Riveting quote on the need for helping the mentally ill

Have you noticed that you rarely hear in the media about the subject of mental illness? Mental Illness awareness is getting better but in the U.S.A. we still have a long way to go. It seems that you can be sick from the neck down and get some real attention. But there is something about the brain that makes people uncomfortable.  Here is one of the most famous quotes about society's need to recognize the horrors of a disease that assaults the brain and the central nervous system. It is by Russell Hampton, who suffered from depression himself.

If there were a physical disease that manifested itself in some particularly ugly way, such as postulating sores or a sloughing off of the flesh accompanied by pain of an intense and chronic nature, readily visible to everyone, and if that disease affected fifteen million people in our country, and further, if there were virtually no help or succour for most of these persons, and they were forced to walk among us in their obvious agony, we would rise up as one social body in sympathy and anger. There isn’t such a physical disease, but there is such a disease of the mind, and about fifteen million people around us are suffering from it. But we have not risen in anger and sympathy, although they are walking among us in their pain and anguish (The Far Side of Despair, 78)

http://www.amazon.com/Broken-Minds-Healing-Youre-Losing/dp/0825421187.
 

You are invited to be a guest blogger

I have enjoyed writing my blogs now for about two years.  I have often been encouraged by the Lord from my study of the Bible and my gathering of information. I am thankful to God that our web site has averaged about 1,400 visits (hits) each month.
I have basically dealt with mental illness and the Christian, spiritual depression, bereavement and the persecuted church. Suffering and glory themes run throughout the blogs.
Now it is your turn. We have had over 17,000 visits to my blog.  I now invite my readers to send me a blog that you wish me to publish on my site.  You can use some quotes from others and use
Scripture where you think it is best.
Please stick to the themes mentioned above as much as possible.  Many of you suffer from mental illness. You may wish to describe your illness, the suffering and the ways you have found relief. Try to make it personal. If you are part of the persecuted church make sure that you are willing to share the blog with others. You may rename certain persons or places to make your point clear but anonymous.  I have never done this so I do not know how many responses I will receive.  You don't have to use your name but you may do so.
Another guideline I would ask you to follow would be to keep your blog to 500-750 words. Make sure your posts are “scannable”—that is, you make use of subheads, lists, and other devices that keep people moving through your content.
I reserve the right to edit material that won't change the content and meaning of the blog. I will not be able to use all that are sent.
If you have any questions, let me know.  Please send them to camimovement@yahoo.com

Thank you.
Rev. Steve Bloem

The Persecuted Church

Now one more remark. I have already reminded you that Christ’s
life is the picture of His people’s life and that the history of Israel is
 the picture of His Church. Now notice how true it is that the Church,
from her very outset, has always been afflicted—first by Herod, when
he sought to slay the Apostles, and did murder James. Next afflicted
by the Jews and driven from city to city. Then afflicted by Saul of
Tarsus who breathed out threats and slaughter against the Church of
Christ from her youth. Then broke out the great Pagan persecution.
Your knowledge of history, I suppose, tells you how the emperors of
Rome used the whole of their force to crush the Christian Church,
yet they prevailed not against her!  Charles Spurgeon

From China Aid Cao Nan, as quoted in The Telegraph (London, UK), February 6, 2013

Mr. Cao Nan, a house church member from Shenzhen city, near Hong Kong, was detained on December 15, 2012. His crime? Singing hymns in the city’s public park. The government charged Cao with “harming social order,” and he was imprisoned for twelve days.

Cao is well known in Shenzhen for founding the Care and Love Center, where thousands of homeless, beggars, and others receive clothing, counseling, and other forms of assistance. As a way to entertain and reach out to those in the park, Cao and his coworkers hold regular hymn sings.

Dear friend, imagine that you were singing Amazing Grace in your city’s park or Silent Night at the mall, and FBI agents came and took you to prison. Yes, in today’s China, rather humorously you could lose your freedom for simply doing good.

Cao is only one of almost 5000 Chinese Christians who were detained or arrested last year. According to our records, persecution against Christians increased nearly 40% in 2012 comparing to that of 2011. Ironically many of those, like Cao, were incarcerated not for being part of an underground church but simply for doing good in public: providing education for poor children, providing medical care to the poor, singing Christmas carols, even assisting with disaster relief.

Cao Nan, as quoted in The Telegraph (London, UK), February 6, 2013

Mr. Cao Nan, a house church member from Shenzhen city, near
 Hong Kong, was detained on December 15, 2012. His crime?
Singing hymns in the city’s public park. The government charged
Cao with “harming social order,” and he was imprisoned for twelve days.

Cao is well known in Shenzhen for founding the Care and Love Center,
where thousands of homeless, beggars, and others receive clothing,
 counseling, and other forms of assistance. As a way to entertain
 and reach out to those in the park, Cao and his coworkers hold
 regular hymn sings.

Dear friend, imagine that you were singing Amazing Grace in your
city’s park or Silent Night at the mall, and FBI agents came and
 took you to prison. Yes, in today’s China, rather humorously
you could lose your freedom for simply doing good.

Cao is only one of almost 5000 Chinese Christians who
 were detained or arrested last year. According to our records, persecution
 against Christians increased nearly 40% in 2012 comparing
 to that of 2011. Ironically many of those, like Cao, were
 incarcerated not for being part of an underground church
 but simply for doing good in public: providing education for
 poor children, providing medical care to the poor, singing
Christmas carols, even assisting with disaster.
 
http://www.chinaaid.org/2013/03/chinaaid-march-2013-newsletter.html

Please go to our book offer,
Broken Mind Hope for Healing When You Feel Like You're Losing It
Our website is http://www.heartfeltmin.org/#!events/c15sx

Electro Convulsive therapy, Don't be ignorant!

Yes, these people have been helped!

Copyright All rights reserved, 2016, Steve and Robyn Bloem

                                                                                                              Not One flew over the Cuckoo's nest

                             











Here is a shocker! Yes, that pun was intended. I have had my depression treated, on two separate occasions by a series of Electro-Convulsive Therapy (ECT);  I  usually had from twelve to  fifteen seizures induced  by electric shock. I had to be hospitalized for a month the first time and then for a week for the next series.  I also had it as an outpatient. Today it is available as an outpatient treatment in many places.

Why did I ask for ECT?  It was because I was extremely depressed; I had to force food because I had no appetite. I also could not sleep at all.  I was very suicidal. Both times ECT  brought me  out of  severe depression. The first improvement came after two sessions and then gradually I had no depressive 
symptoms.

What I don't understand is why is everyone so upset, nervous and opposed to a treatment that is safer than or as safe as antidepressants? You can shock the heart so that it beats again. You can use a Cesarean  Section to bring a child safely from the womb to the world.  But when it comes to treating the brain, stigma and fear abound.

ECT is a biological approach to a biological medical problem. It is in no way a lobotomy. Why is it that the church continues to resist the science of mental illness, when the treatment outcomes are better than ever?  For  further discussion of ECT go to chapter twelve of Broken Minds. 

 



 http://heartfeltmin.org/resources.html. For Kindle go to
http://www.amazon.com/Broken-Minds-Healing-Youre-Losing/dp/0825421187







Please read  the John Hopkins Hospital brief article below. The only thing I would add is there are two methods of the placement of electrodes on the brain, both bi-lateral and unilateral ECT. Unilateral ECT usually has the least memory loss. Some say bilateral is stronger in its effect on depression.
You can also read about ECT in our book  Broken Minds.  It is available by paper back, Kindle and other applications.

Why use Electro-Convulsive Therapy Is the Right Choice.

 Many people think Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is a thing of the past, but it is still being used today, given its effectiveness in treating major depression. In recent years, the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), the American Psychiatric Association (APA), and the U.S. Surgeon General have all concluded that electroconvulsive therapy is a valuable tool in the treatment of certain mental disorders, particularly depression.

A Stop Gap for Agony

Before beginning Electro-convulsive therapy, an individual with depression typically first receives psychotherapy, antidepressant medication or a combination of the two. While these treatments are often effective, they take time to work. This delay can be dangerous for people whose depression is accompanied by intense suicidal thoughts and/or delusions. For these individuals, who are at immediate risk for ... suicide, Electro-convulsive therapy can work much more quickly than antidepressants and is therefore a good option
.




What happens during Electro-Convulsive therapy? 

It can be performed in an inpatient or outpatient setting. After the patient is given general anesthesia and a muscle relaxant, electrodes are placed on two areas of the scalp. A short, controlled set of electrical pulses is then administered for about a minute. The electrical pulses must produce generalized seizures to be effective. (Because patients are under anesthesia and have taken muscle relaxants, they do not openly convulse or feel the current),

Patients awaken about five to 10 minutes after the end of the treatment. Most are oriented and alert within 30 minutes. Typically, Electro-Convulsive therapy is given two to three times a week for a total of six to 12 sessions. These sessions typically improve depression in 60 to 70 percent of patients -- a response rate similar to that of antidepressant drugs -- and in 80 to 90 percent of people using it as first-line therapy.

ECT'S Shortcoming

A major limitation of Electro-Convulsive therapy treatment is that the benefits may be short-lived. Within a year, 50 to 60 percent of people experience a relapse, and they may have to take antidepressant medication or continue receiving Electro-convulsive therapy periodically to prevent a  relapse.



How does it work?

No one is sure how Electro-convulsive therapy helps certain mental disorders. It may flood the brain with neurotransmitters such as serotonin and dopamine, which are known to play a role in conditions such as depression and schizophrenia. Electro-convulsive therapy may also help regulate hormones that play a role in these disorders.

This is a re-post.

What is depression?

I want to you know that I know what it is like to be severely depressed. It is a horrible, terrifying experience. It is one thing to give a definition but it is another to live a diagnosis. Hope is driven away; your brain is not working right. You have no pleasure, your sex drive is gone and you don't want to eat and you do want to sleep but you cannot. You really can't  understand what it is like to have a mental illness unless you have experienced it. You belong to a club that you don't want to belong. One of the first steps to getting help is to be able understand what mental illness is all about. An excellent way to do this would be to visit the many blogs that are posted on Google blogger. If you join the blog then you will get reminders whenever a new one is posted.

You also should read some of our reviews on our book Broken Minds.

Below is a link to Amazon.com. If you want to a signed copy by Robyn and me, either use the contact us form on our website or email me at bloemsteve@yahoo.com. I will send you two copies for $20.00. This includes shipping and it is a saving of about eleven dollars. (I am sorry U.S.A. only.) Go to our web site and click the $20.00 donation and then go to the contact us form on our website and let me know your address where you want the books to be sent. http://www.heartfeltmin.org/#!donations/c1mb0

You can also go to http://www.amazon.com/Broken-Minds-Healing-Youre-Losing/dp/0825421187

Please read below for important news on depression.

This comes directly from the Depression/Bipolar Support Alliance

Depression is a treatable medical illness involving an imbalance of brain chemicals called neurotransmitters and neuropeptides. It's not a character flaw or a sign of personal weakness. Just like you can't "wish away" diabetes, heart disease, or any other physical illness, you can't make depression go away by trying to "snap out of it."

Episodes of depression often follow stressful events like marital problems or the death of a loved one. People who have recurrent episodes of major depression are sometimes said to have "unipolar depression" (or what used to be called "clinical depression"), because they only experience periods of low, or depressed mood (unlike someone with bipolar disorder who goes through periods of both low and high mood).

While depression sometimes runs in families, many people with the illness have no family history of depression. The exact causes of depression still are not clear. What we do know is that both genetics and a stressful environment, or life situation, contribute to its cause. Usually, it's not one or the other, but a combination of both.

Symptoms

· Prolonged sadness or unexplained crying spells

· Significant changes in appetite and sleep patterns

· Irritability, anger, worry, agitation, anxiety

· Pessimism, indifference

· Loss of energy, persistent lethargy

· Feelings of guilt, worthlessness

· In ability to concentrate, indecisiveness

· Inability to take pleasure in former interests, social withdrawal

· Unexplained aches and pains

· Recurring thoughts of death or suicide

Different Kinds of Depression

There are many names for the different kinds of depression. People with recurrent episodes of major depression are sometimes said to have unipolar depression (or what used to be called "clinical depression"), because they only experience periods of low, or depressed mood. Those living with chronic, low-grade depression have what is called dysthymia. When people experience both dysthymia and major depression, they are sometimes said to have double depression.

Mood disorder symptoms also can arise after a woman gives birth (postpartum depression). And they can sometimes be accompanied by psychosis (psychotic depression) or can occur during the winter season (seasonal affective disorder, SAD).

However, what most mood disorders have in common are major depressive episodes. This is also true of bipolar disorder, another type of mood disorder. People diagnosed with this illness have mood swings involving both lows (bipolar depression) and highs (called mania if severe or hypo -mania if mild). When people go through the lows of bipolar disorder (bipolar depression), their symptoms are very similar to those that someone with unipolar depression might have.

http://www.dbsalliance.org/site/PageServer?pagename=education_depression

Pakistan, Christians under fire

I have a pastor friend who is a Pakistani National.  He is very evangelistic and also disciples his many converts to Jesus Christ.  Church history tells us that Pakistan was actually evangelised by one of our Lord's apostles, Thomas.  I have had Pakistani Christians tell me that they can trace the history of conversions all the way back to Thomas.  I cannot confirm this.
My friend lives in a section of Pakistan called Lahore.  Lahore has been a Christian haven for many believers who live in a hostile Pakistan, My pastor/evangelist friend recently emailed me and told me about the recent persecution of  evangelical believers in Lahore.  Please pray for this young man and his family. Please pray for the many Christians who have been affected by this recent persecution.  I have left out names because of the risk of harm is too great.  Here is the message.

Updates on Christian under Attack

This is Sunday Morning 10th,March,2013 and I walked to the main road from our Church building. I wanted to cross the road but the scene was totally changed in our main road which is just a 2 minutes far off from * Church Headquarter.

I saw a number of children, young people are coming out of christian colony named as * opposite to our headquarter. All young and children were furious and came out of read and start protesting. it was 10:00 AM at that time, some were laying on the road and crying for the attack and some were raising slogans against the local government. Most of people were demanding Ex-President Pervaiz Musharraf to come back to Pakistan as they think he was the only sole president of Pakistan who took great care of Christians in Pakistan. This is the president that helped President Bush (USA) to win war on Afghanistan.

After some time, a police man named **came up up to me and salute me and he said that he knows me as Pastor in ** he said that thousands of policemen are on the way to shell the protester you better leave the place right now. so I left and went to church back. Soon I heard that now thousands of Christians have come out of their houses to protest and then Christians form all over Pakistan start protesting for buring 200 homes, 2 churches and 100 of BIBLES.

I was with my wife and children when we start hearing a load firing , and tear shelling, but the in spite of all this severe firing and shelling they failed to remove the protester against this attack.

Also, I had chance to meet one of the relative of ** ( who is now under arrest for blasphemy) . He informed me that the Muslim who imposed this allegation on **was the old friend of ** and the Muslims man spoke against Jesus and ** could not bear and start beating him. and in order to take revenge , he told his other Muslims friends that he has spoken against Islam.

I also heard the news that the victim of this attack have refused any aid from the Government as it is now open to media that Police and local government were aware of this attack a day before very well but they did not act anything to stop this destruction.

What all I will say that keep praying for this victim and for our team here in Lahore and God help us to carry the great Commission of Jesus come what may! and we surely love to do it even in the worse hours here. Your prayers are important.

Name withheld