Invisible Struggles: Destigmatizing Mental Illness
The Path to Mental Fitness – Part 1
When Pamela and I started thinking about the subject of mental illness, one of the things that came across our minds is that it is always seen as the elephant in the room. It’s so big that not everyone standing in the room can see all the pieces or parts of the elephant, but rather the parts that only they can see. Because every part of the elephant is huge no matter where you start this thing it big. The same can be said when we talk about the subject of mental fitness. We have titled this “Next Level Mental Fitness” so that we can figure out how to address this elephant in the room called “mental illness.” If you haven’t noticed this elephant isn’t going anywhere and if we are not careful it could be here to stay.
The Elephant in the Room
Before we get into any details, let me make this statement. We do not, by any means, want to offend anyone. Neither do we say this to discredit the fact that there are mental illnesses or things that we cannot handle on our own, mentally. Therefore, we must define some things, so that we can figure out how to address the issues that we can address and deal with it. However, we’re not after dealing with mental issues in an ordinary way, but in a next-level way. What I mean by that is, if we treat things like normal people do, we will have the outcomes that normal people have. It would be safe to say that normal when it comes to mental issues isn’t working and we need a better solution. Wouldn’t you agree?
Our Bible, the Scripture, the thing we believe in most, helps us to deal with everything, even illnesses. There is nothing that cannot be addressed from our spiritual beliefs and God’s word. The scripture says, “Let God be true.” [1] So if God is true, that means everything else that contradicts God cannot be true. Speaking of God’s word, a.k.a. our Bibles, do you know that there is no word for mental illness found in scripture? So what that tells me is that we have this word called “mental illness” that does exist; however, it is contrary to what the Bible says, and is not addressed in the same manner. Therefore, we’ve taken something natural, normal, average, commonplace, and have elevated it above what God’s word has to say and that my friends we cannot do. That’s why we call it “the Elephant in the Room.” So in “Next Level Mental Fitness,” we are going to address these issues and find a way to combat those things that we deem un-compatible.
Let’s talk about this elephant in the room. If we are all in the room with an elephant, what are we seeing? My view and when I describe it to you is different from your view and how you describe it to me. When we talk about mental illness or our mental issues, what comes to mind? What do you think of when you think of mental illness or mental issues?
Here’s a list of the mental illnesses/views of the elephant in the room that our Next Level Virtual Group came up with.
- Depression
- Bipolar disorder
- Chemical imbalances
- Mental instability
- Anxiety
- Isolation
- Confusion
- Dementia
- Alzheimer’s
Obviously this list isn’t a complete list of every mental illness known to man. This list was just one group’s views of that elephant in the room. Other individuals and other groups’ lists will differ. The point is there’s a list and it’s the list that gives us our starting point. You have to admit all those are big words and as you can tell are big pieces of that elephant.
Question: what pieces of this elephant called mental illness can you see or name?
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[1] Romans 3:4 KJV, Bible.com, accessed August 1, 2023, https://www.bible.com/bible/1/ROM.3.4.KJV
All Scripture references used by permission, see our Scripture copyrights.
