Love

Guilt and fear go together. The purpose of guilt is to make you fearful and the purpose of guilt is to bring fear and to get you to forget about love. Love covers a multitude of faults. Walk in love



Maintain Hope

Living with a severe mental illness or negative life situation can lead to feelings of hopelessness. You can get so used to living with the illness or negative life situation that you begin to think and feel that you will never improve and that things will never change. Words of encouragement from others and those that we manage to tell ourselves sound hollow and we can become cynical and skeptical. When you are skeptical it’s had to maintain hope. Hope is the expectation and desire for a certain thing to change. Never lose your hope and confidence in the Lord Jesus Christ, your treatment and your ability to survive.  (IGBATTMHO 2019 All Rights Reserved)



YOU ARE

When it’s 3 in the morning and you can’t sleep that you are…………

When it’s 3 in the afternoon and you can’t get out of the bed that you are…………

When you can’t think clearly because of the voices in your head that you are….

When the voices in your head are getting louder that you are……..

When once muffled voices just keep getting bolder that you are……

When every now and again murmurs in your thoughts turn into constant whispers that you are………..

THAT YOU ARE AN OVERCOMER

THAT YOU ARE DOING THE BEST YOU CAN. THAT YOU WILL MAKE MISTAKES. THAT YOU WILL NOT BE PERFECT.THAT YOU WILL NOT ALWAYS HAVE THE RIGHT WORDS. THAT IT IS NOT YOUR FAULT. THAT PEOPLE LOVE YOU. THAT LIFE CAN GET BETTER. THAT WE NEED YOU

 



Helping A Friend (Pastor Alinicia Gibson)

If you have a friend or family member who is struggling with mental health challenges, the first thing I want you to know is that it’s not your job to “heal” them. And honestly, they probably aren’t looking for you to do that anyway. So many people get caught up in thinking that they need to “fix” other people when that’s not their job at all.

Instead, focus on letting them know that you are there for them and an ear that will listen. Many times people aren’t looking for someone to tell them what to do, they just want to know that they have a friend who will be there for them. You can be this person! Here are a few things to remember                                                                                                                                                                                                                         If you don’t understand what they are going through, then don’t say that you do.   We all have our own issues.

  1. Do not break their trust. If they are sharing something with you in private, don’t tell anyone else about it. The one exception is if they are having suicidal thoughts and you need to get them help.
  2. Check in on them. Don’t wait for them to contact you.
  3. If you ask them how they are doing and they say “fine” or “good”, then ask them how they are really doing. Let them know you want the real answer, not the fake answer they think you want to hear.
  4. Look for ways to encourage them or show that you are thinking about them.
  5. Just listen. Really listen…actively. Don’t pretend to listen while thinking about something else. It can be hard to share personal things and if they find out you aren’t really listening, they aren’t going to open up to you again.
  6. Don’t do or say anything that implies you think they need to “just get over it”.


Support Systems

Think about your current situation and begin to develop a plan. For example, if you are caring for a sick loved one, who would your loved one call if you became ill or died suddenly? If you are the person being cared for, do you know how to pay bills/cook/arrange transportation for yourself if your caretaker was suddenly unable to help you?



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