What Is Mental Health?
Mental health is the health that deals with one’s ability to make sound decisions and live in this life. It is one of the crucial kinds of health because for one to really be healthy their mental health has to be in check. It’s crucial because it affects all other types of health that one requires to have in order to meet the health kind of definition by the World Health Organization (WHO). WHO defines health as not just the absence of disease but to be well financially, socially and mentally. And one thing for sure is that for one to be financially healthy they need their mental health to be in check. To be socially healthy you need to be mentally healthy and also to be physically healthy you need to be mentally in check. You can find that you do not have any physical illness but because you are affected mentally your body starts to have physical illness.
Let’s Understand It Better
Remember stress makes the body sick, you can even develop medical conditions that will render you not physically fit. Therefore, mental health is a very crucial part of being health and that’s why nowadays there are a lot of campaign to sensitize people on mental health.
Understanding the human brain has always been a challenge and only God himself who created a human being can fully understand how the brain functions. We can only say much about the human brain and how it functions but to fully say we understand it well then it would be a lie.
Life happenings do happen to all of us and most of the times we totally don’t have any power to control what happens to oneself. Because we don’t have the power to control what happens to us, we need to have the strength to live through what happens to us.
You Mental Health Can Break, but God can Heal
To live through what happens to us we need to believe in Jesus Christ. Believing in Christ and knowing that God is the author of everything that happens makes it easier for us to pass through storms and be able to walk boldly through this life. In the scripture, we read of how David trusted in God and also say the lord is my Shepard he shall not want; psalms 23:1. A Shepard is someone who leads animals in the direction they should go, to simply define it. When you come to believe that God is your Shepard it all makes it easier. During my trying times when the world was literally on my shoulder I was so much tempted to be in depression for a long period of time but I chose to stand on my faith. In a period of 6 months I lost my loved ones, my father and my daughter. I lost each one of them in ways that I still don’t understand and in my early days I questioned God. What really happened to me was to know that I have God who is the owner of this life that I live. He alone allowed all that which happened to me.
So many times I could cry and get into depression and have panic attacks when I try to comprehend what was happening in my life. I never got answers and in trying to look for answers I became so agitated and entered into panic attacks . I am so glad that I am a believer and that the Holy Spirit spoke to me and reminded me not to worry about anything. God, like he has promised in the book of Isaiah 43:5 not to fear for he is with us helped me. I got to realize that the more I kept looking for answers the more I was losing my mind and it affected my mental health to the point I had to be sedated with drugs to sleep.
One thing that I got a revelation on was that even if I kept looking for answers, none of that would bring back my father or daughter. No. Or even if I got the answers what change will I make? Am I God to change such situations? No. Some things we don’t have control over them and so letting them be and letting God be God is what is important.
Handling The Affected
Just like Job, he went through so much during his lifetime. The Bible teaches us to say it was the devil that was tempting him to see if he would stop worshiping God. His friends came and teased him including his wife as to why he still trusted in God who would let bad things happen to him. Psychological first aid advises that as you offer help to someone who is going through storms in life, it’s best you offer your ears and hear what they have to say. Offer empathy, do not try to offer solutions. I got to understand it in that most people who were trying to offer solutions to my troubles ended up hurting me without them realizing that they are hurting me. Almost everyone thought they are helping but they were actually making me hurt the most.
It’s important to just listen. Many of us who have passed through the same scenario with another person would say we understand what the other person is passing through but truth is each human is different and how we handle issues is so different. Do not make an assumption to say you understand what the other person is going through. Just be there for the person. When they need to vent just give them an ear to hear what they have to say.
It is also important to seek help from professionals and close people who are able to help you. Be very careful with who you pour out your heart to because some individuals will further cause more damage to your mind. You will definitely need someone to hear you so choose wisely. My mother and husband came through for me and many other people who are professionals and spiritual fathers and mothers. You can never carry the load alone.
Mental Health & Christianity
Ultimately to have good mental health as a Christian you need to know that taking up things in your own hands makes it as if you have control over your life. Just live and know your purpose on this earth through knowing that God is the one in full control. The lord is your shepherd and he indeed comes through. What happens to us God is fully aware of everything that happens what if you let him take full control you will see that life will be easier. Believe me it’s not easy to reach that level where you accept what has happened to you but takes the grace of God to accept. It’s important as a Christian to understand that the devil only comes to kill, steal and destroy. When storms come we need to know that he is trying to steal our joy and destroy our happiness and kill our hope for tomorrow. God has a promise and if we are to live by that promise in Jeremiah 29: 11, he alone knows the plans he has for us, plans to prosper us. And remember everything works for good for those who love the lord.
It’s therefore important to note that when calamities happen in our lives we should be wise enough to see what God is trying to communicate. In the Bible there are so many scriptures that we can relate to in order to understand situations. The Holy Bible was written to help a believers through their daily life to understand this life through what others went through and how God preserved their lives. We can take a look at Job, he was a righteous man who worshiped God diligently and God allowed it that great calamity befall on him. When you read through the Bible we see that Job really had a difficult time accepting what had happened to him but never lost faith in God. He had the liberty to just lose his mind but he stayed faithful even in his trying moments. He still believed God was working and indeed at the end of it all God restored all he had lost double of it all. Most of the times when calamity befalls on us we tend to think we shall forever remain in that place but that’s not the case. The Bible encourages us to be still and know that he is God. He makes everything beautiful and perfect.
And one thing is that most of the times we try to analyze situations and get to know what really caused something to happen. Well sometimes it’s good to analyze things and know where the problem is but most of the calamities that happen in our lives do not need us to analyze. We won’t have answers as human beings. He is God all by himself and he alone knows why some things happen that way. In trying to get all the answers you will end up losing your mind and this will affect your mental health.
Allow God Into Your Mind
Protect your mental health by believing you have God who takes care of your needs and all your worries. You are not alone, in Isaiah 61 he has promised to rescue you from all your calamities. Try to trust God with your problems and you will learn indeed he comes through for everyone. Personally I have tested the goodness of the lord and I can testify that he really comes through when you put all your trust in him. A lot of people really get shocked when they hear my story, they get to ask how really I have managed. My answer will forever be had it not been for the lord I would have died. I really lost my mind but because I knew that God above is still alive I would still live to fulfill my purpose.
Always remember that the devil is not happy when you are successfully progressing and living in God’s promise. He will always try to distract you and hinder you from living in God’s promise which is to enjoy in the land of the living. Do not live a sad life or in pain always because of what has happened to you in this life. Focus on living God’s promise and living out your purpose. Cast your burdens into to Jesus for he cares for you. Live this life knowing that God is the owner of it all and surely he will come through. Keep meditating upon the word. It’s like knowing your rights and laws. If you know your rights,the law will not just arrest you even for the things you know you are doing rightfully. The law will only take advantage of you if you do not know your rights and the rules. You will find that you are always paying the law and yet you are not even suppose to fined. This same applies to knowing yourself in Christ, once you know that you are a child of God most of the things that happen in your life you will not be threatened by them but instead you will know that God is going to bail you out of it all.
To sum it all up, protect your mental health by trusting in God and living your purpose according. Remember it’s also true that you will reap what you sow. Live , plant good seeds so that at harvest time you will reap what you sowed. Do not try to compare your life to others. Do not try to analyze some situations. A health mind equals to a healthy physique, healthy spiritual life and helps attain healthy financial state which sums up a whole healthy being.
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