In a counseling session, I surprised the man working with me when I talked about defeating my depression. He asked, “So you see your depression as a separate entity from yourself, not that the depression is you?”
I have depression. It comes and goes, hides at times, and overwhelms me at times. It is a part of me, but it is not how I see myself. I am a person with depression, not a depressed person.
My mental health illness is just like the cancer I had. My cancer was once a normal cell in my body. It mutated and became different, a part of me but not the same as me. A cell that became a danger to my well-being and life. That’s how I see my depression.
And just like I had to use many tools to fight off the cancer, there are many tools I use to fight off the depression. (Why is it that it’s ok to fight cancer, but not mental illness?)
Unlike my cancer, my mental illness will always be a part of me. Which I’m okay with, but I’m not going to let it define me or make final decisions about what I do. I have benefited from going through times of major depression. It has made me a better wife, mother, friend, and nurse. I love the things that going through depression has taught me, but I wish I could have known them without the struggle.
One thing I have learned is that there are many tools available to fight your mental illness. To help protect and defend yourself, to keep it in check, and not to let it rule your life. As a Christian, I always turn to the Bible for help. It may not seem relevant to today’s mental health struggles, but in its pages, I can find kindred spirits who struggled with similar mental health issues and learn from them how they were able to fight them off.
The Psalms of David resonate with me when I am in the midst of deep despair and depression. The times he calls out to God and begs for help echo my own cries.
It is not only in Psalms that I find advice and comfort. I was doing a study on prayer by Stormie O’Martin. She was using the Armor of God from Ephesians to teach how to be a prayer warrior. In Ephesians, Paul, writing to the church at Ephesus, encourages them to let their faith in God spread to all areas of their life.
He includes spiritual warfare as part of our lives. Near the end of the book, Ephesians 6:10-20, he uses the image of a Roman soldier to teach us how to protect and arm ourselves for this warfare. You may not believe in a spiritual realm or supernatural beings, but Paul’s words here give practical steps on how we can use the tools of a soldier to fight our personal mental health battles. He calls these tools the Armor of God.
Following Paul’s example, we can use the tools of the Roman soldier to represent the tools we can use in our battles against our mental illness. Here is my take on these tools.
Mental Health Armor
Shoes
You’re feet take all your weight, propel you forward, and keep you moving. They need the right kind of support for the activity you are about to do. What kind of footwear do you need to help you move from Rock Bottom?
Breastplate
Just like a bulletproof vest, a breastplate protects your most important organs – heart and lungs. Our hearts need to be protected, not only from outside harm but often from themselves. The heart is greatly influenced by emotions. Emotions are not bad in and of themselves, but emotions can be temporary and sometimes lie to us. What we do with our emotions is more important than the emotion itself. How has your heart been lying to you, leading you deeper into mental health issues? How has the outside world lied to your heart? How do we protect the heart, acknowledge our feelings, but not let them dictate our actions?
Belt
Just like shoes, the right belt for the right occasion is important. A soldier’s helt held his sword in an out-of-the-way, but easy-to-reach location. Belts can hold our pants up, keep our robes tied shut, and weight lifters us special belts to protect their core and back. What kind of belt do you need right now? What core strength do you need to find to support yourself?
Helmet
Our lungs and heart are important to keep us alive. Our most important organ, though, is our brain. The right headgear is needed to protect our brains. Helmets stop outside attacks on our minds, and should also be used as a barrier to our heart taking over the thinking our head should be doing. How has your thinking led you astray? What lies from either others or your heart have you believed? What can you use to protect your brain and help you think more clearly?
Shield
A shield protects your whole body. It can be used to deflect blows from outside sources, can be used to push away attacks, and can hide you from foes. How can you protect yourself from outside attacks on your body? How do you need to protect yourself physically to help you heal?
Sword
The sword is the only offensive weapon listed. One that is dangerous. Dangerous to ourselves if we are not trained to use it right, and deadly to others once we are trained. Use this tool sparingly and at the right time. Train with it daily. What are the swords we need to use in mental health treatment? How do we train with our sword? When should we use our sword?
A Word of Caution
Mental health healing is a journey, an ongoing war against mental illness, not a one-time battle. There is no simple or quick fix. Sometimes a tool worked last time, but isn’t working this time. It can be tempting to give up if something isn’t working. Don’t ever give up.
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