Finding meaning in a life with mood disorder

My friend, Peggy, has just started "Mission 4 Monday".

The purpose of MISSION 4 MONDAY is to share YOUR MISSION each week.


I am thankful to God that I can continue to serve Him through this blog.

One of the missions of my blog is to share with others God's goodness and mercies to me in managing clinical depression and bipolar disorder, as well as resources that will benefit a person with a mood disorder and information for their family and loved ones.

Last week, I shared an article "Trust during rough times" which is an excerpt taken from a new book "A Firm Place to Stand" written by my friend and fellow blogger, Marja Bergen. Marja is also the author of "Riding the Roller Coaster: Living with Mood Disorders".

Today, I like to share another very encouraging article written by Marja for CanadianChristianity.com entitled "Finding meaning in a life with bipolar disorder". It is a personal testimonies of how God has enabled Marja to find meaning in a life with bipolar disorder. This article is reproduced here with Marja's kind permission.

Bipolar Disorder or previously known as manic-depressive illness is a mood disorder with extreme mood swings ie. manic/hypomanic and depression. It is a medical condition that can be treated.

It is possible for people with mood disorders such as bipolar disorder, clinical depression and other mood disorders to live a close to normal life with medical helps and other helps. Support from family and friends are crucial to their recovery and well-being too.

I am thankful to God that with medical and other helps, I am able to live a more functional and productive life.

It is my prayers that resources and testimonies shared on this blog will continue to benefit people with mood disorders and their family/friends who love them.

Finding meaning in a life with bipolar disorder
by Marja Bergen

Mental illness is not all bad. I have lived with bipolar disorder for over forty years and have found it has many benefits. I couldn’t imagine living without it and am not at all unhappy with my life. In many ways, I value what this illness has made possible for me.

With effective medication to keep symptoms under control, people with bipolar disorder can live a close-to-normal life. Yes, moods will fluctuate and cause occasional problems, and treatment will need adjustment. Suffering will always be part of my life. But I accept the way God, the Great Potter, made me. I am rich on many levels.

Like many people with this disorder, I am very creative. I receive a lot of pleasure from photography and using my imagination. The deep emotions I experience, although painful, are a source of richness; I feel completely human. My frequent hard times have helped me appreciate the good times and I make the most of them. Spiritually, I’m stronger for having had to deal with great trials. The fires I’ve passed through have refined me.

Most of all, I appreciate the compassion I am able to have for others who suffer from depression and other mental health issues. Paul’s words in 2 Corinthians 1: 4 hold true for me. I praise God “who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received.” God has shown me his love, and I want to pass that love on to others.

Over the past few years, I’ve been fortunate to be part of a church community that has supported me and helped me grow spiritually. With the Christ-like love they have shown me, I have come to understand how great God’s love is. In turn, I now help others through a support group and one-on-one, in person and through my blog. I feel fulfilled. The language of suffering I’ve learned helps me connect with people in trouble. I am able to understand them in a way many others could not.

I feel a bit like Patch Adams in the Robyn Williams film. While Patch is a patient in a psychiatric hospital, he discovers his ability to connect with people. He learns to understand his severely disturbed roommate to see the person behind the illness and helps him through his problems. Not only does this delight Patch, it makes him a well man.

Patch eagerly tells his doctor he is well and needs to leave the hospital. I connected to another human being, he said. I want to do more of that. I want to learn about people. I want to help them with their troubles. I want to really listen to people. Connecting with other people gave Patch joy. It gives me joy, too. When God places you in this role a role he made for you joy happens. Walking with people through some of their toughest times is rewarding and a privilege.

Bipolar disorder will always be with me, and I suffer many high and low moods. But, I don’t feel I’m a victim of the disease. God has helped me find a way to make my illness work for me instead of against me.

‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.’ (Jeremiah 29:11) God has a plan for each of us. Though we might have a severe illness such as bipolar disorder, God has work for us to do. Eventually, we can use what God has given us even the bad and turn it into something good.

Marja Bergen is the author of Riding the Roller Coaster: Living with Mood Disorders (Northstone, 1999) and a new book for Christians about living successfully with bipolar disorder (to appear). She is the founder of Living Room, a faith-based Mood Disorders Association of BC support group. Her blog, marjabergen.blogspot.com, deals with mental health and faith issues. She can be reached at info@candidsbymarja.com.

This article is published on the website of CanadianChristianity.com and reproduced here with the kind permission of Marja.

Here are some information about these 2 very useful books written by Marja:

Books by Marja Bergen:

1) Riding the Roller Coaster: Living with Mood Disorders

Mood disorders, such as depression and manic depression, affect up to 10% of the population. Marja Bergen is one of those people. Over the 30 years that she has had manic depression, she has gradually adopted a lifestyle that makes it possible not only to cope, but to live a full and productive life. In Riding the Roller Coaster, she shares very practical tips on such things as escaping the blues before they grab you, what to do when you don't feel like doing anything, and keeping life stable.



Reviews in the Media

Mood Disorders Association of BC
Robert Winram, Executive Director
This excellent first person account is filled with encouragement for those managing mood disorders. It delivers understanding, insight and very tangible strategies on how to overcome the difficulties of depression and manic depression. Marja Bergen gives us a very human perspective drawn from her experiences. Her path to recovery is exciting and positive.

Burnaby NOW
Annie Boulanger
The publication of her book is very timely as there are indications that mood disorders are a growing problem in the workplace.

Personal vignettes and real-life examples abound in Bergen's book, including frank descriptions of her own history, from her first treatments in Riverview, to problems adjusting medications in later years.

The book is easy to read, and while Bergen's style is warm and encouraging, it is also clearly written from her own experience.

The book is not only helpful to sufferers of mood disorder related illnesses, but also to their families to understand what it is that their family member is undergoing.

2) A Firm Place to Stand : Finding meaning in a life with Bipolar Disorder


"A Firm Place to Stand is a must-read for Christians who struggle with mental health challenges and the faith communities who minister to them.

For too long, society has misunderstood and feared individuals who live with mood disorders. This book dispels the lingering stigma attached to mental health conditions and encourages people to lovingly welcome the sufferers into congregations by understanding them better and supporting them in practical ways.

Most importantly, for the sufferers themselves, A Firm Place to Stand shows that it is possible to have a mental disorder yet be close to God and derive strong support from a growing relationship with Christ.

In her sincere and candid style, Marja Bergen reflects on her forty-two years with bipolar disorder, showing how faith in God can help a person with a serious illness turn weakness into strength. She describes how God transformed her from an insecure, withdrawn person into a leader, an activist, and the founder of Living Room, the growing Christian support group for people with mood disorders."

If you are keen to buy these 2 books by Marja, do check out Marja's new website.

Do visit Marja's blog, if you can, and get to know her. You will be greatly encouraged by her.

Hope the above article and resources are helpful to you or your loved ones/friends with mood disorders.

May God continue to enable us to know His love and mercies through all the changing scenes in life. May God enable us to love, pray and support our loved ones/friends with mental illness or mood disorders, and reflect Christ's love and compassion for His suffering people.

Thanks again for stopping by! Thanks for all your prayers and encouragements!

Take care and God bless :)

For more Mission 4 Monday posts, visit Peggy.

Mission 4 Monday : Trust during rough times - A Firm Place to Stand by Marja Bergen

My friend, Peggy, has just started a new meme on Monday called "Mission 4 Monday".

The purpose of MISSION 4 MONDAY is to share YOUR MISSION each week.


I am so thankful that I can participate in Mission 4 Monday.

It is helping me to reflect anew on the mission of this blog.

When I first started this blog, my purpose was to share with others God's goodness and mercies to me in managing clinical depression and bipolar disorder. I also wanted to share with others coping resources that I have found useful. I am thankful to God for bringing me into contact with many of you, my wonderful friends, and we can mutually encourage one another in our management of clinical depression, bipolar disorder and other illness.

As times go by, God brought me into contact with many of you who are very encouraging friends at Word-Filled Wednesday and Thankful Thursday. I got to know Word-Filled Wednesday through Michelle of Ozarks sew n' sew. Thanks Michelle! And from there on I read about Thankful Thursday. Word-Filled Wednesday and Thankful Thursday. has helped me to grow spiritually.

As I reflect on the Mission the Lord has given me in my life and through this blog, I thought of the following:

1) To glorify God through the testimony of His love, goodness and mercies to me.
2) To share with others resources I have found useful in managing clinical depression, bipolar disorder and other illness.
3) To share my passion in photography and God's Words with others through Word-Filled Wednesday.
4) To share God's goodness and mercies to me through all the changing scenes in life through Thankful Thursday. May God help me to cultivate a thankful heart and find reasons to rejoice in the Lord daily and to praise Him for His unchanging and everlasting love, unfailing mercies and sufficient grace.

We face many challenges in our life, whether it be in terms of illness, family, relationships, work, etc etc. It is a great comfort to remember that God is with us and He will see us safely through. No matter what God allows us to go through in this life, He is able to work something good out of it for our benefit, for His glory and the good of His people (Romans 8:28). And we are more than conquerors through Christ Who loved us (Romans 8:37)!

For this reason, I found much joy and comfort in the Lord, in my daily walk. My struggles to manage clinical depression and bipolar disorder, has drawn me closer to God as I experience His love and goodness in many wonderful ways daily. God's Words comfort and strengthen me. I know God loves me and He is with me. I saw Him working very wonderfully in my life and in others life.

I am thankful to God that I can serve Him through this blog. It is my prayers that God may use this blog to glorify Himself, help other Christians to grow in Him and lead others to seek and know His saving grace and love.

For this first Mission 4 Monday post, I like to share with you a very encouraging article from a book my friend, Marja, just published. This article is very helpful in encouraging us how we can trust in God in very rough times, whether it be a time of illness or other afflictions and trials.

My friend, Marja Bergen, has just launched a new book entitled "A Firm Place to Stand" on how God has enabled her to find meaning in her life with bipolar disorder.

Marja is from British Columbia, Canada. She is a person with bipolar disorder and a faith in Jesus Christ. Bipolar disorder, also known as manic-depressive illness, is a mood disorder with extreme mood swings ie. mania and clinical depression.

Marja is interested in writing about mental health issues, especially encouraging a more understanding view by the church. In an effort to help her church give support to people with mood disorders, Marja has started a support group called "Living Room". Now she is encouraging groups to start up elsewhere. Marja has been a great blessing, encouragement and help to those who attend Living Room and those of us who read about her experiences there.

This new book "A Firm Place to Stand" is a very encouraging book as Marja shared about how God gives her grace and strength to live a meaningful and fruitful life as she seek to manage bipolar disorder. Her suffering has drawn her closer to God as she learn to look to Him and find comfort and help from Him. Her suffering also taught her compassion and it has helped her to help others coping with their pain.

In this book, Marja shared many of her own struggles and victory over the various issues associated with bipolar disorder. She shared her faith in God as well as her coping strategies.

I was reading this portion today and found much comfort and encouragement from it. I can identify with much of the sentiment expressed in this article. Like Marja, I am learning to trust in God especially in very rough times and I have experienced His love, mercies and faithfulness sustaining me time and again. This has strengthened my faith in God and given me courage to press on daily, living as meaningfully and as productively as God enables me.

The following excerpt entitled "Trust during rough times" has been published by canadianchristianity.com recently and Marja has kindly allowed me to reproduced it here to share with you.

Hope this excerpt will bring encouragement and hope to you too in your struggles, knowing that God loves you, He is with you and will see you through.

Trust during rough times
Excerpt taken from "A Firm Place to Stand" by Marja Bergen published by canadianchristianity.com
Republished here with kind permission of Marja Bergen

Depression can be a debilitating, torturous experience. During such times, I have to work hard to maintain my trust in God. I try not to be anxious but to relax and let God do his work in me and care for me. But it's difficult not to be afraid; it's natural to be afraid.

As my negative thinking takes over, I begin to doubt my ability to complete the projects I'm working on. I fear that friends no longer care about me and won't be there for me. I fear my depression will deepen and I might stop functioning altogether. I can't see how I could ever be cheerful again.

Fear is the universal response to suffering

Philip Yancey, in his book, Where is God When it Hurts? explains how fear is the universal response to suffering. And yet beyond a doubt it is also the single greatest enemy of recovery.' Fear is part of the extreme moods I go through, especially psychosis. The more I give in to fear, the worse my illness becomes. It is important to do all I can to escape it. The best way is to turn to God and trust in God. But it's hard.

David, the psalmist, fought similar battles. I need to pray along with him, "When I am afraid, I will trust in you. In God, whose word I praise, in God, I trust; I will not be afraid." (Psalm 56:3-4)

Since the dramatic change in my life when I began to follow Christ, my faith in God has remained steadfast. No matter how bad things become, I know God is there. But belief in God and trusting God are two different things. Trusting means relying on someone, having confidence in God's power to help me. I cannot always do this. I have to work at it, over and over again. I have to remind myself to turn to God when things are bad. Even when it seems useless to do so, I need to read my Bible and pray.

A habit I developed a few years ago has stood me in good stead taking at least an hour of quiet time each morning. I start each day with Bible reading, prayer and journaling. These times do much to comfort and strengthen me, whether I'm excessively up or excessively down. Though my prayers are often awkward, though the words come slowly and with great effort, they help keep my focus on God. They help me stay close to God.

One of the symptoms of depression is a sense of hopelessness, the opposite of confidence. At times my trust has faded so severely I thought of giving up altogether. Yet my belief in God does not die, even when God feels distant. In my heart, I cry out, but I don't feel I'm reaching God. I struggle to find the patience I need. "Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord." (Psalm 27:14)

And yet, there are times when I struggle emotionally and the reverse happens. God's Word becomes more powerful than it could possibly be during stable times. Bible verses help me find great peace and hope. At such times, I read "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest," (Matthew 11:28) and my entire being finds relief. I feel comforted. I know these words come from a loving God. These deep spiritual experiences sustain me during rough times; they provide memories I can go back to.

I will never forget the day my friend Helen came to me at a time I felt I couldn't go on. She impressed on me how much I had to live for. She told me she loved me. Whenever I need to remember how great God's love is, I think back to that occasion. Speaking to me through this caring friend, God became powerfully real to me. When I am waiting for depression to lift, I focus on how great God's love has proven to be, time after time.

I feel a kinship with King David who, in Psalm 40, wrote: "I waited patiently for the Lord; he turned to me and heard my cry." Waiting patiently is the only thing I can do as I recover from extreme moods. Remembering that God loves me. Trusting.

Marja Bergen lives with bipolar disorder and is the author of Riding the Roller Coaster (Northstone, 1999). The above is an excerpt from her new released book, A Firm Place to Stand: Finding Meaning in a Life with Bipolar Disorder. She is a facilitator and founder of the Christian mood disorders support group, Living Room (www.livingroomsupport.org). She can be contacted at marja@livingroomsupport.org.

Marja's blog is at marjabergen.blogspot.com and she can be reached at marja@livingroomsupport.org for more information or to speak to your group.



A Firm Place to Stand by Marja Bergen : Finding meaning in a life with Bipolar Disorder

"A Firm Place to Stand is a must-read for Christians who struggle with mental health challenges and the faith communities who minister to them.

For too long, society has misunderstood and feared individuals who live with mood disorders. This book dispels the lingering stigma attached to mental health conditions and encourages people to lovingly welcome the sufferers into congregations by understanding them better and supporting them in practical ways.

Most importantly, for the sufferers themselves, A Firm Place to Stand shows that it is possible to have a mental disorder yet be close to God and derive strong support from a growing relationship with Christ.

In her sincere and candid style, Marja Bergen reflects on her forty-two years with bipolar disorder, showing how faith in God can help a person with a serious illness turn weakness into strength. She describes how God transformed her from an insecure, withdrawn person into a leader, an activist, and the founder of Living Room, the growing Christian support group for people with mood disorders."

Find out more on how you can purchase this excellent book from Marja's new website.

Hope the above article has encouraged you. Do visit Marja's blog, if you can, and get to know her. You will be greatly encouraged by her. Drop her a note, if you can, to let her know how this article has encouraged or helped you. She will be encouraged to know that :)

Thanks again for stopping by! Thanks for all your prayers and encouragements!

Take care and God bless :)

For more Mission 4 Monday posts, visit Peggy at MAZES, MESSES, MIRACLES...aMAZING GRACE. It will be a very encouraging experience for you!

And we know that all things work together
for good to them that love God,
to them who are the called according to His purpose
... in all these things we are more than conquerors
through Him that loved us.
(Romans 8:28, 37)

Books

1. A Firm Place to Stand by Marja Bergen

2. A practical workbook for the depressed Christian by Dr John Lockley

3. An unquiet mind by Dr Kay Redfield Jamison

4. Broken Mind by Steve and Robyn Bloem

5. I'm Not Supposed to Feel Like This by Chris Williams, Paul Richards and Ingrid Whitton

Excerpts from Books

1. Trust during rough times (Excerpt from "A Firm Place to Stand" by Marja Bergen)

2. Finding meaning in a life with bipolar disorder (Excerpt from Marja Bergen's article on canadianchristianity.com)

3. An illness like any other (Excerpt from "Roller Coaster" by Marja Bergen)

A Firm Place to Stand by Marja Bergen : New book on finding meaning in a life with bipolar disorder

Dear Friends,

Thanks for stopping by! Thanks for all your prayers and encouragements. Thank God for strengthening me and I am feeling better. I am continuing to wait upon God for restoration while making use of my medications, exercise, etc etc and finding encouragements and strength in God and His Words daily.

Now I am excited for my dear friend, Marja Bergen, because she has just launched a new book! It is entitled "A Firm Place to Stand" on how God has enabled her to find meaning in her life with bipolar disorder.

Marja is from British Columbia, Canada. She is a person with bipolar disorder and a faith in Jesus Christ. Bipolar disorder, also known as manic-depressive illness, is a mood disorder with extreme mood swings ie. mania and clinical depression.

Marja is interested in writing about mental health issues, especially encouraging a more understanding view by the church. In an effort to help her church give support to people with mood disorders, Marja has started a support group called "Living Room". Now she is encouraging groups to start up elsewhere. Marja has been a great blessing, encouragement and help to those who attend Living Room and those of us who read about her experiences there.

Marja is in her early sixties and feel like her life is only starting...and she is excited about it! It is amazing to read of how God has worked wonderfully in Marja's life and continue to do so daily! Praise God!

Do visit Marja's blog at Roller Coaster to read her encouraging postings of her life with bipolar disorder and how the Lord is using her to be a blessing and encouragement to so many people in her church and in the blogging world, including me :-)

Personally, I thank God for causing my path to cross with Marja's in such a wonderful way through blogging. I really value and cherish Marja's friendship. She has been a great encouragement to me by her faith in God and her resilient through so many years of suffering and coping with bipolar. She is always hopeful in God and courageous in facing the many challenges in her life. She is always ready to love others with Christ's love and very generous in encouraging others. She motivates me to fight the good fight of faith and triumph over bipolar. This is one of the greatest blessings I have found through blogging! Thank God for you too and the many other friends God has led me to know through blogging! Praise Him!

Marja Bergen is also the author of "Riding the Roller Coaster : Living with Mood Disorders".

Find out more on how you can purchase these 2 books from Marja's new website. Some notes taken from hers and other websites on these 2 books:

1) A Firm Place to Stand by Marja Bergen : Finding meaning in a life with Bipolar Disorder

"A Firm Place to Stand is a must-read for Christians who struggle with mental health challenges and the faith communities who minister to them.

For too long, society has misunderstood and feared individuals who live with mood disorders. This book dispels the lingering stigma attached to mental health conditions and encourages people to lovingly welcome the sufferers into congregations by understanding them better and supporting them in practical ways.

Most importantly, for the sufferers themselves, A Firm Place to Stand shows that it is possible to have a mental disorder yet be close to God and derive strong support from a growing relationship with Christ.

In her sincere and candid style, Marja Bergen reflects on her forty-two years with bipolar disorder, showing how faith in God can help a person with a serious illness turn weakness into strength. She describes how God transformed her from an insecure, withdrawn person into a leader, an activist, and the founder of Living Room, the growing Christian support group for people with mood disorders."

2) Riding the Roller Coaster by Marja Bergen : Living with Mood Disorders


Mood disorders, such as depression and manic depression, affect up to 10% of the population. Marja Bergen is one of those people. Over the 30 years that she has had manic depression, she has gradually adopted a lifestyle that makes it possible not only to cope, but to live a full and productive life. In Riding the Roller Coaster, she shares very practical tips on such things as escaping the blues before they grab you, what to do when you don't feel like doing anything, and keeping life stable.


Reviews in the Media

Mood Disorders Association of BC
Robert Winram, Executive Director
This excellent first person account is filled with encouragement for those managing mood disorders. It delivers understanding, insight and very tangible strategies on how to overcome the difficulties of depression and manic depression. Marja Bergen gives us a very human perspective drawn from her experiences. Her path to recovery is exciting and positive.

News Leader
Despite increased understanding by the scientific community, there is still a big gap in the understanding of these illnesses by the general public. Long-time Burnaby resident, Marja Bergen, has tried to help bridge this gap. Having suffered with manic depression (or bipolar disorder) for the past 34 years, Bergen knows what it is to experience the elation of mania and the despair of depression in the book, she draws from her experience using personal vignettes from her life as well as offering strategies for dealing with the problems that arise.

Bergen offers encouragement to the reader with essays such as: Dealing with the Stigma, Keeping a Balance, If You Can Trust Yourself...and Building Confidence.

Burnaby NOW
Annie Boulanger
The publication of her book is very timely as there are indications that mood disorders are a growing problem in the workplace.

Personal vignettes and real-life examples abound in Bergen's book, including frank descriptions of her own history, from her first treatments in Riverview, to problems adjusting medications in later years.

The book is easy to read, and while Bergen's style is warm and encouraging, it is also clearly written from her own experience.

The book is not only helpful to sufferers of mood disorder related illnesses, but also to their families to understand what it is that their family member is undergoing.

Wayne A. Holst
This book come highly recommended as integrated resources for pastoral counselors as well as other caregivers in parishes who are committed to working with the spiritual aspects of depression within the larger framework of holistic health.

BC IAPSRS News
Bruce Saunders
Bite-sized essays. Brimming with wisdom, forgiveness, acceptance and practical advice. One can easily pick it up and read just a page.

I especially appreciated the “we” tense used throughout and her just plain good sense of things that often get overlooked in our battle with the pathology.

Marja Bergen has crafted an invaluable tool from her life experience with a challenging condition. A great deal of anguish for sufferers and their families, as well as time and money for the mental health system, would be saved if this book were standard issue for all people diagnosed with manic-depression.

I’d like to see all those engaged in psychosocial rehab reading this book to understand mood disorders better and to recommend it to their clients

Rural Roots
Peter Griffiths
The book is relatively small and easy to read.

It is excellent material, and presented simply and clearly. From her reading, research, and most importantly, her experience of living, Bergen has put together short writings on different aspects of depression and manic, and in a very readable format.

This book needs to be read by sufferers of depression and mania, as well as by their family and friends as well. I also wish that psychiatrists who treat people who suffer from depression or manic would hand out a copy of this book along with their prescriptions. If they did, they would be surprised to find out how more effective the medications would become.


Do visit Marja's blog and the other websites. You will be greatly blessed!

Thanks again for stopping by. Hope you have a blessed weekends.

Take care!

Books

1. A Firm Place to Stand by Marja Bergen

2. A practical workbook for the depressed Christian by Dr John Lockley

3. An unquiet mind by Dr Kay Redfield Jamison

4. Broken Mind by Steve and Robyn Bloem

5. I'm Not Supposed to Feel Like This by Chris Williams, Paul Richards and Ingrid Whitton

Excerpts from Books

1. Trust during rough times (Excerpt from "A Firm Place to Stand" by Marja Bergen)

2. Finding meaning in a life with bipolar disorder (Excerpt from Marja Bergen's article on canadianchristianity.com)

3. An illness like any other (Excerpt from "Roller Coaster" by Marja Bergen)

Broken Mind by Steve and Robyn Bloem

I found 2 useful reviews/comments on this book:

1) BROKEN MINDS - THE PROBLEM OF DEPRESSION
David Gregson reflects on a recent book by Steve and Robyn Bloem

2) Dr David P Murray's comments on "Broken Mind" in his Lecture 2 "The Complexity" in series of 6 lectures on "Depression and the Christian".

--------------------------

1) BROKEN MINDS - THE PROBLEM OF DEPRESSION
David Gregson reflects on a recent book by Steve and Robyn Bloem

In 1985, American Steve Bloem was about to make a final visit ‘with a view’ to what seemed a very suitable and attractive church in Florida. He had a wife and a young family and had successfullypassed through Bible seminary.

Up until then, Steve had been blessed with a joyful, stable personality and had coped well with the pressures of life. In 1985, however, he entered the dark tunnel of severe clinical depression — whichtook him and his wife Robyn by complete surprise.

Since then, Steve has endured further episodes of mental illness. He confesses readily that he is now a man of God ‘on pills’ and will be for the rest of his life.

Sadly, Steve and Robyn have had to contend with the tragic misconceptions about mental illness that are prevalent in evangelical circles, both in the USA and UK. That is why Steve and Robyn Bloem have jointly written a new book entitled "Broken Minds" to try to dispel the myths that seriously hinder Christians who suffer from depression.

Can Christians get depressed?

The symptoms of Steve’s illness were gloomy mornings, endless walks around the neighbourhood, poor concentration, disordered sleep patterns, loss of appetite, stomach complaints, feelings of worthlessness, intense sadness and even suicidal thoughts.

When eventually Steve suspected that he might be suffering from depression, he fought against the very idea. He writes, ‘As a born-again believer and a trained theologian, I did not want to entrust myself to a system where I would be vulnerable to mistreatment or psychological brainwashing. A deeper reason was that I had been taught that depression was for wimps. Surely if Christians walked with God, they would not get depressed’.

Steve was further bemused when well-meaning people said that his condition was due to his inability to handle stress or the consequence of anger turned inwards. Even Robyn at first thought that her husband was showing uncharacteristic signs of weakness and self-centredness. She, however, came to
see that she too had been the victim of evangelical ignorance and misunderstanding regarding mental illness.

After years of witnessing Steve’s struggles and supporting him through all his pain, she was able to write, ‘Diseases from the neck downward are acceptable, but start talking about the mind and the defences go up’. She realised that among Christians there was a real misunderstanding of depression
and that a dreadful stigma had grown up around it. She had become convinced of the reality of mental illness, not so much by scientific studies as by her husband’s suffering.

Chemical imbalance

It is generally accepted in the medical field that clinical depression is due to an imbalance in the chemistry of the brain. Neurotransmitters are chemical substances that carry electrical impulses from one nerve cell to another within the brain.

They are released from one cell (the sender) and travel to the next cell (the receiver), where it is either absorbed or returned to the sender. The best understanding of clinical depression is that there are not enough neurotransmitters to ferry these messages across all the gaps.

This deficiency leads to a change in the person’s mood, thinking and behaviour. Serotonin and noradrenaline are two neurotransmitters that increase brain activity and improve mood. Antidepressant drugs help the brain to retain more of these substances and so stabilise the mental condition.

At the present time, an estimated 121 million people suffer from serious depression throughout the world. It is one of the leading causes of disability and we should not be surprised to find Christians among the sufferers.

Spurgeon’s afflictions

One noteworthy example was Charles Haddon Spurgeon. It is well known that he had gout but the authors of Broken Minds suggest that he might also have been a victim of post-traumatic stress disorder (after a stampede in one of his services led to seven deaths) and seasonal affective disorder (SAD, due to a deficiency of light during the winter months).

He said in one of his sermons, ‘When the great wind blew at the time of the fall, a slate blew off everybody’s house; and some are more affected than others, so that they take the black view of all things’.

On another occasion he said, ‘The worst cloud of all, I think, is depression of spirit that is accompanied with the loss of the light of God’s countenance. Sickness, poverty, slander — none of these is comparable to depression’. He then quoted Proverbs 18:14: ‘The spirit of a man will sustain him in sickness but who can bear a broken spirit?’

Competent to counsel?

One extremely helpful chapter in Broken Minds is entitled ‘Christian counselling, a treatment smorgasbord’, where Steve Bloem reviews the differing definitions of mental illness and treatment approaches advocated by various evangelical ‘camps’.

One of these is the ‘nouthetic’ counselling movement whose foundations were first laid in the writings of Jay Adams, in particular in Competent to counsel! Dr Adams based many of his conclusions on the experience he had acquired in two psychiatric institutions in America.

This led him to deny that mental illness even exists. He writes, ‘Apart from those who had organic problems like brain damage, the people I met in the two institutions in Illinois were there because of their own failure to meet life’s problems’.

Tragically, nouthetic counselling refuses to accept biological causes for clinical depression. One member of the National Association of Nouthetic Counsellors compares the idea that mental illness has an organic basis to belief in Santa Claus or the Easter Bunny. Depression is therefore a sinful condition which (say the nouthetics) calls for biblical confrontation and ­repentance.

Although I do not doubt the sincerity and integrity of Bible-believing Christians involved in the nouthetic counselling movement, I have to say that their principles have led to much misunderstanding and unnecessary pain. Steve Bloem concludes: ‘In the midst of my own depression, I found nouthetic counsellors degrading. I felt despicable — morally responsible for every problem in my life’.

By way of contrast, Steve also includes a chapter entitled ‘Reclaiming the Puritan care of souls’. Here he points out that the Puritans refused to see individual sin as the cause of every problem people face. They taught that God sometimes sends ‘dark providences’ to Christians.

The English and American Puritans of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries were skilled at distinguishing between physical, psychological and spiritual problems. In fact, they were much more competent in this area than many of today’s spiritual guides.

They truly were physicians of the soul, as was Dr Martyn Lloyd-Jones more recently. Evangelicals today need to develop greater skills and awareness in this area of pastoral theology and practice.

Pastor on pills

I have a personal interest in Steve and Robyn Bloem’s book because I too am a pastor ‘on pills’. My depression remained undiagnosed from the age of twenty until the age of fifty. That was largely because I put my cyclic low periods down to fatigue and refused to seek medical help.

I was greatly helped, however, by the elders and members of Little Hill Church near Leicester, where I was pastor for 15 years. They had the right ideas about clinical depression being organic in origin and eventually prevailed on me to seek appropriate help.

This was provided by my own GP, a consultant psychiatrist and also in particular two Christian GPs who are personal friends. As far as I know, the latter have never experienced depression themselves but have seen its ravages in many of their patients. I found in them a compassion and understanding for which I will always owe them a deep debt of gratitude.

My depression is now controlled by appropriate medication. I sometimes sink a little for a short period but that is nothing like the deep troughs I used to experience for three months at a time.

Benefits

These spells I now recognise as being good for me, ‘thorns in the flesh’ keeping me from being over-elated or arrogant (2 Corinthians 12:7). I also find that my personal experience of clinical depression has brought me two other benefits as a pastor — it has taught me to rely more on the God who is able to raise the dead and has given me a great sympathy for, and understanding of, those who suffer from depression (2 Corinthians 1:3-11).

Broken Minds by Steve and Robyn Bloem includes many autobiographical elements and it also contains insights and knowledge that both authors have acquired through their close contact with major depression.

There is much practical information in the book concerning treatment options and related topics like SAD, panic attacks, obsessive-compulsive disorder etc. and it has a biblical framework throughout. Broken Minds is now the Christian book I would most readily offer to victims of depression and those who feel that they are ‘losing it’.

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2) Dr David P Murray's comments on "Broken Mind" in his Lecture 2 "The Complexity" in series of 6 lectures on "Depression and the Christian":

Obviously, the “drug-treatment model” or the “all-physical model” for depression is supported by those who wish to deny the existence of a non-physical, or spiritual element to human beings. However, there are Christians who also take the “drug-treatment model” approach. An example of this is found in the book Broken Minds by Steve and Robyn Bloem. Steve is a Christian pastor who has struggled with serious depression throughout his ministry. His book, co-written with his wife, gives a deeply moving account of his lifethreatening battle with mental illness. There is no book I know of which gives such an honest and hard-hitting insight into the pain and distress which the mentally ill and their families have to endure. If you wish to increase your sympathy and compassion for sufferers and their loved ones, then this heart-rending and tear-jerking book is for you.

However, the book’s greater usefulness is limited by the adoption of the purely “drugtreatment model” approach to causes and cures. As we have said, there is unquestionably a physical element to most depressions, often requiring medication. And, in Steve Bloem’s case, there would appear to have been a very large and serious physical problem, which required necessary and life-saving medication. However, it is far too big a step to move from this to proposing the “drug-treatment model” as the only model in every case, and medication as the only solution to every case. In this complex area, it is a big mistake to use one’s own experience as the “norm” for everyone else.

In some ways, the Bloem’s “all-physical” position is understandable. For far too long, Christian writers and speakers in this area have been over-influenced by the Jay Adams extreme position of “all-spiritual” in both causes and cures (see below). However, we must not over-react to one unhelpful extreme (“it’s all spiritual”) by going to another (“it’s all physical”).

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Broken Minds by Steve & Robyn Bloem is published by Kregel Publishers at £9.50 (ISBN: 0-8254-2118-7)

Where to buy Broken Minds

a) christianbook.com

b) amazon.com

Heartfelt Counseling Ministries is a non-profit religious organization which holds an IRS 501 (c) 3 status. HCM is not a counseling agency but a ministry-a ministry to the mentally ill and their families.

http://heartfeltcounselingministries.com/default.aspx

************************************

Steve Bloem Says:
7 February 2008 at 10:43 am

Dear My life with bipolar disorder,

Thank you for reading our book, Broken Minds. I read some of your comments about how you have been helped by so many people.
The LORD is with us through those who help us.
The hymn by Cowper was awesome.

Are you from Singapore? If you give me your e-mail I will put you on our e-letter list.

Your fellow afflicted one.
Steve and Robyn Bloem

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mylifewithbipolardisorder Says:
7 February 2008 at 11:12 am

Dear Steve and Robyn,

Welcome to my blog! Thanks for dropping by and leaving such a sweet and encouraging comment.

Thank you for “Broken Minds”, a very useful book you wrote on your personal experiences which are very vivid and real. I recommended it to several people and they have all benefited from it. Thank God for sustaining you through your very difficult experiences, and enabling you to write a book to help others.

Thank you for reading my posts. It is such a comfort to remember that God is with us when we go through these difficult experiences, and He is assuring us of His love through the kindness of so many people in our life. I thank God for the gifts of so many special people in my life. I am deeply indebted to our Lord and to them.

Yes, I am from Singapore. Thanks for offering to put me on your e-letter list. I will email you my email.

Thanks again for dropping by. Trust you are well and continuing to experience God’s love and faithfulness, as you seek and serve Him together. Hope your book will continue to bring comfort and help to other sufferers. Take care!

In God’s grace,
Nancie

Books

1. A Firm Place to Stand by Marja Bergen

2. A practical workbook for the depressed Christian by Dr John Lockley

3. An unquiet mind by Dr Kay Redfield Jamison

4. Broken Mind by Steve and Robyn Bloem

5. I'm Not Supposed to Feel Like This by Chris Williams, Paul Richards and Ingrid Whitton

Excerpts from Books

1. Trust during rough times (Excerpt from "A Firm Place to Stand" by Marja Bergen)

2. Finding meaning in a life with bipolar disorder (Excerpt from Marja Bergen's article on canadianchristianity.com)

3. An illness like any other (Excerpt from "Roller Coaster" by Marja Bergen)

Real Life Testimonies

1. Broken mind by Steve and Robyn Bloem

2. Shedding light on the darkness of depression by John H. Timmerman

3. When you husband struggles with depression by Cheri Fuller

4. Stress and burn out in the ministry by Rowland Croucher

5. Finding meaning in a life with bipolar disorder by Marja Bergen

A practical workbook for the depressed Christian

A Practical Workbook for the Depressed Christian by John Lockley

Reviewed by Gaius Davies, Consultant Psychiatrist at King's College Hospital, London

I welcome this book, as I did the first edition in 1991. The author has been a GP since 1976 and is described as a writer of three novels and Christian music. Dr Lockley writes out of a wide factual knowledge of depression as well as experience in his work as a family doctor. He thanks 'all those who helped me through my own depression'.

His style is usually chatty, which will help many, and annoy some. He covers the field well. He attacks vigorously the teaching that depression is always due to sin, failure or other spiritual causes. Great good would come if ignorance and prejudice were replaced with facts and sympathy; this book does that well. His own very firm views, however, sometimes jostle unhappily with the consensus views. The book seems to aim to be encyclopaedic and includes exercises for Christians. There are some areas that could be improved. The bibliography is limited: I would like to see added well known names of those who have written in this area like Roger Hurding (Senior Lecturer in Pastoral Studies) and Prof Andrew Sims (Former president of the Royal College of Psychiatrists). I hope the author will revise some sections, for example, adequate explanations of CBT (cognitive behavioural therapy) are missing from this book, and I believe it might be improved by CBT input for the exercises.

The result of covering both the medical views and the biblical issues is a large and heavy book, yet one that is eminently worthwhile to own, especially as a resource for churches and those involved in supporting its sick members. I hope this book will be used widely and although the severely depressed person cannot read anything properly, after recovery he may do so.

Reviewed by:
Gaius Davies
Consultant Psychiatrist at King's College Hospital, London

This review article is taken from Christian Medical Fellowship's website at http://www.cmf.org.uk/literature/content.asp?context=article&id=1197

For Ordering of this book:

You may place an order by...
E-mailing: pubs@cmf.org.uk
Tel: +44 (0)207 928 4694 Fax: +44 (0)207 620 2453

Writing to the address below...
Publications Secretary
Christian Medical Fellowship
157 Waterloo Road
LONDON SE1 8XN
United Kingdom

http://www.cmf.org.uk/bookstore/?context=book&id=113

*

I'm not supposed to feel like this by Chris Williams, Paul Richards and Ingrid Whitton

I'm Not Supposed to Feel Like This by Chris Williams, Paul Richards and Ingrid Whitton

Reviewed by Richard Turner, Consultant Psychiatrist and Medical Director of, Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust

This is an excellent book, written by a Senior Lecturer in Psychiatry, the pastor of a Baptist Church and a Consultant Psychiatrist in Leeds. It provides a Christian view on anxiety and depression, and is written for sufferers and their carers as well as providing practical help for church leaders. Because of its multiple authorship and wide appeal, it is a book that could probably be dipped into at different times by readers from the differing constituencies. It is accepted that a depressed person may well find it difficult to read through the book at one go, yet it is written in such a way as to make reading and reflection easy. There are invitations to 'stop, think and reflect'. Various parts of the text are highlighted. There are spaces to make one's own notes. Key points are recorded at the end of many sections and prayers are suggested.

The book is quite clear that depression and anxiety are not due to a lack of faith in God - they are illnesses and should be treated as such. Whilst most people have an idea about treatments for physical illnesses, many are not so well informed about the treatments that are available for depression and anxiety. Along with the stigma of mental illness, there are often preconceived ideas about mental health treatments with stereotyped fears that are inaccurate. There is an excellent chapter on psychiatry and health services that should allay the majority of these fears. The section on 'overcoming your problems' is written from a cognitive behaviour therapy viewpoint and is very full in its treatment.

The book well recognises that as Christians we are all different, with varying personalities and experiences of church life. Some prefer a more emotional experience and others are more intellectual. For church leaders there is a similarly excellent chapter emphasising the integration of spiritual and medical approaches as helpful aspects of whole person care. The development of a Religion and Spirituality Special Interest Group in the Royal College of Psychiatrists is further evidence of the positive working relationships that are developing between professionals working in the Health Service and within churches to the benefit of our patients.

Reviewed by:
Richard Turner
Consultant Psychiatrist and Medical Director of
Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust

I'm Not Supposed to Feel Like This - Chris Williams, Paul Richards and Ingrid Whitton - Hodder & Stoughton 2002 -
£6.99 Pb 280 pp ISBN 0340786396

This review article is taken from Christian Medical Fellowship's website at http://www.cmf.org.uk/literature/content.asp?context=article&id=1200

For Ordering of this book:

You may place an order by...
E-mailing: pubs@cmf.org.uk
Tel: +44 (0)207 928 4694 Fax: +44 (0)207 620 2453

Writing to the address below...
Publications Secretary
Christian Medical Fellowship
157 Waterloo Road
LONDON SE1 8XN
United Kingdom

http://www.cmf.org.uk/bookstore/?context=book&id=82

Books

1. A Firm Place to Stand by Marja Bergen

2. A practical workbook for the depressed Christian by Dr John Lockley

3. An unquiet mind by Dr Kay Redfield Jamison

4. Broken Mind by Steve and Robyn Bloem

5. I'm Not Supposed to Feel Like This by Chris Williams, Paul Richards and Ingrid Whitton

Excerpts from Books

1. Trust during rough times (Excerpt from "A Firm Place to Stand" by Marja Bergen)

2. Finding meaning in a life with bipolar disorder (Excerpt from Marja Bergen's article on canadianchristianity.com)

3. An illness like any other (Excerpt from "Roller Coaster" by Marja Bergen)

An Unquiet Mind by Kay Redfield Jamison

An Unquiet Mind by Kay Redfield Jamison, PH.D.

Printed on the cover jacket of the book:

From Kay Redfield Jamison - an international authority on manic-depressive illness, and one of the few women who are full professors of medicine at American universities - a remarkable personal testimony: the revelation of her own struggle since adolescence with manic-depression, and how it has shaped her life.

Vividly, directly, with cando, wit, and simplicity, she takes us into the fascinating and dangerous territory of this form of madness - a world in which one pole can be the alluring dark and ruled by what Byton called the "melancholy start of the imagination," and the other a desert of depression and, all too frequently, death.

Child of a brilliant, mercurial Air Force officer and scientist and a remarkable mother descended from an old New England family, Kay Jamison suffered her first attack of manic-depression at seventeen. We follow her battle with the illness through college, through graduate school, through a passionate love affair and desperate loss, through episodes of violence, bouts of madness, and attempted suicide. We experience her fear of letting go of the intoxicating highs and her deep-rooted belief that she should weather the illness without medication - a fear that leads her to resist taking lithium, the drug that would utimately save her life. And, finally, she recounts the slow and painful mastering of her illness through knowledge, courage, medication, self-discipline, and the power of love.

A moving and exhilarating memoir by a woman whose furious determination to learn the enemy, to use her gifts of intellect to make a difference, led her to become, by the time she was forty, a world authority on manic-depression, and whose work has helped saved countless lives.

Kay Redfield Jamison is Professor of Psychiatry at the John Hopkins University School of Medicine. She is the author of Touched with Fire: Manic-Depressive illness and the Artistic Temperament, and coauthor of the standard medical text on manic-depressive illness, chosen in 1990 as the Most Outstanding Book in Biomedical Sciences by the Association of American Publishers. The recipient of numerous national and international scientific awards, Dr. Jamison is a member of the National Advisory Council for Human Genome Research, as well as the clinical director of the Dana Consortium on the Genetic Basis of Manic-Depressive Illness. She lives in Washington, D.C., with her husband, Dr. Richard Wyatt, a physician and scientist at the National Institutes of Health.

Taken from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kay_Redfield_Jamison

Kay Redfield Jamison (born June 22, 1946) is an American clinical psychologist and writer who is one of the foremost experts on bipolar disorder. She is Professor of Psychiatry at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and is an Honorary Professor of English at the University of St Andrews.

Books

1. A Firm Place to Stand by Marja Bergen

2. A practical workbook for the depressed Christian by Dr John Lockley

3. An unquiet mind by Dr Kay Redfield Jamison

4. Broken Mind by Steve and Robyn Bloem

5. I'm Not Supposed to Feel Like This by Chris Williams, Paul Richards and Ingrid Whitton

Excerpts from Books

1. Trust during rough times (Excerpt from "A Firm Place to Stand" by Marja Bergen)

2. Finding meaning in a life with bipolar disorder (Excerpt from Marja Bergen's article on canadianchristianity.com)

3. An illness like any other (Excerpt from "Roller Coaster" by Marja Bergen)