“I fight for my health every day in a way most people don’t understand. I’m not lazy. I’m a warrior.” – HealthyPlace.com   

If you have bipolar disorder or any other affliction you can consider yourself a warrior.  Type in the Comments section the diagnosis of an ailment, physical or mental affliction that you battle every day. 

You might have a speech impediment, cancer, Tourettes Syndrome, anxiety, Lou Gehrig’s Disease or any of the numerous monsters I didn’t mention, you are a warrior.  You become a force to be reckoned with the moment you say “(insert your illness)” will not get the best of me”!  Of all the mental and physical ailments we have in this world, no matter your story, these monsters are extremely difficult to overcome.  And just getting out of bed, taking one step at a time, breathing in and out, YOU ARE A WARRIOR.

Preparing for Battle

Speaking as one of the brave Bipolar Disorder Warriors, I know if I go into battle, I must be prepared.  As a warrior, I need the right weapons in order to pull myself out of the pit of despair when I am depressed; keep the argument with my boss from growing into a full-blown manic episode; or letting my proper sleep hygiene disappear among the stars.

In this blog post, I am going to introduce the number one weapon I use as a Bipolar Disorder Warrior.  That weapon is prayer.

Bipolar Disorder Warriors and Prayer

The Power of Prayer

“Suffering provides the gym equipment on which my faith can be exercised.” – Joni Eareckson Tada

If you are a Christian, there are several weapons that you could use in the midst of the battle.  Remember the Armor of God?  My favorite weapon I like to go to, over and over and over again, is prayer.  Some of my most challenging fights have been won with the battle implement prayer.  Prayer taught me just how much I didn’t know about anything and especially just how much I am unfit for the battle.  Prayer directs me to the Source of Power.  That is why I pray to the One who knows everything and is Most Powerful, too.

I have been a Christian longer than I have had bipolar disorder.  When I received the bipolar diagnosis 11 years after the symptoms surfaced, I had no idea how to respond as a Christian.  Even though there is a history of mental illness on both sides of my family, that subject was never brought up at birthday parties or during the giving of gifts at Christmas.  But that didn’t matter due to the fact the Christian exposure I received at church as a child, once maybe three times or more a week, actually helped me when I was in compromising situations or when I have suicidal ideations.

Bipolar Disorder Warriors who Pray

Believing I am a Mental Health Warrior

I do not always believe I measure up as a Bipolar Disorder Warrior.  I bet some of you think that way, too.

In the midst of the roller coaster of moods, OCD, ADHD, and severe anxiety, I always expect for the warrior feeling to show up.  And of course I should expect to feel like a warrior.  God made me.  He knitted me together in my mother’s womb.  He knows the number of hairs on my head.  And those statements above are facts from the Bible, let yourself believe. 

Sometimes the belief in my prayers is likened to a direct line (without any busy signals) to the Creator of the Universe.  Other times, because I am human, I feel all I will get are busy signals or the voicemail.  I know from years of seeing God work that He will give me an answer in due time.  Whether it is yes, no, maybe, wait awhile, God will answer us in His perfect timing.

When God turns me around to stand in front of His holy mirror, I see myself as He sees me.  Standing in front of God’s mirror, I feel immersed in all of God’s power and strength. I also feel loved.  There are no personal judgements glaring at me.  I feel peace like none other before.  When I see myself the way God sees me, I become that warrior, yes, even the warrior with bipolar 1 including psychotic features, one who will walk tall and shout loudly to share God’s love for a mentally ill middle-aged woman.

At that point is when I know I am ready to face any problem inside my head or out.  The Bible says when I am weak, God is strong.  He will fight for me.  God will give me whatever signals I need to make prayer the first thing I reach for when the challenges begin!

What is the first thing you reach for when in the middle of a challenge mentally or physically?  Write your answers in the Comments section below.

Warriors Praying

Call to Action

Share about a time when you felt like a Warrior.  How does it feel to be a Warrior?  How do you conjure up those warrior feelings when the going gets tough?  Put your answers in the comment section below or email me at [email protected].

Going Furtherhttps://lifeconquering.org/anxiety-2/

https://www.focusonthefamily.com/faith/faith-in-life/prayer/prayer

https://www.crosswalk.com/faith/prayer/

My Anxiety diminished by Prayer

Life Conquering and Psych Central (Mental Health Discoveries)

The post Bipolar Disorder Warriors and the Weapons They Use in Battle appeared first on Life Conquering Blog.

One in five adults or 40 million Americans have a mental health disorder.  Out of that number, 56 percent do not receive treatment.  76 percent of youth with severe depression have no or insufficient treatment.  26 percent of homeless adults in shelters have a serious mental illness.  African American and Hispanic Americans use mental health services at one-half the rate of Caucasian American and Asian Americans.

mental illness

These statistics are overwhelming.  People need to be educated on mental illness.  The stigma of having a mental illness needs to be demolished.

When I was diagnosed with bipolar, I had no idea what it was going to mean for my life to have a mental illness.  Many people believe it is a death sentence.  No, I did not believe that.  Not at all.  With my Christian faith, I believed it was a life sentence to bring light into a very dark world – someway, somehow.

On the way to a mental illness ministry

God spent oh about seven years after that original diagnosis whispering in my ear the beginnings of a ministry.  Yep!  You bet, I ignored Him.  I made excuses.  I tried to put off the conversation for another time.  I told him how I was the last person for this job.

Over those seven years, it took an expensive KAPLAN course to prepare for the LSAT; the circus of actually taking the LSAT; preparing for the GRE; applying for grad school a second time; being rejected by the School of Education at the University of Louisville; and a paralegal course.

In the fall of 2014, God softened my heart and I dropped my guard.  After I allowed God to talk to me about His plan with listening ears and an open heart, I prayed a lot and meditated on this idea of a ministry and being the leader of said ministry. I finally got the courage to tell someone about my God-given dream.  I remember talking with my husband about this calling from God one day after lunch.  He shared with me the information he knew about starting a blog since he had experience in this area.  I soaked it all up like a dry sponge.

Life Conquering Ministries Blog

The more I prayed to God about this ministry he had laid at my feet, the more the excitement mounted in my heart.  Once the blog was up and running, social media and email accounts established, I was ready to launch the Life Conquering ministry for mental illness.

The Memoir

I knew I wanted to write a book based on my experiences with bipolar 1 in order to encourage and to tear down the walls of stigma.  Soon after the blog was started, I began researching what I needed to do to write a memoir.  Between building a platform and setting up an editorial calendar, I learned a bunch and knew I had just as much work to do.

Every book and writing website warned me that it would take a long time and a lot of hard work to get to the point of publishing a book.  But I was up for the challenge.

I knew I was on a mission to encourage people with mental illnesses.  My mission also included tearing down the walls of stigma.  So, it became very important to me to get the word out about mental health to friends, family and people around the globe.

I have spent the past three years working tirelessly to fulfill the mission of Life Conquering.  This has been done with bipolar mixed episodes, depression, no motivation, migraines, narcolepsy, ADHD and work so stressful that at the end of the day, I would be reduced to nothing.  Is it all worth it?  YES!  I love what I do.  I look forward to what the future will be for Life Conquering.

mental illness

A call to action

But the future for Life Conquering is here!  I am a contributing author for The Mighty and Blasting News and a guest writer.  I have waited a VERY long time to see this day come.  I cannot build a platform without you.

What can you do to help the ministry of Life Conquering?  Here are some ideas.  You can pick just one of the following or all!  Your choice.  I would love the support in any way.

• Go to https://lifeconquering.org/ and check out the blog posts;
• Go to https://www.facebook.com/lifeconquering/ and like, follow and share;
• Go to https://twitter.com/lifeconquering and follow, like or retweet;
• Go to https://plus.google.com/u/0/+LifeConquering and follow;
• Go to https://www.pinterest.com/lifeconquering and follow;
• Go to http://us.blastingnews.com/editorial-staff/amypromine/ and share and follow; and
• Go to https://themighty.com/author/amy-romine-2/?utm_source=search&utm_medium=site&utm_term=amy%20romine and follow me.
• Share this blog with other people.

References

http://www.bipolar-lives.com/bipolar-disorder-statistics.html

The post Mental illness stigma torn down with your help appeared first on Life Conquering Blog.

Barista

Roughly 1 in 5 adults in the United States or 43.8 million or 18.5% of the population will experience a mental illness in a given year.  That is a HUGE number.  You can only assume that mental illness and mental illness stigma is everywhere you go.  The Starbucks barista fixing your latte; the nurse at your doctor’s office checking your pulse; the mechanic at the auto shop who worked on your brakes; your co-worker down the hall with the cute red handbag; your child’s teacher who stays later after school every day; the elected official in your town who saved the tax payers money; the clerk at the grocery store ringing up your groceries; or your daughter’s boyfriend who just pulled into the driveway.

These same people mentioned above have children, spouses, careers, like/dislikes, bills, dreams.  These same people feel stigma and also think of suicide.  Suicide in America is the 10^th leading cause of death.  People usually do not just wake up one morning out of the blue and flippantly say, “I am going to kill myself”. Highly unlikely.  These thoughts have been going on for a long time.  Life holds no punches back for the mentally ill.  Divorce still shatters homes; death brings a family together or pulls them apart; making ends meet every month is hard for them, too.  But the one thing different between you and me, is stigma.

Death

Across society, there are still people who think the symptoms of psychopathy are threatening and must be uncomfortable to them.  These attitudes toward real people who have real medical illnesses of the brain must stop!

Mental illness stigma = brain drain

There are actually two different types of stigma: social stigma and perceived stigma or self-stigma.  Social stigma is the prejudicial and discrimination toward people with mental illnesses.  This happens as a result of the psychiatric label placed on them.  The latter two stigmas come from the perception of discrimination by the person with the mental illness.

One of the most common beliefs concerning people with mental health issues is they are dangerous such as an alcoholic or someone with schizophrenia.  Another misnomer is some mental disorders are self-inflicted like eating disorders and substance abuse.  Also, people believed that the mentally ill were difficult to talk to.

Substance Abuse

All kinds of people carry stigmatizing beliefs regarding people who have mentally ill problems.  This is regardless if the “normal person” has a relative or a close friend with mental health issues.

So who throws the bucket of stigma on the mentally ill person?  Family members, psychiatrists, teachers or peers (to name a few).  The mentally ill person often experiences accusations, distrust, avoidance, pity and gossip.  They also lost friendships and experienced social rejection.

Where did we dig up these stigmas?

People often think others who have a mental illness are “different”, they have misguided views; however, neither of these are based in fact.  The early beliefs of demon possession were usually explanations for the mental illnesses symptoms for some communities.

Fast forward to today.  We realize people with a mental illness is different from those of physical disorders.  This implies that someone with depression is different from a “normally” functioning individual.  Also, the medical model requires a diagnosis which implies a label.  This further perpetuates the idea that mentally ill people cannot function in society and may be violent.

Eight ways to fight stigma against the mentally ill

1. Speak openly about mental health.
2. Empower yourself by educating yourself and others about mental illness.
3. Watch your language.
4. Encourage equality.
5. Show empathy and compassion.
6. Stop the criminalization of the mentally ill.
7. Stand up for the way people with mental illnesses are portrayed in the media.
8. See the person, not the illness.

Seeing the person – not the illness.

Call to Action

Put in the comments section which way you are going to help fight mental illness.  You may also email me too at [email protected].

Friend me on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lifeconquering

Follow me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/lifeconquering

Follow me on Google+: https://plus.google.com/u/0/collection/EeZrmB

Going Further/References

https://www.nami.org/Learn-More/Mental-Health-By-the-Numbers

https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/why-we-worry/201308/mental-health-stigma

https://www.nami.org/Blogs/NAMI-Blog/October-2015/9-Ways-to-Fight-Mental-Health-Stigma

The post Conquering the Real Demon of Mental Illness: Stigma appeared first on Life Conquering Blog.

Have you been a victim of mental illness stigma?  The worst stigma I have felt as someone with bipolar came recently by an acquaintance and when I was a paralegal at a law firm.

But, I know that my mental illness stigma via friend or stranger will not last.  One day, I will have a new label.

A Small Stone Changes Everything

mental illness stigma

I was looking for something in my night stand this morning to no avail.  Then I saw a smooth, white stone sitting next to my lamp.  I picked up the white stone, dusted it off and rubbed its glassy surface.Just for a moment, I felt peace about my current situation regarding the acquaintance’s stigma toward me.

Then, I journeyed back five or so years ago when my church was having a campus wide 24-hours of prayer.

Prayer

When I first arrived at church, I went into the worship center.  The lights were down and the blue lights were accenting the fog from the dry ice.  Once I found a seat, I began to focus on the intent for being there.  The worship band was playing prayer-focused melodies.  I sang along for a few minutes, getting even further enmeshed into a prayerful mindset.

On my way into the church, there was a guide booklet to assist me in my prayer walk.  When I left the worship center, I headed for the second floor fellowship hall.  Upon arriving, I noticed it was transferred into a tiny prayer oasis.

There was a musician in the middle of the room singing songs.  I saw on all four walls of the fellowship hall tiny stations set up for pray.  In the guide book I received, I saw directions for each prayer station.

At the first prayer station I went to, had these white stones.  I picked up one and proceeded to read the material that corresponded with that prayer activity.

mental illness stigma

In Revelation, the white stone was given by God and a new name was inscribed on it .  Translation is that people who belong to God, will be given a white stone when they get to Heaven.  The stone will have a new name on it.

To further clarify: it means if you were labeled on earth as an embezzler, liar, drunk, thief, prostitute, cheated on your taxes or had an affair, those labels do not stick anymore once you are in Heaven.  You pass through those pearly gates and you get a stone with a new name/label.

The Stone, a new name

Let’s face it, this life is tough even without a mental illness.  Now, I am not saying my whole life was horrible.  What I am saying is that to have a new identity like whole, pure, clean, loved, blessed, would take all the mental illness stigma and throw it down the toilet.

So when I looked at my glassy white stone this morning, I remembered how that acquaintance treated me, and it doesn’t sting as bad.

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, for whosoever believes in me, will not perish but have everlasting life.”  John 3:16

Comments

Have you been stigmatized because of your mental illness?  Tell me about it.  Tell me how you got through it.  [email protected]

Going Further

https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/why-we-worry/201308/mental-health-stigma

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/mental-health-discrimination_us_57e55d07e4b0e28b2b53a896

http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/mental-illness/in-depth/mental-health/art-20046477

The post Mental Illness Stigma – I could receive a New Name one day appeared first on Life Conquering Blog.