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Managing Lifelong Mental Health as a Senior
Mental Health | Last Active: Oct 23, 2023 | Replies (499)Comment receiving replies
hopeful, just read your post 🙂 now tag you are it. 🙂 I don't go to church anymore, I don't have the courage to see judgmental faces or hear remarks about living with someone and not be legally married. I used to have a Stephen Minister when I was in Austin, but here in this very little town, there aren't any that I have found. What is NAMI?? I have not heard of it. You are right once a Stephens Minister you always are, the skills you learned helps you in so many ways, and sometimes I realize I am using them and not be aware of it. I remember the folks in my life that I have interacted with and all the teens who still till this day call me mom,when I see them. But I find myself hiding from them. I have lived with fear for so long and some days I just say the h..with it I am going to do something and not to worry about it. I do it every so often, but then crawl right back in my cage. I cannot seem to stay with anything for very long, I play the keyboard...sometimes, I paint with acrylics....some times, I play the guitar...sometimes... I do read a lot, and I sleep a lot. Cannot sleep at night so I end up sleeping in the daytime, and that makes my angry with myself. I would love to have a passion for something,,,that seems to be something I would really enjoy. Thanks for "Listening" it's nice to find someone who has a clue.
PEACE 7 LOVE ...JJ
Replies to "hopeful, just read your post :) now tag you are it. :) I don't go to..."
@jjwest I understand your hesitancy to go to church based on the judgmental attitudes of some. Churches can be very tough on folks. They miss the compassion of Jesus. Try to remember that not all churches are judgmental, there just might be a healthy church for you nearby. Teresa
@jimhd I commend you on your kind words and reply, Jim. Thanks for that! Teresa
Not all church are the same. I Agree.
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Hi, @jjwest. I'm a retired minister, but please don't stop reading what I write just because that's my label. Lol. I have learned over the course of my 66 years lessons from both sides of the pulpit. My father and grandfather were also ministers, but again, please don't hold that against me.
I've known other people in your position, and I don't believe there's any reason to kick you out of the fold. One of the things I've learned is that there are critical, mean, judgmental, hypocritical, holier than thou people in every group of people, connected with a church or not. At the same time, as you know, there are nice, accepting, loving people in each of those gatherings of humans. I can tell that you have certainly been one of the good ones.
I don't remember a lot of my childhood, but I do remember my father admonishing us to look for the good in people, usually after we've just said something negative about someone. I've not always followed that code, but I do try to remember it from time to time.
Maybe 20 years ago, my sister was living with a man not her husband. It was complicated. Her prior husband had cancer, and if they got divorced, he wouldn't have insurance, so she put that technicality on hold. When he died, she did formally marry. But neither she nor her husband liked the arrangement, so, they talked with our father, and he performed an ecclesiastical wedding ceremony. It wasn't a binding or legal marriage, but she and Gordon felt better. (And I think it made our parents feel better, too.) It's something you might consider, if you can find a minister agreeable to it. It's unfortunate that government regulations force us to do things that are contrary to our conscience.
Do you feel guilty or shamed because of your depression and any other mental issues? I know that can happen, even though the guilt is undeserved.
Jim