Posted by Manda on June 2, 2002, at 22:49:42
In reply to Thank you beardy.., posted by judy1 on June 2, 2002, at 22:00:58
As far as how my faith community has responded to my mental illness (depression--maybe bipolar-- and GAD)...
I am a college student who is very actively involved in three faith communities; two are campus organizations (one of which I co-lead) and the other is a regular church. All three of these communities have been exceptionally supportive. In the group that I lead, everyone has been really helpful in getting things done when I am incapacitated. They've also been really useful when I was searching for a new pdoc. In my church, my priest (I'm Episcopalian) is awesome! He is really interested in helping in anyway that he can, and he actually kept me from committing suicide on one specific occasion. He understands that my illness is just that- an illness. However, he realizes that it has spiritual consequences, which is also important to understand. As a result, he is able to distance my illness from my true self, while still helping me to deal with the results of it on my faith life. Anyway, that's my experience.
-Manda
poster:Manda
thread:19
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/faith/20020527/msgs/56.html