Five Ways to Help those who have a mental illness , Part 1

Copyright All rights Reserved, January 2013

Be in the know about what mental illness is.

1. Don't be ignorant! Please stop with the phrases like, loon, nut house, crazies, fruits, nutcase, etc. And realize that the rank and file of the media (I am not talking about good documentaries) often use these phrases and their movies hardly ever get it right.

A movie which got it all wrong

A good example is the movie, One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest with Jack Nicholson. It is an excellent comedy-drama, artistically speaking, but it has forever seared into the minds of the watching public (in many countries as well as the U.S.A.) that there is nothing positive accomplished by going into a psychiatric hospital. The depiction shows a lobotomy, which in the U.S. (as far as I know) is long gone, and shows a violent, mentally ill person kill a psychiatric nurse. In a terrifying scene Nicholson's character is forced to submit to Electro Convulsive Therapy (ECT). His character is not put to sleep, is tied to a chair, and a mouth guard of sorts is shoved into his mouth. He then is administered an electric shock and has strong convulsions which cause him to scream loudly. Actually ECT is considered the safest treatment for depression and other mental illnesses and the most effective. It also has the least side effects of all treatments; much less than oral medications. I have had many treatments. When you receive ECT you are given a muscle relaxant and anesthesia by an anesthesiologist and you feel nothing at all. Furthermore, the terrifying convulsions which a long time ago broke a person’s back now only cause one toe to slightly twitch. ECT was used to bring me out of a deep depression each time I received it. Please read more our story of mental illness which is a personal, biblical and technical recounting. Please go to the link below.

2. Pray for the mentally ill. Pray that there would be medical discoveries which will help better treat this horrendous illness. If you have mental illness, keep praying. You many not feel like it and you may feel guilty and negative but if you know Christ you can go through Him to the Father with boldness and confidence. I remember being so depressed with my concentration GONE, my hope almost lost and I was able only to pray from a prayer list. I kept the same prayer list and prayed through it every day. I could get some comfort from Scripture, but the Bible which I devoured daily up to that point was too difficult to read. So, I would write verses on a 3 X 5 card and try to meditate on one or two verses each day. God was with me, but I couldn't feel Him. Even though it is dark to you it is not so with God.

Here are some Scriptures on praying. Ephesians 3:12.. In whom we have boldness and

confident access through faith in Him. Romans 5:1-3..Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand ; and we exult in hope of the glory of God.

If you wish us to pray for you or a family member who has mental illness please go to our website and click on the Contact Us form. You can also email me at bloemsteve@yahoo.com. and we will pray for you confidentiality.

If you would like to learn about our book, Broken Minds Hope for Healing When You Feel Like You're Losing It which is published by Kregel Publications of Grand Rapids, MI, please click on the link below:
http://www.amazon.com/Broken-Minds-Healing-Youre-Losing/dp/0825421187