds for my PTSD because i believe it is a cross i must caryy… That*** isn’t*** to say i think you should do the same… NOt at all… I dont’ know much about your condition… That is just something that i FEEL (could be wrong) Jesus wants from me… (it doesn’t help that with my PTSD… i don’t trust anyone including doctors… ).
Yes… and go spend time with Jesus… I learned recently that the souls in Purgatory are there, with Jesus, at the Blessed Sacrament… Maybe that is why sometimes i… well, go through some uncomfortable stuff there (??)… who knows… There is a lot of mystery There…
Hello there,been there… and Jesus was there also… He suffered worse than we do… (hard as that is to believe:hypno:
Yes… and go spend time with Jesus… I learned recently that the souls in Purgatory are there, with Jesus, at the Blessed Sacrament… Maybe that is why sometimes i… well, go through some uncomfortable stuff there (??)… who knows… There is a lot of mystery There…
God bless… thanks for sharing your cross…
Yes, I am a native of MIchigan, but have lived in Oregon since 2003. It is one of the most liberal states in the Nation. It is a wonder I have not swung to fundamentalism. Only reason is, I know too much to do that!Oregon… !! that explains a few things…
so how long has it been since you spent time There with Jesus? When i leave the Tabernacle… i start getting caught up in “un-Jesus” kinds of things immediately and a lot of what i gained by being with him is “lost” … therefore, i feel we should go there often… The world and the flesh and the devil are more powerful than we are by ourselves… and there isn’t much “spirit of Jesus” out there in the world… People say God is everywhere… Well, that’s a big Yes and No thing… the POWER of God is with Christ… The bible says that the “will of God will be accomplished thorugh HIM” - Isaiah [empahsis added] -* only* through Him…
Thank you for your response. The thing I find most troubling about mental illness (as opposed to physical illness) is that it directly affects our thinking and perception. Things get distorted when I’m depressed and even though on some level I realize that (sometimes) that intellectual knowledge doesn’t override the emotional rollercoaster caused by the hodgepodge of brain chemicals.