1 – Strong Mind

Your mind is very powerful. Your thoughts can contribute to your distress or they can help you to overcome distress.

Note to Christians: We are instructed to take every thought captive. Not doing so leads to distress and can result in making poor choices. Learn how to become more aware of your thoughts and techniques for refuting distorted thoughts with Truth.

Mental Health Basics

Humans experience a multitude of thoughts and emotions. Some are pleasant and some are distressing. All kinds of emotions are okay, they are simply part of life. But if we stay stuck in the distressing thoughts/emotions for too long, they can rob us of peace/joy and cause difficulty in daily functioning.

Diagnosis

The DSM-IV-TR is a manual which mental health professionals use for diagnosing mental disorders. It helps to identify when normal thoughts and/or emotions cross over into becoming unhealthy and dysfunctional. Its usually a matter of degrees — when something that had originally been a normal reaction to a situation somehow increases to the point that it gets in the way of living a healthy and functional life. The DSM organizes most of the adult mental health disorders as follows:

  • Adjustment Disorders
  • Anxiety Disorders
  • Delirium, Dementia, Amnestic, and Other Cognitive Disorders
  • Dissociative Disorders
  • Eating Disorders
  • Factitious Disorders
  • Impulse Control Disorders
  • Mental Disorders due to General Medical Condition
  • Mood Disorders (including depression)
  • Personality Disorders
  • Schizophrenia and Other Psychotic Disorders
  • Sexual and Gender Identity Disorders
  • Sleep Disorders
  • Somatoform Disorders
  • Substance Related Disorders

Please avoid trying to diagnose yourself — it is best left to someone who has been trained and specializes in diagnosing mental health conditions (a professional). If you are planning to see a professional, bring a list of what you want to remember to tell them (e.g. your symptoms) so that they can make an informed diagnosis and help you get the help you need.

For additional information on mental illness, take a look at the National Institute of Mental Health’s website: www.nimh.nih.gov

Medication

Some mental health issues require medication. Keep in mind that the medication is only effective if your body/mind needed it and only if it is the correct medications, dosage, etc. for your body/mind. Taking mental health medications is no different from taking physical health medications. If you were diabetic and needed insulin, or you had a heart problem and needed glycerin, you would most likely take it. In the same way, the chemicals in your brain may need medication in order to function properly.

Avoid taking prescription medications that have not been prescribed specifically for you by a professional. Take medications only as prescribed. Read the information that came with the prescription. If the prescription does not work for you or has side effects, talk with your doctor so that s/he can adjust the prescription. Also, please do NOT stop taking medications without consulting your doctor and/or pharmacist (some medications have dangerous side effects if stopped too quickly).

Its a good idea to get all your prescriptions filled at the same pharmacy. That way, the pharmacist is available to keep a watchful eye on medication interactions. After all, doctors specialize in knowing how to diagnose/treat conditions while pharmacists specialize in knowing medications and drug interactions. In addition, your pharmacist is frequently more accessible than your doctor for answering questions regarding drug interactions and side effects.

Keep in mind that “natural” herbs (etc) are still drugs — its just that they are not manmade. If you are taking over-the-counter or garden remedies, be sure to tell your doctor so that s/he can take that into consideration when diagnosing and when prescribing medications.

For more information on medicines and supplements, take a look at the National Institute of Health’s website: www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/druginformation.html

Please note that there are no miracle drugs that will suddenly make life easy or remove all your challenges. No matter how good the mediation works, all it does is help to stabilize you — there is still work to be done on your part to address the issues that distress you. If the challenges are more than you can resolve on your own, get help.

Counseling

Some mental health issues can be improved by talking with someone. Choose someone who can be objective, keep your confidence, and who has the expertise you need. If you don’t have someone in your life who fits that description, please seek a professional who has the training and expertise you need.

If your body is ill, help is available from physical health professionals. If your mind is ill, help is available from mental health professionals. Don’t give up. Get the help you need.

If you have tried counseling and did not have a good experience, keep in mind that there are a lot of different counselors available with differing skills, training, experience, methodology, personality, and beliefs. Find one that is a good match for you and your situation.

There are a variety of licensure levels for state and national levels. Licensed professionals are subject to governing boards. Licensed professionals are required to meet specific standards of ethics, education, and training. You may also benefit from finding a counselor who has values and beliefs similar to you.

If you are a Christian, it is especially important to seek a counselor who shares your values and beliefs. If possible, select a counselor who is willing and able to provide biblically-based counseling. Be very discerning when you select your counselor and continue to be discerning as you receive the therapy. If it is not biblically-based, challenge it and if necessary, find a different counselor.

There are a variety of counseling techniques. One of the most widely acclaimed and successful techniques is “Cognitive Behavioral Therapy” (CBT).

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)

Your thoughts can either contribute to your distress or they can help you to overcome distress. Learning Cognitive Behavioral Techniques (CBT) techniques can help you to improve your mental health. CBT is based on recognizing how your thoughts influence your emotions and behaviors.

Cognitive Distortions

Most of our emotional distress is due to what we tell ourselves about an event. We try to interpret our world based on our past experiences. Sometimes what was true in the past is not always true for a present situation. Sometimes what we told ourselves in the past was not accurate but we continue to believe it. Either way, we may be telling ourselves things that FEEL true but are not factually true.

Cognitive distortions usually contain an element of truth which makes them believable but upon close examination, they are not as true as they feel. Also known as stinkin’ thinkin’, twisted thinking, or automatic negative thoughts, cognitive distortions tend to keep us stuck until we recognize them, challenge them, and replace them with more accurate thoughts. Examples of distorted thinking include:

  • Polarized thinking (all-or-nothing, black & white)
  • Overgeneralization (always, never, labeling)
  • Filtering (selective focus, ignoring other information)
  • Jumping to Conclusions (mind reading, fortune-telling)
  • Catastrophizing (worst case scenario)
  • Magnifying & Minimizing (huge, impossible, overwhelming, unequipped)
  • Personalizing & Blaming (comparisons, blame, relating everything to you)
  • Should Statements (should, ought, must)

Survival Skills vs Coping Skills

Most people get through life the only way they know how. When we go through difficult things and no one is there to teach us how to deal with the challenge, we learn how to survive the challenge. Our parents and other significant people in our lives could only teach us the skills they knew themselves. If they didn’t have specific coping skills, we probably didn’t learn them. But we CAN still find a way to learn coping skills.

When we use survival skills, we may survive the challenge but when its over, we tend to feel exhausted, wounded, and powerless. We may have survived but we tend to feel worse afterward. Often we fear having to face a similar challenge in the future.

People who do not have the coping skills they need tend to seek ways to escape. This may come in the form of alcohol, drugs, gambling, and other addictive behaviors. It may come in the form of withdrawing, being passive, or being aggressive. It may surface as anxiety, fears, phobias, depression, anger, rage. It may look like dependency or co-dependency. There may be trust issues, addiction issues, relationship issues, or work issues. Bottom line: without coping skills, life is much harder than it has to be.

When we use coping skills, we learn how to deal with the issue at hand, focus on what is within our control, do what we can, and let go of what is not within our control. During and afterward, we tend to feel capable, confident, and empowered. We may not have liked what we had to go through but we emerged stronger than before. We know that we can face that challenge even better if there is a next time — so we do not have to live in fear of it.

One essential coping skill is knowing how to deal with stress (not simply suppressing it or pushing through it).

Stress Management

When our mind is stressed it sends a message to our bodies to be on alert for the perceived danger. During times of stress, our bodies prepare for “fight or flight.” The body doesn’t distinguish between an actual physical danger (e.g. seeing a bear nearby) from a perceived threat that is inside your head (e.g. worrying about money).

When stressed, the body tends to: increase heart rate, increase blood pressure, redirect blood flow away from the digestive system, increase speed of breathing, increase tension in the muscles, increase levels of glucose (blood sugar) into the bloodstream, increase insulin production to make use of the increased glucose, increase hormones (e.g. adrenaline, cortisol), and put the senses (nervous system) on alert.

If our body does not get the opportunity to physically use the chemicals and hormones it produced during stress, it tends to stew in its own juices until it can gradually stabilize itself when the perceived threat no longer exists. If the mind believes the threat still exists, the body stays on alert. If the body is in a constant state of stress and does not get a chance to rest and replenish, there can be physical issues as a result. Examples of stress-related illnesses include: high blood pressure, heart attacks, diabetes, ulcers, fibromyalgia, obesity, and cancer.

Some people are so accustomed to living in a stressful situation (or handling a series of one stressor after another with no recovery time) that they don’t think they are stressed. But just because people are able to get through the stressful moment and then move on does not mean that they are actually coping with the stress — they may be suppressing the stress. Its important to be in tune with your body so you can notice cues it may be sending you. Its also important to schedule regular activities to help your body recover from stress.

Physical activities can  help to burn out the chemical and hormonal changes that are created in the body during stress. Examples include: walking, biking, hiking, dancing, singing, swimming, gardening, and other types of exercise.

Relaxation exercises can help to quite the mind so it can stop triggering the fight or flight reaction in the body. Examples include: prayer, deep abdominal breathing, visualization, and mindfulness.

Mindfulness

When we are in distress we tend to focus on concerns regarding the past or the future. When we are fully present in the present moment, there is usually nothing to be distressed about. That’s where it can be helpful to utilize “mindfulness” techniques.

This technique is not about emptying your mind. Neither is it about focusing on or chanting something until it no longer has any meaning. Genuine mindfulness is about learning how you can control the thoughts in your head.

The secular approach to mindfulness is to focus your attention on “what is” and simply being aware of things without judging or worrying about them — at least for a few minutes. During the time that you are fully mindful of the present moment without judging the information, your mind stops sending alarm signals to your body and your mind/body get a chance to relax and start to recover from stress. After your mind and body are more relaxed you usually have a better perspective on the current challenge and don’t feel as overwhelmed by it. Examples of mindfulness exercises include:

  • Breathing meditation (focusing on your breathing, experiencing it fully)
  • Seeing meditation (focusing on a specific object that you see, seeing it fully)
  • Walking meditation (focusing on your walking, experiencing it fully)
  • Eating meditation (focusing on a specific bite of food, experiencing it fully)
  • Body awareness meditation (being aware of tension and other body sensations)
  • Present moment meditation (calm awareness of what you see, hear, feel, etc)

Other examples of being totally in the moment include: being in a creative activity, engaged in an active sport, singing, praying, playing an instrument, immersed in reading a good book. Each offer the opportunity to briefly set aside our stress, give our mind a healthy rest from that pressure, and allow our body to rest or to exert the energy that built up during stress.

Caution: Please avoid utilizing meditation techniques that encourage you to “empty” your mind or to focus so intensely on something that you lose connection with what you are focusing on. Both methods result in your surrendering control of your thought process. When you empty your mind or surrender control of your own thought process, you are making yourself extremely vulnerable to whatever comes into your mind and in that state of mind, you are not able to effectively filter / screen it.

The most effective way to overcome distressing thoughts is to do it God’s way…

What the Holy Bible says about having a Strong MIND

We are instructed to take every thought captive. Not doing so leads to distress and can result in making poor choices. Be aware of your thoughts, question how accurate the thoughts are, refute the distorted thoughts, and replace them with Truth.

When Jesus was tempted by Satan in the wilderness, Jesus didn’t debate Satan. Jesus simply spoke Scriptural Truth over Satan’s lies. When the devil attacks us we are to follow Jesus’s example: speak Scriptural Truth over the lies. We are also to stay focused on the Lord and face each challenge with gratitude:

Rejoice always. Pray without ceasing. In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. Quench not the Spirit. (1 Thessalonians 16-19)

Consider that in the Holy Bible, God tells us to “be still” and know that He is God (Psalm 46: 10). We are being told to be mindful, stop worrying, know that God is in control, connect with Him and be in the present moment with Him.

For more information on what the Holy Bible says about specific challenges, simply click on the topics listed on this website.