World Mental Health Awareness Day

Today, the internet reliably and socially informs me, is World Mental Health Awareness Day. And I'm glad that it is, because this is an incredibly important issue, and one that is very close to me. Mental Health problems affect vast swathes of people worldwide, and the odds are very high that you personally know someone who has, does or will suffer from mental health problems. In fact, if you've been reading or interacting with my blog for a while you will probably know that I have struggled with Depression intensely in the past. Mental Health is something that people really do need to be aware of.

My own battle with what one of my secular heroes, Winston Churchill, called 'the black dog', began in my mid teens, when a regular teenage malaise snowballed with bullying and various other feelings, becoming a fairly debilitating period of depression from about 2007-2008. This directly impacted the 'important bit' of my academic life, as it blunted my GCSE results, and my AS's. I then had a period of relative freedom until part way through my second year at university, where I really struggled, and scared some of my close friends, and had to go back onto anti-depressants. This continued, on and off with some slightly random breaks, until earlier this year. I'm currently not on any medication, and am grateful to God for the way in which he has held me close to him through my own personal storms. I've tried CBT, had counselling, but above all I have benefitted from some incredibly close and kind friends (and family!), especially my then 'Keenite Group' and leaders. Having people around you - whether they understand or not - that love you is crucial, and I can't imagine how I would have got through it without them.

I share a little bit of my story so you can see where I'm coming from. The church - and individual Christians - have not historically been great at dealing with mental health. There is always a place for the hope that Jesus brings, and the healing that the Holy Spirit does, but we need to be careful how we apply those two truths. I wrote a post last year, "Christianity and Depression", which was well received at the time. In it, I thought about how we can relate well to those who struggle with Depression in particular, but I think it is also relevant for beginning to have an approach to mental illness in general. I am very fortunate to have a few close friends with a variety of mental illnesses. I say fortunate because they are wonderful people, who refuse to be defined by their illness, and are often the most vulnerable, honest and kind people I know.

Over the last few years I've been trying to respond theologically to what has happened in my own life, and in the course of that, I've come across a few books that I'd really recommend to those suffering with Depression. The first, which I vaguely reviewed in amongst a post, is John Piper's "Tested by Fire", which is the story of the struggles with mental illnesses of some amazing followers of Jesus. Do read the post, and the book, because Piper brings together some powerful stories. Also by John Piper is his slim volume "When the Darkness Will Not Lift", which I review here and is very helpful. A book not by John Piper is one of my favourite recent books, and possibly the best book in my opinion on the topic; Andrew and Elizabeth Proctor's "Encountering Depression". This book is a brilliant resource both for the individual sufferer and those around him/her. I'd recommend it highly, as I did in my review. 

Two great books on Depression, the most common mental illness.

One of the most common mental illnesses/problems in young people is that of anorexia. I am grateful that I have not struggled with this, but I and my wife have both had good friends who struggle with this debilitating illness. I recently read and reviewed a superb book on the subject, "A New Name". This is by Emma Scrivener, and is both testimony and advice. This is a powerful book on an emotional subject, and well worth reading. Emma blogs too, so check out her blog for more.

In closing, I hope this post achieves what it (hopefully clearly!) set out to do. I want to raise awareness of Mental Health. And I want to sound the bell for those who have helped me, especially Jesus, through my own troubles. I once wrote a poem - the only one published on this blog thus far - called "The Kings Hounds", in which I confidently proclaimed "the king guards eternal... I am always loved". Mental Health is part of this fallen world in which we live, and is symptomatic of the Darkness into which Jesus is the Light of the World.

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Thank-you for reading, and I hope this has been of help, interest and ultimately awareness for/to you! I'd love your comments, snippets of your stories, or recommendations of books/resources on this topic. As ever, I value your +1's, Retweets, Likes and Shares, which are particularly apt on this particular post, given that it is about awareness! Thanks again.