May 2013
9 posts
3 tags
Drawing Strength from the Patron Saint of...
May 22 is the feast of St. Rita of Cascia. She is known as the patron Saint of impossible causes, abused wives, and widows. She could just as easily be a patron Saint of mothers who have lost their children to death since her two sons died of dysentery at a young age.
There is no mention of St. Rita ever having been depressed. This is pretty amazing considering her husband, whom she was forced...
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Catholic (and not) Resources for Troubled...
Marriage distress and depression go hand in hand. In the future I will do a post on how depression affects marriage and vice versa. Here I want to provide resources for troubled marriages. These are Catholic and non-Catholic. They do not include self-help books. Hope it helps for those of you having marital problems.
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Catholic Resources
Retrouvaille is a program that uses a retreat...
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Physician Assisted Suicide: Depression? →
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Celebrating Your Child's Successes
Celebrating your child’s successes is like eating an apple that keeps depression away. First, it focuses your mind on someone besides you. Second, it honors your child’s hard work. The success can be a kindergarten picture, spiritual milestone, or a failure that your child was able to turn into a positive learning experience. It can be winning a sporting championship or being a gracious...
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Unwed Mothers, Depression, and the Christian...
“So young, what a shame.” “If her parents raised her as a good Catholic (Christian) this wouldn’t have happened.” “That’s her second, and by a different man.” “The guy left her. If she got married first she wouldn’t have that problem.” “Young people have no self control these days.”
These are some of the whisperings I have heard when it is discovered that a parishioner is now an “unwed...
6 tags
Rolling With The Changes
“But because I have told you this grief has filled your hearts. But I tell you the truth, it is better for you that I go. For if I do not go, the Advocate will not come to you.” John 16:6-7
Three years roaming around with Jesus and then poof that time is gone, never to return. The apostles may have been told better days were ahead but they were hard pressed to imagine it in their loss.
Most...
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Underage Drinking Prevention →
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Oversleeping
Out of habit your sleepy body begins to stretch. You hear the birds chirping and the morning light oozes through the side cracks of your shades into your half opened eyes.
LIGHT?! OH NO, I OVERSLEPT!
It is 6 a.m. instead of 5 a.m. Right now the coffee is getting sipped only because it is too hot to drink. As soon as it cools off it will be gulped. The time used to sit with scripture has...
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Close Relationships & Depression →
April 2013
11 posts
7 tags
Getting up and Walking with Depression
“They stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city, supposing he was dead.” Acts 14:19b
When a person goes through a depressive episode it can feel like being pelted with stones. You try to get up, get away, and find a safer place but to no avail. Truly the struggle can leave a person half dead.
[[MORE]]“But when the disciples gathered around him, he got up and entered the city.” Acts 14:20
We...
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Faith in God Positively Effects Treatment for...
This is a report on a small study published in the Journal of Affective Disorders, a professional journal. It adds to the body of research regarding the role of faith and treatment and points to the need for more research on this topic and the adding of a question about patient/client on all therapist and agency/hospital intake forms. If you are a client/patient seeking services you have a right...
8 tags
Let There Be Healing & Peace
Why religion? Why does religion often get the rap as the cause for violence (Islam), sex abuse (Catholic) and, used to be anyway, greed (Judaism). In today’s paper it was reported that the Boston Marathon bombers were motivated to do the awful deed by their Islamic religion. Of all the research that could have been done as to the background of these two people, the media grabs the one thing...
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Does Belief in an Angry God Cause Mental Illness?
Mark Jaramillo posted an article on my FB page titled, “Study: Belief in an Angry God Associated with a Variety of Mental Illnesses.” Here is a sentence from the article. “We’re not saying belief caused psychiatric symptoms, but we see relationships between [them].” I was struck by that wording. The article does not say, “We’re not saying psychiatric symptoms cause a type of belief, but we...
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Addressing Recent Trauma
People often associate traumatic events with the eventual onset of Post-traumatic Stress Disorder. However, many come through such events without developing that condition. Most people however do experience a condition called Acute Stress Disorder.
Acute Stress Disorder occurs when a person has witnessed, experienced, or been confronted with a traumatic event. The person’s response to that...
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Learned Helplessness & the Will of God
Learned helplessness is a term coined by a well-known psychologist named Martin Seligman, PhD. It refers to a pattern of thinking learned from past experience that encourages the development and sustaining of depression. Learned helplessness manifests itself in phrases like, “I can’t”, “It’s too hard”, and “Why bother.” It tempts a person to give up taking positive action to improve ones...
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Reasons to Not Seek Treatment for Depression, etc
People have lots of reasons why they don’t seek treatment for depression, anxiety, bipolar, obsessions/compulsions or other mental health problems. The reasons seem to be good ones. In 2007, Steven Marcus and Mark Olfson reported in Archives of General Psychiatry that only 3 out of 100 people got treatment for depression. This doesn’t include the other mental health problems listed...
9 tags
All Creation Teaches Us About God
The other day a friend said, “God creates dogs to give us comfort.” We had been talking about our pets. Yes, pets do give us comfort. They also teach us to play, nurture, and protect. And since they have shorter lives than us they teach us about facing sickness and death.
All of creation teaches us about God, His creation, and about ourselves as His creation. We often don’t recognize the...
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Mental Illness and Parishes →
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Brain Basics by the National Institute of Mental... →
This is a tutorial about the brain as it relates to mental illness.
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Rejoicing in the Middle of Bad News
During the Easter service this past Sunday the homilist informed us that while the 40 days of Lent are now over the 50 days of Easter are just beginning. He explained that the Easter season continues until the Feast of the Coming of the Holy Spirit, Pentecost. That happens in May. Between now and then we are supposed to be rejoicing about the Resurrection.
“If you think Lent was difficult. ...
March 2013
10 posts
4 tags
Shroud of Turin: Dates Back to Christ's Time →
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A Reflection on the Passion for Those Touched by...
Holy week is filled with rich spiritual insight about the person of Jesus as God and human being. Persons challenged by depression, bipolar, and all other ills of body, mind, and spirit tend to focus on identifying with Jesus’s suffering and death on the cross. Today’s post is about another focus, one that Jesus Himself called us to do to emulate Him and enter into his gift of...
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Defeating Self-Defeating Thoughts
A self-defeating thought is any thought that gets in the way of a worthy task or goal. We all have these thoughts. Most of us can simply dismiss them as irrational and proceed. However, some of us can’t seem to get such thoughts out of our minds. We ruminate on them and add more to them until we become paralyzed in fear. In the worst-case scenario the endeavor we aspire to falls by the...
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“Let’s get to work!”
The larger public will never scrutinize most of us about our work. We work in a smaller circle of influence and visibility. We pay bills, clean, take care of children, do schoolwork, and go to our outside-of-the-home jobs.
When working we make mistakes such as when we break things, forget tasks, or make unintended hurtful comments as we work in a group. Sometimes outcomes of our work are not...
5 tags
Watch those Expectations!
We have to watch our expectations. If we expect too much of others, we are in for disappointment perhaps even great hurt. If we expect too much of ourselves, sooner or later we will collapse from trying too hard perhaps becoming emotionally distraught over our failure.
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Unrealistic expectations about what constitutes a good marriage or a perfect spouse have ended marriages. Unrealistic...
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“Most high and glorious God, bring light to the darkness of my heart. Give me...”
– The cardinals are entering conclave so I leave only a prayer instead of a post today.
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Endings and New Beginnings: A Personal Take
Last weekend was the final high school hockey tournament of the season and it marked the end of our youngest son’s high school hockey career. As a mother who has spent the last several years chauffeuring to and from practices, traveling out of state each month, sweating the finances, praying he didn’t get injured, and developing a reputation for being quite a yeller in the stands I must admit...
“We can’t solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we...”
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Forgiving Yourself
“Then in his anger his master handed him over to the torturers until he should pay back the whole debt. So will my heavenly Father do to you, unless each of you forgives his brother from the heart.” Matthew 18:34-35
The truth of the matter is that our heavenly Father doesn’t need to summon the torturers when we don’t forgive from the heart. We torture ourselves quite well. We toss and turn...
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Depression and Forgiveness
Have you ever been ignored, lied to, discounted, put off, or betrayed? How about being held in suspicion or perceived as a threat? Getting shut down when expressing an opinion contrary to mainstream thought is never fun; neither is having something near and dear to you stolen and used for someone else’s gain.
There’s more. Have you ever been manipulated into doing things that weren’t good...
February 2013
10 posts
9 tags
Conversion, Psychological Health, and...
We are called to conversion, meaning becoming more and more like God. We will never become God of course but we can conform ourselves to His Will, which is to become more whole body, mind, and soul. Holy. This is no easy task. It is like trying to redirect a torrential river. Fortunately God is the one who gives us the ability and strength to accomplish this task however imperfectly.
One of...
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Mental Illness: Healing through the Sacramental...
The pope as spiritual leader of the Catholic Church asked that we focus on forgiveness this lent. Many parishes therefore have increased the availability of the sacrament of confession. That is actually the old word for it. The more accurate name for the sacrament is the Sacrament of Reconciliation. It points us to the ultimate gift of the sacrament. We are spiritually reconciled to the...
10 tags
Anger the Sin or Anger the Illness? Confession or...
Today’s reading is about the people of Nineveh repenting after Jonah’s warning about God’s wrath over their sins. Not read is that after they repented Jonah threw a tantrum. “Take my life from me; for it is better for me to die than to live” (Jonah 4:3). This is an angry threat (to be taken seriously if it occurs in real life).
As Christians we recognize that anger is a capital sin. So without...
“The past must be abandoned to God’s mercy, the present to our fidelity, and the future to Divine providence.” —St. Francis de Sales
Sometimes my jobs here prevent me writing a post. It’s only happened twice in two years and this is one of them. So I leave you with that quote and you’ll have a post tomorrow!
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Using Lent to Trick Ourselves or Be Healed
We make sacrifices during Lent. We give up things or do things to remind us about the plight of others, that the things of earth are temporary, and that eternal life awaits us. We give alms. We pray more or start praying if we haven’t done so. These are all good things. However we can use Lent to avoid the things that really need to be done in our lives. In psychology we call this process...
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Lent for Those Affected by Depression/Bipolar
For you with a depressive or bipolar condition and family, friends, and parish communities, instead of giving up candy, cake, or coffee for Lent try giving up the following:
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• RESISTANCE -to admitting you have a depressive or bipolar condition or seem to be heading for relapse
• PRIDE -that says, “I can handle this on my own.
• SHAME -in the belief that you are not good enough or...
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St Josephine Bakhita: Hope for Those Abused in...
According to an analysis of multiple studies involving 23,000 people, those who experience severe childhood abuse especially physical and sexual abuse are twice as likely to experience chronic depression as adults than those not abused.
I provide this information because St. Josephine Bakhita, whose feast day is today February 8th, suffered incredible physical, sexual, and emotional abuse from...
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Peace in Our Day
I use Living Faith booklet each morning when I pray with the day’s scripture. Today I thought there was much wisdom so I’m linking it here: http://www.livingfaith.com/devotion-02-06-2013
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Dealing with the Self-Righteous
“And they ridiculed Him. Then He put them all out.” (Mark 5:40a)
We speak a lot about being ridiculed for the faith. Some of us wear it like a badge of honor. Some of us can cower in silence in fear for our jobs, family unity, or even rejection by our own church. I speak here of the church-the people.
However, how often do people of faith ridicule people who have a depressive or anxious...
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When We are Robbed
“You…..joyfully accepted the confiscation of your property, knowing that you had a better and lasting possession…..You need endurance to do the will of God and receive what He promised…..We are not among those who draw back and perish, but among those who have faith and will possess life.” Hebrews 10:34b,36,39
We can be robbed of many things—retirement, promotion, freedom to speak or act,...
January 2013
9 posts
7 tags
Who Do You Want to Become?
“We become what we think about all day long.”
— Ralph Waldo Emerson
So, what do you think about all day long? I know what I think about and it frightens me! My mind is filled with the following (and more):
The chores and errands that need to get done.
The untouched yard that looks like a bomb exploded on it.
The dog hair tumbling across the floor (golden retrievers do...
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“Do not fear what may happen tomorrow. The same loving Father who cares for you...”
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St. Francis de Sales and Self-Gentleness
“Know that patience is one virtue which gives greatest assurance of our reaching perfection, and, while we must have patience with others, we must also have it with ourselves. Those who aspire to the pure love of God need to be more patient with themselves than with others. We have to endure our own imperfections in order to attain perfection; I say ‘endure patiently’ not ‘love’ or ‘embrace’:...
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What to Say to a Gossip
Exactly one year ago a study was published describing the pro-social effects of certain kinds of gossip. Time Health reported on that study and the link is below. Briefly, pro-social gossip is the kind usually spread by people who want to protect the hearer from potential harm.
The kind of gossip we are most familiar with is the kind that promotes stigma, suspicion, and a weakening of family...
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Faith when Medicine loses its Effectiveness
“It’s not fair! I do everything right! I exercise, eat right, even go to therapy! I pray. I felt good. Why do I feel so awful now?”
Similar words are often spoken by people I work with in my counseling practice. This particular person had been on medication for three years with no problems. She had become active in her parish, made friends, and was productive at work. Her family life was...
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St. Louise de Marillac, Depression, & Following...
“Do not be concerned whether or not you experience any consolation; God wants only our hearts. He placed within our power only the capacity to make a simple act of the will. He considers this alone and the deeds resulting from it. Make as few reflections as possible [in prayer] and live in holy joy in the service of our Sovereign Lord and Master. -St. Louise de Marillac
St. Louise de...
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Minimizing the New Year’s Resolution Blues
Most New Year’s resolutions are broken within six weeks. When this happens those who struggle with depression can become deeply discouraged. “Whoa me. I’m incapable, incompetent, worthless, and bad” is the mantra. So, let’s prioritize resolutions in order to minimize discouragement.
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First, make getting out of bed the most important resolution. If you are depressed and you get...
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St. Elizabeth Seton: Her Struggle with Depression
January 4th is the feast day of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton (1774-1821). We often read about her accomplishments as a mother and foundress of the American Sisters of Charity and the American Catholic School System. Less known is that she endured several episodes of depression during her life.
From her own writings and those of her biographers we know that she experienced at least three major...
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New Year’s Promises 2013
“And Mary kept all these things, reflecting on them in her heart.” Lk 2:19
We all make New Year’s resolutions. If we don’t it is usually because we have given up having confidence in our ability to make changes, even small ones. Is there a tad of helpless/hopelessness there? Yet, each New Year the page turns and in essence begs us to move forward. According to Sr. Melannie Svoboda, SND, New...
December 2012
6 posts
7 tags
Hope for the Lonely at Christmas
Christmas can be a terribly lonely time for many reasons, the least of which is physically spending the day alone. I’ve done that on several occasions and filled it with music, phone calls, books, and Christmas movies after Christmas mass where I got there early in order to sit in the front and then lingered by the nativity scene as long as I could.
The loneliness of which I speak now is the...
