How God Helped Me...

 ...Recover from Mental Illness

This is my true story of how God helped me to recover from mental illness.

Firstly, and I'm sure most importantly, there was a whole lot of prayerful support from loved ones, especially my longsuffering parents. My recovery is an answer to prayer!

Secondly, God used unbelieving health care professionals, who helped me to identify 'red flags' as to how I fell ill in the first place and how I relapsed a couple of times.

I first fell ill after uni, after a sheltered childhood and a blessed time at uni. Graduation was like a bereavement, to leave good friends and a supportive church community.

My red flags all conveniently begin with W. The first one is Work. Nothing wrong with work, but I agonised about what to do after uni, and convinced myself I'd made the wrong choice about next steps. I got so worked up and mentally ill that I ended up unemployed for a year after graduation.

My second red flag is Whereabouts. If I wasn't in a good place geographically, it would depress me. During my second relapse for example, I had noisy neighbours who stopped me sleeping enough at night. Lack of sleep is enough to drive anyone mad!

My third red flag is Women. After uni I became obsessed with a friend who was never more than that, but I wished she was. Thankfully, I've now found a wonderful and supportive wife who carried me through my third and final psychotic episode.

Apart from prayer and professionals, God has also helped me through prescribed pills. I've often been ambivalent about them, but when I take them I'm well, and when I don't, I fall ill again.

Finally, and I'm stretching the P alliteration with this one, another major help in my recovery has been to ponder God's precepts and purposes for me.

A key to unlock my recovery from my second psychotic episode was stumbling across 1 John 3:20 in a mental health hospital. It says that when our hearts condemn us, God is greater than our hearts, and He knows all things. At the time I was struggling with assurance of salvation. This verse helped me to realise that my salvation isn't dependant on how I feel. Instead, my salvation is because of Christ crucified on my behalf.

To those struggling with mental illness, I would encourage you to pray and dig into God's word, but also to take professional help and medication when prescribed.