Schizophrenia, What you need to know.

 









I was an associate director of mental health for a urban ministry in Grand Rapids, MI.

Some of the most difficult clients were the ones who suffered from schizophrenia. There are many misconceptions about schizophrenia. One which has continued to be promoted for years is that schizophrenia is a spilt personality syndrome. This is not true at all.
It is a complex mental illness and one of the most difficult to treat.

 

I had the privilege to go with founder and director, Don Tack of Servant's Center (he was my Bible teacher at the Grand Rapids School of Bible and Music)  under bridges and various places away from the bustle of the city. One such place was known as the Village of the Damned. Its location was in the woods which provided plenty of fire wood to keep warm in the cold Michigan winters. Those who gathered and lived there were some of the most severe cases, with which I had ever seen. These people won't come into the city of treatment. Our job was to go out and befriend them and help them in any way we could. We tried to forge a bond with them and then bring them to a Community Mental Health Center which would offer them psychiatric treatment.
We were able to get more than a few help but it took along time.

 

We got them out of the state hospitals but we have had a terrible time of getting them into treatment and find housing etc. I would ask those who don't believe that mental illness is a biological disease talk to a person who has schizophrenia, who is floridly psychotic, having loss touch with reality. These poor people were deinstitutionalized in the late 1950's and 1960's (in the United States) but they have few places to go. I know for a fact that in Michigan the state prison officials would drop off the mentally ill on the county line rather than actively provide linkage to mental health services.

Many of our readers are from other countries all over the world. Please feel free to comment below and tell us what your country does or doesn't do with schizophrenics. . Please pray for those who have this dreaded disease and pray for their families.

 

What are the symptoms of schizophrenia? The symptoms of schizophrenia fall into three broad categories:

1. Positive symptoms are unusual thoughts or perceptions, including hallucinations , delusions, , and disorders of movement. An example of a delusion is depicted in the above picture one that people are stalking you.

2. Negative symptoms represent a loss or a decrease in the ability to initiate plans, speak, express emotion, or find pleasure in everyday life. These symptoms are harder to recognize as part of the disorder and can be mistaken for laziness or depression.

Cognitive symptoms (or cognitive deficits) are problems with attention, certain types of memory, and the executive functions that allow us to plan and organize.
Cognitive deficits can also be difficult to recognize as part of the disorder but are the most disabling in terms of leading a normal life.
For more on line go to: http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/schizophrenia/what-are-the-symptoms-of-schizophrenia.shtml
 
 

If you would like to attend our seminar, called Whispers in the Foyer an Honest Look at the Christian Mental Illness. Please go to http://heartfeltmin.org/join-us.html

For more about Robyn's and Steve's book, Broken Minds Hope for Healing When You Feel Like You're Losing It, Kregel Publication. http://www.amazon.com/Broken-Minds-Healing-Youre-Losing/dp/0825421187

What is the churches problem when it comes to depression?

Broken Minds: Hope for Healing When You Feel Like You’re Losing It, Steve and Robyn Bloem. Kregel Publications: Grand Rapids, Michigan, 2005. Paperback, pp. 301. [Reviewed by Rev. Martyn McGeown.]

How do people—especially church people—react to depression? The Bloems, both of whom have suffered from clinical depression, argue that the church has failed to minister properly to the mentally ill. One of the main reasons for this is the church’s refusal to view depression and other mental illnesses as anything other than a disease of the soul, a spiritual disorder, which modern medicine cannot help. Thus a stigma has developed around the mentally ill, such that physical disorders (kidney stones, arthritis, heart disease, cancer) are categorized in an altogether different manner from mental disorders (depression, anxiety disorders, bipolar disease, schizophrenia, post-traumatic stress, postnatal depression, etc.).




The Bloems have suffered at the hands of—often well-meaning—Christians, who have stigmatized mental illness, and thus added to the burden of the depressed saint in the church. The attitude of many is that Christians are not supposed to get depressed, and if they do, there must be some sin, some hidden bitterness, in their life. Often Christians, argue the Bloems, are like Job’s comforters, who added to, rather than helped, his depression. For example, in a chapter entitled, “Depression and the Ekklesia of God,” Robyn Bloem writes:

Fellow Christians have ministered to us in a multitude of ways by both words and deeds. Some also have intensified our grief and frustration by thoughtless words that either came from attitudes of prejudice or the need to fill dead air when the person didn’t know what else to say. The general rule for approaching a friend or relative who is touched by mental illness is to listen much and speak little (233).

                   Earlier Steve writes,

To show Christ’s love, it is sometimes needful simply to weep with those who are weeping, rather than to give superficial advice or try to be cheery. Job’s friends were good comforters as long as they sat in silence. It was when they opened their mouths to preach long, superficial sermons that they were used of Satan to drive Job into deeper despair (206).

The Bloems speak from personal experience. Steve, a pastor, who is now the director of Heartfelt Counseling Ministries, Inc., has suffered from clinical depression for years, and his wife, Robyn, is no stranger to depression herself—both her own, and her husband’s. The Bloems describe (especially Steve’s) experiences—from indefinable feeling of unease, the persistent darkness, the sleeplessness, the crippling incapacitation, the different diagnoses and treatments, the (often unhelpful and even prejudiced) responses of family, friends, and church, and even the alluring song of suicide. Steve devotes a whole chapter to the subject of suicidal ideation and suicide.

The Bloems contend strongly that depression is an illness that can be treated (although not cured) with medical intervention, as well as by the comfort of the gospel. Why are Christians reluctant, they ask, to treat depression as a disease, and seek medical help, while they would frown upon someone who did not seek medical help for a physical disease such as a fractured bone, a tumor, or a blood clot? Why do Christians reject the findings of psychiatry and psychology out of hand, while they embrace the findings of cardiology, oncology, etc.? Writes Steve, “Because we have distanced ourselves from scientific inquiry, we have tended to offer little to the mentally ill—except condemnation” (113).

Steve Bloem writes this to illustrate the inadequacy of the Nouthetic, “Christian-counseling” approach to the depressed, which he says he has often found “degrading” (187):A typical Christian counselor’s response to a depressed person might sound like this:“Brother, you have suppressed a deep resentment toward another. You have bitterness in your life that you are not dealing with. When this happens, your body does not know what to do with it, and you turn the anger inward on yourself to avoid dealing with the true issues. This in turn will deplete your neurotransmitters in the brain…. So put off your anger and you will put off the depression….”This fictional counselor finishes the day’s sessions and heads home with a splitting headache. Would he try to get to the spiritual root of his headache? Or would he pop a couple of aspirins into his mouth? (190-191).

               Please don't --

 Whispers in the Foyer, An Honest Look at 
the Christian and Mental Illness

 We just finished a seminar in Alberta, Canada and now we have another one. It will be at our home church in Boca Raton, Florida.The date is October 15, 2016 For more information go to heartfeltmin.org/join-us.html 

Asia does not deserve to be hanged for her faith in Christ.

Asia Bibi’s Death Sentence Appeal Update

 

 

A jihadist mob beat her. Her daughter was bullied and tormented.

Then Pakistan sentenced Christian mom Asia Bibi to death for her Christian faith. If we don't act, she will be hanged. This Christian mother of five has been on death row for nearly six years - separated from her husband and children. 

Asia Bibi, the Christian mother of five from Pakistan sentenced to death for her faith, could soon have her final appeal date with her life on the line.

Pakistan’s highest court has accepted Asia Bibi’s request for an early hearing. Asia, a Christian mother of five, has been in prison since June 2009 for allegations of blasphemy. Two of her co-workers alleged that she uttered derogatory remarks against the prophet Muhammad, a crime punishable with the mandatory death penalty.

In November 2010, the trial court sentenced Asia to death. Four years later, the Lahore High Court upheld her conviction while criticizing her defense during trial. The court noted that Asia’s counsel at trial had not cross-examined the two accusers. The High Court said that, because “the most relevant aspect of the prosecution case remained unrebutted,” the witness statements are “deemed to have been admitted by the defense.”

Asia’s new counsel, Saif ul Malook, filed an appeal with the Supreme Court noting multiple errors in the case. He argued, among other things, that the lower courts failed to take into consideration the unexplained delay of five days in registering the First Information Report (FIR). Asia was forced to confess to the crime before a mob of hundreds of Muslims and the case was registered “after due deliberation and consultation by [the local Muslim cleric].”

Under Pakistani law, such delay is considered harmful for the prosecution’s case because it shows that the accusers had planned the case with mala fide intention. In 2002, the Supreme Court reversed the conviction of Ayub Masih (a Christian on death row for blasphemy) over a few hours of delay in registering the FIR.   Please also see -  www.callformercy.com/ (Voice of Martyrs)

 Whispers in the Foyer, An Honest Look at 
the Christian and Mental Illness

 We just finished a seminar in Alberta, Canada and now we have another one. It will be at our home church in Boca Raton, Florida.The date is October 15, 2016 For more information go to heartfeltmin.org/join-us.html 

Support groups. Seminars Counseling and More
Please visit our web site

http://www.heartfeltmin.org/what-we-do.html

Depressed, the devil wants you dead!

I will share what I felt when I was twenty nine years old, dealing with my first episode of depression. Looking back I have been able to better conceptualize demonic devices.
I began to feel like I had the flu, my mood went from moderate to bad to severe in a short time. I was in the dark, emotionally and spiritually and I did not have a clue that what I had was a biological problem. My doctor told me that it when I felt stressed to blow into a paper bag. One time when I was at a restaurant and depressed out of my mind I asked to be excused. I went into a bathroom, in the stall, blowing furiously but it did nothing to lift my mood. I thought, “How pathetic is this?”

At a certain point, suicide became a viable option as a way of escape. I remember thinking, while out to eat with my family, “I will go outside and jump in front of a car.” Then, I would not have to deal with this horrible agony.

I was sure that I was a terrible burden to everyone. Now I realize that this is a common scheme of the devil, (the Greek word for devil, diabolos means slanderer) to isolate the believer in Christ, slander God to him, saying, “He does not care about you anymore.” He will add insult to your own feelings of failure and your self-loathing. He will attempt to cover the biological nature of your depression and put on a masquerade that your problem is spiritual, Jesus Christ, who is God, said about him, “You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father's desire. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies” (John 8:44)

If you asked most people who are depressed and suicidal, “Why do you want to kill yourself?” Most would say that their families would be better off if they were dead.
However, no matter who you are and what you have done; your family will never be better without you. They will feel sorrow, betrayal, anger, abandonment and confusion. Their grieving will be long and hard. Statistics tell us that numbers of your own family, (including nieces and nephews) will adopt for themselves your way of getting rid of the awful pain. Suicide will seem logical. Suicide is a sin, but God will provide you a way of escape that you may bear it, “No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it” (I Corinthians 10:13).


Do not commit suicide! Get help! This was taken from, CAMI Leader,s Guide and Broken Minds Hope for Healing When You Feel Like You’re Losing It, Kregel Publications where the largest chapter is about suicide (chapter 4).
If you wish to purchase these books, go to our web site, 
http://www.heartfeltmin.org/resources.html






 Whispers in the Foyer, An Honest Look at 
the Christian and Mental Illness

 We just finished a seminar in Alberta, Canada and now we have another one. It will be at our home church in Boca Raton, Florida. For more information go to heartfeltmin.org/join-us.html

Puritan Quotes for Today

Comfort from the 17th Century

compiled by Anita Gordon

The Puritans were preachers who lived in the 17th century.  They were spiritual giants who understood how to care for souls.  They understood that God's people suffer from sicknesses of the mind, and these preachers sought to apply the healing balm of the Scriptures to the weary people of God.  Today, though long dead, they still speak.

Thomas Goodwin: "One who truly fears God and is obedient to Him, may be in a condition of darkness, and have no light; and he may walk many days and years in that condition."--'Child of Light Walking in Darkness

 Richard Sibbes: "Are you bruised? Be of good comfort, He calls you. Conceal not your wounds, go to Christ. He is a physician good at all diseases, especially at the binding up of a broken heart." --'The Bruised Reed'

 Samuel Rutherford: "It is hard to keep sight of God in a storm, especially when He hides Himself for the trial of His children. I bless my God that there is a death, and a heaven." -- 'Letters of Samuel Rutherford'

 William Gurnall:  "You may be a poor, trembling soul, weak in faith and ever on the brink of sinking; yet to this day your grace lives on, though full of leaks. Is there a greater demonstration of God's strength than to see such a pitiful, storm-tossed ship towed past an armada of sins and devils, into God's safe harbour at last?" --'Christian in Complete Armour'

 Richard Sibbes: "Satan's course is to discourage those that God would have encouraged." --'The Soul's Conflict'

 Thomas Boston:  "You are in this world as in a weary land, a wilderness, a place of great danger and of great wants; and if you have felt it so you have come with a design to seek a refuge where you may be in safety; and a portion for your souls where your wants may be supplied."

 Thomas Brooks: "How, saith one, shall God wipe away my tears in heaven, if I shed none on earth? And how shall I reap in joy, if I sow not in tears? I was born with tears, and I shall die with tears; and why then should I live without them in this valley of tears?" --'The Mute Christian Under the Smarting Rod'

 Andrew Bonar: 'Those who sing loudest in the Kingdom will be those who on earth had the greatest bodily suffering. We pity them now, but then we shall almost envy them.'

 Samuel Rutherford: "Believe God's Word and power more than you believe your own feelings and experiences. Your Rock is Christ, and it is not the Rock which ebbs and flows, but your sea.

"'Letters of Samuel Rutherford'

 Thomas Goodwin: "I know One in heaven, whose heart is touched with the feeling of all my infirmities, and I will go and bemoan myself to Him.

Richard Sibbes: "Christ, also, who was without sin, cried out, 'My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?' " -- 'The Soul's Conflict'

 "Happy is he that in his way to heaven he meeteth with a cheerful and skillful guide and fellow traveller, that carrieth cordials with him against all fainting's of spirit." -- 'The Soul's Conflict'

Doubting God's love, providence and promises, Thomas Boston

 From sbloemreflections.blogspot.com
This is a great blog from my fellow blogger, Shane Lems
It might take some brain power.
 Copyrights 2016
The Reformed Reader.


 
 

[New post] A Kind Of Implicit Blasphemy In Complaining (Boston)‏

Respond to this post by replying above this line New post on The Reformed Reader A Kind Of Implicit Blasphemy In Complaining (Boston) by Reformed Reader  If you know a few things about Israel's wilderness years, you know they complained and grumbled more than once.  Israel's grumbling was a terrible sin, because it showed that they doubted God's providence and promise, it showed their arrogant and covetous hearts, and it showed they didn't trust God.  Paul says we can learn from Israel's sin: "...And don't grumble as some of them did, and then were destroyed by the angel of death" (1 Cor. 10:10 NLT).  Paul also said we should do all things without grumbling and arguing (Phil. 2:14). While talking about God's providence and sovereign decree, Thomas Boston (d. 1732) listed some notes of application.  What does it mean that God sovereignly decrees all things that come to pass, and by his providence is in control of all things?  Here's one application point that has to do with complaining (I've slightly updated the language): "See here the evil of murmuring and complaining at our lot in the world. How quick are you to quarrel with God, as if he were in the wrong when his dealings with you are not according to your own desires and wishes? You demand a reason, and call God to an account, 'Why am I thus? Why so much afflicted and distressed? Why so long afflicted? And why such an affliction rather than another? Why am I so poor and another so rich?' Thus your hearts rise up against God But you should remember, that this is to defame the counsels of infinite wisdom, as if God had not ordered your affairs wisely enough in his eternal counsel. We find the Lord reproving Job for this: ‘shall he that contend with the Lord instruct him?’ (Job 40:2). When you murmur and fret under irritable and afflicting dispensations, this is presuming to instruct God how to deal with you, and to reprove him as if he were in the wrong. Yea, there is a kind of implicit blasphemy in it, as if you had more wisdom and justice to dispose of your lot, and to carve out your own portion in the world. This is the language of such a disposition, 'Had I been on God’s counsel, I had ordered this matter better; things had not been with me as now they are.' O presume not to correct the infinite wisdom of God, seeing he has decreed all things most wisely and judiciously." To combat sinful complaining, we need to contemplate the sovereign decree and providence of God, and trust that he does all things well.  He's the Potter, we are the clay! Thomas Boston, The Whole Works of Thomas Boston: Part 1, ed. Samuel M‘Millan, vol. 1 (Aberdeen: George and Robert King, 1848), 166. Shane Lems Covenant Presbyterian Church (OPC) Hammond, WI Reformed Reader | July 29, 2016 at 11:28 am | Tags: complaining, decrees, grumbling, Providence, Sovereignty, Thomas Boston, whining | Categories: Uncategorized | URL: http://wp.me/p6Yga-4aL Comment    See all comments Unsubscribe to no longer receive posts from The Reformed Reader. Change your email settings at Manage Subscriptions. Trouble clicking? Copy and paste this URL into your browser: https://reformedreader.wordpress.com/2016/07/29/a-kind-of-implicit-blasphemy-in-complaining-boston/ Thanks for flying with WordPress.com

    

 Heartfelt Counseling Ministries' upcoming seminars:
August 13, 2016
In Edmonton,  Alberta CANADA;
 October 15, 2016 Boca Raton, Florida.
We will give additional details soon. But save those dates and be ready to learn about mental health disorders, how to view them, how to treat them, what they are and how God looks down on His struggling sheep. He is without condemnation, blame or neglect.
We have a good time and great fellowship at these seminars. You will be encouraged. !

Important things to know about bipolar disorder

                                                                                              

 From Web MD and Medicine Net

http://www.medicinenet.com/bipolar_disorder_overview_pictures_slideshow/article.htm

Bipolar Disorder: What Is It?

Bipolar disorder, formerly called manic depression, is a mental illness that involves the sufferer having at least one manic (overly excited or irritable mood) or nearly manic (hypo - manic) episode. The mood swings of this condition can last for weeks at a time and cause significant work and relationship problems. This illness affects up to 5% of adults in the United States, afflicting men and women equally.

Depressive Phase Symptoms

The depressive symptoms that may be experienced in bipolar disorder are those of any major depressive episode, including significant sadness, irritability, hopelessness, and an increase or decrease in appetite, weight, or sleep. Bipolar depression can result in sufferers wanting, planning, or attempting to kill themselves or someone else.

 

Manic Phase Symptoms

The manic symptoms of bipolar disorder can include the sufferer having a grossly excessive sense of well-being or abilities, racing thoughts, decreased sleep, and speech that is rapid to the point of being hard to decipher. Manic individuals may also engage in unwise activities such as excessive sexual behaviors or spending.

 

Bipolar I vs. Bipolar II

In order to receive the diagnosis of bipolar I disorder, a person must experience at least one full-blown manic episode in their lifetime. Individuals with bipolar II disorder experience at least one hypo - manic episode, in that they have symptoms less severe than fully manic symptoms.

 

Mixed Features

Many people with bipolar disorder also have mixed features associated with their mood swings. This involves experiencing symptoms of depression during manic or hypo- manic episodes.


 

Causes of Bipolar Disorder

While no single cause of bipolar disorder has been identified, there are a number of factors that contribute to the development of this illness. Decreases in the activity of different parts of the brain have been observed when individuals with bipolar disorder are having depressive or manic episodes.

 

Bipolar Disorder: Who's at Risk?

The symptoms of bipolar disorder tend to have two peaks of when they begin: between 15 and 25 and from 45-54 years of age. Other risk factors for bipolar disorder include having a close family history of depression or bipolar disorder (mood disorder) or a family history of substance-abuse disorder. Life stresses such as sexual abuse may also trigger the onset of bipolar disorder.

 

Bipolar Disorder and Daily Life

The symptoms of bipolar disorder can interfere with a person's ability to work, achieve in school, and maintain relationships. People with this disorder are also at risk for having other medical and mental-health problems.
 

Bipolar Disorder and Substance Abuse

Having bipolar disorder can increase the likelihood of the sufferer developing a substance-abuse problem from 22% to more than 50%. Some people with bipolar disorder may drink to numb their manic or depressive symptoms, a behavior often referred to as self-medicating.
 

Bipolar Disorder and Suicide

Up to 10% of people with bipolar disorder commit suicide, 10 times the risk of people who have no mental-health disorder. Possible signs someone is planning to commit suicide include giving away belongings and otherwise putting affairs in order. If you or a loved one has thoughts of suicide, immediately contact a suicide hotline at 1-800-SUICIDE (1-800-784-2433) and 1-800-273-TALK (1-800-273-8255). Anyone who has planned or attempted to commit suicide should immediately be taken to the closest hospital emergency room.
 

Diagnosing Bipolar Disorder

When mental-health professionals assess a person for bipolar disorder, they gather a detailed history and conduct a mental-status examination. The history will explore the possibility that the person's symptoms are caused by a medical condition such as a neurological or endocrine problem, medication side effect, or exposure to a toxin. The professional will also seek to distinguish symptoms of bipolar disorder from other mental-health problems, such as a substance-use disorder, depression, anxiety, or schizophrenia.
 

Medications for Bipolar Disorder

Medications are an important and effective part of treating bipolar disorder and include mood stabilizers, antipsychotics, and antiseizure medications. All these medications have been found to help even out and prevent the mood swings suffered by bipolar disordered individuals. Antidepressant medication may trigger mood swings in people with this disorder.

Lifestyle Tips for Bipolar Disorder

As is the case with other mental disorders, good self-care is an essential part of getting optimal results from talk therapy and medications. People with bipolar disorder should work on getting at least eight hours of sleep per night, exercising regularly, maintaining good nutrition, and avoiding alcohol or drug abuse. When bipolar-disordered individuals learn their warning signs for the onset of a manic or depressive episode, they are more able to prevent full-blown mood swings.


 

Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT)

 

Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) can be a very effective treatment for any mood state of bipolar disorder (depressive, manic, or mixed) and involves inducing seizures by sending an electrical current through parts of the brain. ECT can bring relief of symptoms to people who have not received relief from psychotherapy or medications. It can also be an effective maintenance treatment, preventing mood swings from returning. 

 

Educating Friends and Family

Given the important role family members can play in the recovery and long-term progress of their loved ones with bipolar disorder, educating family members and helping them improve communication and problem-solving skills is an important part of improving the life of people with this disorder.
 

When Someone Needs Help

If you are concerned a family member or loved one may be suffering from bipolar disorder, speak openly with them and seek help from a trusted health-care professional. Often, educating your loved one that many people who have this disorder lead highly productive, satisfying lives with treatment can go a long way toward helping them accept help for themselves.

Support groups. Seminars Counseling and More
Please visit our web site

http://www.heartfeltmin.org/what-we-do.html
































 You can get this on Kindle from Amazon.Com

https://www.amazon.com/Broken-Minds-Healing-Youre-Losing-ebook/dp/B004EPYNLE/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=#navbar