Helping Those Suffering From Mental Illness - Dr. Mathew Stanford
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- Опубликовано: 19 авг 2024
- For those suffering with mental illness, the last thing they need to hear is “Well, you just need to pray more,” or “You need to have more faith.” Treatment for mental health issues require a holistic approach, addressing the physical, spiritual, emotional and relational aspects of a human being.
Dr. Matthew Stanford offers a compassionate look at mental illness, which affects 1 in 5 teens and adults in the United States. He shares about overcoming the stigma of reaching out for help, encouraging the church community to offer hope and healing for families with loved ones suffering with mental health issues.
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I went clinically insane (anxiety, despair, OCD, intrusive thoughts, irrational fears) and was labeled as bipolar and schizophrenic 6 years ago, was force fed psych meds in a psych ward, released, weaned off meds (which intensified anguish again), then genuinely (in anguish and wailing) called out to God and was born again in a very real encounter and experience with God (this after years of religion and Christian think-tank learning). Continued genuine experiences with God led me to see victories in anxiety, despair, 24/7 panic attacks, insomnia, and intrusive thoughts.
I havent taken a psych med in 5 years, and am of the vein of thought that this guy mentions at 10:15-10:25 that a Christian should not take medicine in any situation (lest it be directly from the earth/from God's creation, i.e. wine [as when Paul exhorted Timothy to do such], in situations when God has spoken to you to do such). I was only healed because, just like the women who had been bleeding in the Gospels (who had sought out doctors, but the situation only worsened), I saw from my experiences in the psych ward (the horrors of people and the doctors), that medicine was NOT the answer for my anguish...and so it left me desperate, and only left me with one option: call on the NAME of God (His name is Peace, is it not?). Whenever someone genuinely calls on the name of the Lord, they shall be saved. I was truly saved from my anguish. No meds involved.
What does science and these doctors say about a TRUE story/situation such as mine? Regardless of what they say, here is what I say: I once was insane, but now I am sane!
How are you doing today?
I love my medicine and, like a diabetic, I'm grateful for it and also grateful to live in a country where I have access to medicine. Medicine has transformed my life in a great way.
@@honeybeejourneyBe very careful with the path you are on. Many of these meds hurt your health in ways you may not understand for years. Take the cautions and information they print off and give to you with your medication seriously. Also realize that one day you might, as I did, choose to no longer take this medication. The battle is not easy.
Love this show......Dr. Sanford is awesome and every church needs to listen and have him come. He need
I liked the way he explained all of this and Yes the church needs to listen to this and get resources specially in the kids ministries.
This was an incredible conversation that deserves far more air time! Doctor Stanford spoke so beautifully and compassionately towards those with mental health issues. I
Thank you for such an important and beautiful perspective on the care of mental health issues.
This is a fantastic discussion.
I cannot agree any more. Thank you so much.
Just listened today about this broadcast on dxfe, febc phils. Great topic. Hope I can get a copy of this book!
Thanks for your message, aris! We hope you enjoyed the program. In response to your request for the book titled, Grace for the Afflicted, please follow this link to a page that will allow you to request it for a gift of any amount - bddy.me/3hsIoJf. We hope this is helpful, friend!
I wish church pastors could better understand OCD. And I’m specifically referring to Religious OCD aka Scrupulosity. It’s so misunderstood. And sufferers are not only not getting help but when someone with Religious OCD comes to their pastor they often have their fears, their disorder reinforced. A common fear for a person with Religious OCD is to obsessively doubt their salvation. Another is to think they have sin that makes them bad or blocked from God’s love & blessings. It’s critical that pastors recognize when this isn’t normal faith issues but rather a distorted disordered mind. The fears these people struggle with on a daily basis goes beyond what typical christians deal with as they live out their faith. Everyone has doubts and questions. But a person with Religious OCD are consumed on an unnatural scale with doubts and they are tortured in their minds trying to use mental compulsions and sometimes physical compulsions to get that feeling of certainty. Their fears and doubts and shame and depression are just compounded when a pastor unwittingly tells them you just need more faith, or you may not be saved at all, just pray & believe, etc. Some of these people have prayed the prayer of salvation hundreds or even thousands of times. Some read hours and hours in their bible, even rereading the same passages over & over compulsively for hours...fearing they’ve missed something or that they are a bad christian if they stop.
This video is a great start. But it’s just the tip of the iceberg. I have no doubt that pastors are seeing this disorder in their offices and they likely do not understand it. Three resources I’d like to offer here are an article from Got Questions dot org and two book titles.
www.gotquestions.org/scrupulosity.html
Book #1 Can Christianity Cure Obsessive Compulsive Disorder by Dr. Ian Osborn
Book #2 Strivings Within The OCD Christian by Mitzi VanCleve.
God cured me of INTENSE scrupulosity, like you mention. No psych meds involved. Only Him, meeting me, and speaking to my heart. Id love to connect if you have any questions!
I knew a girl like that, she was never assured of salvation, and she wept and wept for it, a tyrannical "preacher" husband reinforced that doubt to keep her in submission.
I didn't know there was such a thing. I look forward to reading it soon. Thank you for sharing.
Anyone watching this and seeing what their voices look like for the first time?
This was much-needed and wonderful! Thank you!
This was great to listen to. I'm a counsellor and a Christian also, as a church we must embrace people who are struggling with mental health problems. If they can't be accept by the church where on earth will they be accepted?!
Thankyou so much. Matthew your church sounds a bit like mine too! 😁
Your counseling would have never helped me. The church was clueless. Docs were semi-clueless. I traced my severe depression to five foods I was eating. I did. By myself. I can now eat anything thanks to taking antibiotics meant for a sinus infection. You don't have all the answers. You would have never helped me.
Thank you for sharing
Thank you so much for your comments regarding including people with intellectual disability in church. I don’t feel many churches do a good job of this. As a parent of a child with an intellectual disability I struggle ALWAYS being his advocate. Are there any resources you could recommend that I could give to those in children’s ministry that will empower them to be proactive? For example, my son is 13, but will not go in the teen class. He prefers the 6 to 9 year old class. I feel he would transition if some other people stepped in and helped him, other than me (he is 13 after all!) I have encouraged the leaders to do that, but everyone holds back. Maybe if they has some resources to guide them they would feel more able to step up.
These are the people who create the stigma. These are the people who claim science and faith cannot coexist.
I tried the bootstrap method it works but then I was still so disregulated that I started to develop a serious eating disorder because of it. And then I started healing and felt like God's presence left me. Like I was doing something wrong 😪
so insightful 😊
This was helpful
It's such a shame that healthcare doesn't help with the cost of mental illness. I have a friend... such a dear, sweet soul, who suffers from a type of mental illness that is wrecking "their" (gender neutral) life. They are on disability for a totally unrelated illness, have the "ability" to get out and lead what we view as a "normal" life, but their mental illness affects them in such a way that they sit in their (dilapidated) home alone. They know they need help and ask for it often, but when the cost is presented, they have to turn it down. It just doesn't seem fair. I pray for and cry over them often.
This was an absolutely brilliant interview …. But right towards the end, he completely lost me as a mom of many . While we’ve have 5 neurotypical grown children who have all done fantastic , we have two young trauma adoptions of non newborns ( local/ not foreign ) who have suffered pretty intensely of highly legit trauma induced mental illness / stress . My husband is also an MD ( OBGYN ) , and his practice also bears this out . I’m guessing this is not the target audience he was aiming for in a half hour otherwise brilliant interview , but I feel somewhat alarmed by what seems to be the lack of acknowledgment of such profound and legit mental suffering in so many marginalized children ( in America ). The part where he says “ children just don’t get this …. You don’t see it …. I’m talking about teens”. This is just not our reality in 25 years of private practice ? Maybe I didn’t follow something here at the end correctly , because suddenly it seemed very incongruent from the rest of the brilliant interview . I hope FOF does more topics along this line to support especially our marginalized youth who eventually come - of- age trying to make sense of what their own story has been ( mostly due to trauma ?)
Christ is all and is in all. That is what the bible says.
I have DID
I’m glad that there is talk around this subject. But there was an error in what this doctor said. A child can have a mental health disorder and can have signs of schizophrenia. The child may not be diagnosed but can show significant signs of mental illness.
The foundational problem is that there is no precise definition of "mental Illness." And it's difficult to cure a malady when it can't be defined.
I know I need Christian counseling but I am forever stuck because I cannot afford it. Any answers for us who want help but can't afford it?
There was a TLC story about a girl who is 7 with schizophrenia maybe that was something else
Some people cannot take psych meds. These meds can help some people and make others much much worse.
The psychiatric medications have horrible side effects. Sometimes the " cure" is worst than the illness.
Jim, can you speak a little louder?
I turned to the church when I started having severe depression. Just kidding. I got cured with antibiotics meant for a sinus infection. 😅
How's that even funny?
You just dumb founded.