A few days ago when it was going a bit rough, Jesus and I sat down and had a talk about it. I\u2019m struggling to break out of old coping mechanisms and make a new choice. It feels healthy and I know it\u2019s the right thing to do but dude\u2014it is still physically and emotionally hard!\u00a0 Jesus said to me, \u201cI got you. I know you can do this. You have the external support and the internal resilience to make this change at this time. And if you don\u2019t, it\u2019s okay. I\u2019ve got you. You didn\u2019t do it wrong before, and you don\u2019t have to do it that way again.\u201d<\/em> With those words, I felt both freedom from the pain of my past and joy in choices of the future.<\/p>\n For me, my struggles with mental health have always had a spiritual component, and often that aspect\u2019s ignored by the community around me. Some friends and I wrote up a list of what we consider to be the \u201cSpiritual Rights of Mad Folks.\u201d The term \u201cmad folks\u201d is a way to talk back the labels put on us as stigmas behind our backs and claim our own identity in the world, similar to when the word \u201cBlack\u201d became more common for African-Americans. I also prefer the terms \u201cmental (sk)illness\u201d or \u201cneurological diversity.\u201d It\u2019s a way of claiming the gifts of the reality that we live with; not pathologizing our identity.<\/p>\n Spiritual Rights of Mad Folks include:<\/p>\n What if these rights were all just universally embraced in every place of worship and spiritual community? What a wild and beautiful world that would be! I dream a place where it\u2019s okay to think you are the Messiah. Where walking in the void of darkness and the fear of demons are believed. Where the daily perseverance to get through a day is not disregarded, but honored and celebrated.<\/p>\n Our \u201cmental health\u201d system may be broken beyond repair. Far too many go without the basic care they need. When I moved to La Crosse, I had to wait seven months for an appointment with a provider to manage my medications. Globally<\/a>, the situation is even worse. Our old ways of coping and hiding people away just don\u2019t work.<\/p>\n I have found little glimmers of hope and a community of people just like me, dreaming wildly and working for change. Internet community The Icarus Project<\/a>\u00a0tries to help us navigate \u201cthe space between brilliance and madness\u201d and \u201ctransform ourselves by transforming the world around us.\u201d\u00a0The support groups and daily skills of Dialectical Behavior Therapy<\/a>\u00a0focus on mindfulness, emotional regulation, distress tolerance, and relationship skills. This is the super tool box of concrete skills that make life worth living again!\u00a0Also, I have found regular attendance in a Depressed Anonymous<\/a> group and working the program’s 12 Steps a real way to live hopefully and turn it all over to Jesus, my Higher Power.\u00a0(I connect with Emotions Anonymous<\/a> too.)<\/p>\n And, my FSPA congregation is actively participating in the nation-wide Campaign to Change<\/a>\u00a0Direction<\/a>\u00a0to raise awareness of the five signs of suffering and to deter future suicides.<\/p>\n We never walk alone. For me, my mental (sk)illness requires the constant companionship of Jesus, my faith community, recovery community, and all my loved ones. We dream a new world. We dream hope and live bravely into a new tomorrow, each and every day.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n\n
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Spiritual rights for the mentally (sk)illed<\/a><\/blockquote>