MENTAL HEALTH
About 10 days ago I wrote: “mental health” is a term much in the news today. Rightly so, but exactly what is it? How do experts define it? How do you define it?
Today, Thursday, September 5, 2019 I share responses to “mental health” question that came thru. I say came thru as my email has been malfunctioning. Such undependability in my old life would been frustrating and even furious. Praise the Lord for new life!
EBB4
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I do not know how experts define this. My personal opinion is you are mentally healthy if you can wake up everyday and be joyful, thankful and optimistic. The stress, pressures and hardships of life can keep us from feeling that. Even with faith and God, I struggle with being mentally healthy due to life.
Blessings,
C.
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Health whether mental or physical is more than the absence of disease. It is functioning at optimal capacity as God created health. Mental health requires an optimistic mental attitude/positive thinking (Philippians 4:8). The body must be nourished by pure, natural food and hydrated with pure water. Proper structural alignment of the spine and exercise are important to provide proper nerve supply to all parts of the body. Mental and physical health work together. We live in a fallen world and must do our best to avoid evil thoughts and physical pollutants and detoxify those that enter our minds and bodies. To mature and reach our potential mentally, physically and spiritually requires a community of mentors/counselors, friends, support group and colleagues.(Proverbs 27:17)
S.
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Many, including men, women, boys and girls, collectively, have NO MORAL COMPASS!!
Here's how all of this works: Make believe video games where you "kill" everybody and kill as many as possible! Hollywood ilk glorifying guns and carnage created with them, while in real life they want to take all of our guns away. Meanwhile, people have turned away from church and God and many wind up without any "moral compass." Therefore, the mass shootings never come as as surprise to me. God is in control, but Satan is running his act big time!! Last but not least ... America is going to hell in a hand-basket and most people aren't even aware of that fact! The "ride" for America is almost over.
As for the real "mental health" issues ... The liberals in America have addressed that by saying we should never institutionalize, even dangerous people, because to do so would be to violate their collective "Rights." So, they are allowed to roam free and endanger all of society as their condition further expresses "no moral compass." And so it goes ............... Jim
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Diagnosis and prognosis of mental health in our nation is no simple clear cut affair. There is considerable fluidity in answers to “What is?” and “How to?” There is answers and then there is God’s Word. The larger professional group stumbling about while the Way is utilized by some (Bible-centered Christian counselors).
A mental health professional
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Having dealt with children with mental health issues, I have several definitions. To me, poor mental health is an inability to see the world as it really is (I know, a very loose, undefinable term), and an inability to control one's own actions. "Inability to control" is much, much, different than "choosing not to control".
One daughter has an inability to understand that everyone who says "hi, how are you?" is not in love with her, is not "like my brother" or "needs me to save them." Labelled borderline personality disorder, all the counseling in the world cannot convince her that her perceptions are not reality.
Add to borderline personality disorder bi-polar, intermittent explosive disorder, and severe depression and you have poor mental health. It is sad and it is scary.
She is only one example.
In my non-professional, life experience, opinion, children can be broken at a very early age. Some can heal through love of others and always through love of God, but some seem to not be able to get to the point where they can believe that they need help or seek God. So, the One that can give them true love is not sought or believed.
As far as mental health is treated, it's a joke. If a child tries to commit suicide he/she is put in a mental health hospital for 7 days. On the 7th day insurance or Medicaid decides that the child is healed. Parents are asked "do you feel safe taking this child home?" If the answer is "no" the response is to tell the parents how to physically protect themselves and the child. I have driven around with all my kitchen knives in the trunk of my car (but, rest assured, a broken bottle can produce the same cutting).
I'll stop before I end up writing a book, but this is obviously an emotional subject for me.
I also want to add that there are very few facilities to care for mentally ill people. I remember when every state had at least one mental hospital for severely mentally incapable people. But then someone ("we") decided that those facilities denied their patients rights. Much better to leave them homeless, living on the streets, subject to other mentally ill people, thugs, etc.
In our personal experience we were told our daughter was too dangerous for any local facility - but not too dangerous to have at home, public school, etc. We were told to keep her away from young children and anything she could use for a weapon. Mike spent several months missing work so he could stay home and keep her in sight 24 hours a day. I couldn't take a turn watching her because she had already physically attacked me.
We called Child Protective Services to see if they would add us to their roles so she would be kept safe and her siblings would be safe from her. Their conclusion after our home visit was that we weren't abusing her so too bad. That wasn't their job.
Ah, I'm going on again, better stop.
Our mental health system is broken, broken, broken.
Cheri [with Mike have adopted a number of children]
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On this subject there are several important things I’ve learned from Scripture. Prior to their original sin Adam and Eve were nakedly mentally healthy. After gaining the knowledge of good and evil which they could not handle, they were nakedly mentally unhealthy . . . as we all since have been with the exception of God Incarnate, Jesus Christ. Every day at some level is our battle with surrender in one of two ways; At various degrees we are comparatively unhealthy mentally, emotionally, and physical . . . with each part of us effecting the others.
We can however optimize overall health if we follow the Health Giver and His words (The Bible); the application of which raises the health of both individual and community. I testify of this by personal experience and observation.
EBB4
