Mental Illness • Posts, Books & More
Stigma, isolation, loneliness, and shame often follow a diagnosis of mental illness, but not here. With God, mental illness has no stigma. Chronic Joy offers resources steeped in love and grounded in faith.
Bend Your ear to me and listen to my words … hear the deep cry of my heart. Listen to my call for help, my King, my True God; to You alone I pray. (Psalm 5:1-2)
Blog Posts
God knows us intimately, and He understands our struggles completely. There is not a single hair on a single head that He hasn’t counted, or the briefest shadow that He’s missed, or the smallest mutation of DNA He doesn’t know. He is with us every moment of every day, without fail, even when we cannot see Him or hear Him or feel Him — and our stories matter.
Peace that Prevails
I love the word prevail, especially when paired with peace. Knowing I can experience inner calm, even when chronic pain triggers anxiety, settles my soul.
Trauma is Not Sin
Trauma belonged to others. I had experienced difficulties in my childhood, but I didn’t feel like I deserved that diagnosis when others had truly suffered.
Dealing with a Depressed Spouse: Tips from Experience
Years of experience dealing with my spouse's depression and pastoral counsel have taught me how to love him well. Discover what I've learned.
Books We Love • MENTAL ILLNESS
This Beautiful Truth: How God’s Goodness Breaks into Our Darkness
Sarah Clarkson
Amid the daily realities of sickness and isolation, disappointment and pain, it can be profoundly difficult to grasp the real goodness of God. But this is where God breaks into our darkness with beauty. In the wonder of creation, in art or film, story or song, in the kindness of his people and the good they create, God breaks into our pain in a tangible way, teaching us to trust his kindness and hope for his healing.
Broken Brain, Fortified Faith: Lessons of Hope Through a Child’s Mental Illness
The terms mental illness and mental health are often used casually, but many don’t believe mental illness is relevant to their lives.
This is the story of one family’s journey through schizophrenia, navigating the uncharted waters of mental illness to find help for their daughter and support for their family. This memoir is an honest look at the stress, anger, education, and finally, hope experienced through the eyes of a mother.
Grace for the Afflicted: A Clinical and Biblical Perspective on Mental Illness
Matthew S. Stanford
Why has the church struggled in ministering to those with mental illnesses? Each day men and women diagnosed with mental disorders are told to pray more and turn from their sin. Mental illness is equated with demonic possession, weak faith, and generational sin. In Grace for the Afflicted, Stanford informs us about mental illness from biblical and scientific perspectives.
The Hidden Smile of God: The Fruit of Affliction in the Lives of John Bunyan, William Cowper, and David Brainerd
John Piper
John Piper invites you into the lives of John Bunyan, William Cowper, and David Brainerd to discover how God takes the privilege of faith and strengthens it with trials so that we experience a greater hunger for him. The perseverance of these godly servants exemplifies the essential fruit that affliction can produce in your own life.
A Sacred Sorrow: Reaching Out to God In the Lost Language of Lament
Michael Card
Have you ever thought of lament — that sacred sorrow — as a form of worship? God desires for us to pour out our hearts to Him, whether in joy or pain. From the example of men and women in the Bible, learn how to recover this lost language and deepen your worship of God.
Troubled Minds: Mental Illness and the Church’s Mission
Amy Simpson
Mental illness is the sort of thing we don’t like to talk about. It doesn’t reduce nicely to simple solutions and happy outcomes. So instead, too often we reduce people who are mentally ill to caricatures and ghosts, simply pretending they don’t exist. They do exist…
Unglued: Making Wise Choices in the Midst of Raw Emotions
Lysa TerKeurst
Do you ever feel like your emotions are working against you? We may sometimes find ourselves stuffing down our emotions, exploding with emotions, or reacting in unhealthy ways – but it is possible to make our emotions work for us. The good news is that God gave us emotions to experience life, not destroy it. Learn to use our emotions for good.
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PLAYLIST
- The Valley, Ellie Holcomb
- Praise You in This Storm, Casting Crowns
- Our God, Chris Tomlin
- Beautiful Things, Gungor
- How Great is Our God, Chris Tomlin
- Mighty to Save, Jeremy Camp
- Come as You Are, Crowder
- 10,000 Reasons, Rend Collective
- Bring on the Wonder, Sarah McLachlan
- Healing Begins, Tenth Avenue North
- You Are More, Tenth Avenue North
- My Help Comes from the Lord, The Museum
- Lift Up Your Face, Third Day
- Grace Like Rain, Todd Agnew
- Good, Good Father, Chris Tomlin
Healing Takes Time
“Healing takes time, and asking for help is a courageous step.” Mariska Hargitay
Rough Start to the Day?
Did your day get off to a rough start? You can pause. You can breathe. You can stretch. You can pray. You can start over.
Pervasive Misunderstandings in Mental Illness
“Herein lies one of the most pervasive misunderstandings regarding mental illness: that God spares this kind of pain and suffering from those with a deep and abiding faith. All too often, the assumption in the church is that those who continue to suffer from mental illness lack sufficient faith.” Stephen Grcevich MD
Brave and Quiet
“You are brave and quiet. I forget you are suffering.” Ernest Hemingway
Defined & Purposed by God
“When God has already defined you as His and purposed by Him, no mental illness can change that.” Brittney Moses
Speak the Names
“The stigma of mental illness is still very real and …will continue unless we speak the names behind each voice.” Laura Boggess
Mental Illness is a Medical Condition
“Mental illness is a medical condition, not a spiritual shortcoming, and seeking professional help does not demonstrate a lack of faith.” Andrea A
Silence Hurts More
“I have learned now that while those who speak about one’s miseries usually hurt, those who keep silence hurt more.” C.S. Lewis
