Cracked & Beautiful by Lindsay Hausch
By: Lindsay Hausch As I wiped the tears, and snot, and blood from her dirty face I felt the heavy weight of dread in the
By: Lindsay Hausch As I wiped the tears, and snot, and blood from her dirty face I felt the heavy weight of dread in the
Probably one of the most peculiar things about hope and hopelessness is that they can co-exist in life. When I reflect on the greatest difficulties and deepest depression that caused extreme despair in my life, it was hope that got me through the hopelessness. But it was not the “wishful-thinking” kind of hope that life would get better that got me through the hopelessness. That kind of “hope” is nothing more than wishful thinking that things may or may not get better. And that kind of hope was not enough for me. Hoping that things might get better could not even bring about the smallest of cracks within my despair.
It only makes sense that our brains have default settings. Those are the settings that our brains default to when we are stressed or things we can do with little to no thought. For example, my default setting for when to eat is when I’m sad, happy, tired, stressed, or when I’m awake! This eating default setting has been a well-worn patterned default in my brain for many years. Unfortunately, unlike being able to go into your computer default settings, make a change and click “save,” we cannot do that with our brains. Instead, if we want to make changes to our default settings, we must make them bit by bit, by starting a mini habit that we can do without one ounce of motivation on our part; a simple thing that can be done by sheer self-willpower.
Why would there be a small ray of hope following my diagnosis? After all, usually people see the diagnosis of bipolar disorder as the difficult thing to accept. Well, it was because of the people around me who helped me to see that the diagnosis and treatment of my bipolar disorder were a way back to having a future. It was the idea that the bipolar could be treated and I could have a future poked a small pinhole of hope into the darkness of hopelessness. It was not an easy journey, but it was more than worth it.
In this edition of Fresh Hope for Mental Health Sheila Walsh talks openly about her struggle with depression and her walk with the Lord.
To make this journey you and I must be willing to accept the fact that we are never going to be perfect. No one is perfect. Recovery, which I define as taking back one’s life in a new way, is built upon failures in which we learn from them, get back up and continue to move forward. Shaming ourselves and believing that a failure constitutes us as complete failures simply is a lie straight from the pits of hell! Everybody fails. Everyone falls short of the mark. What makes the difference between those who decide to give up and believe the lie that they are total failures versus those who succeed? It’s simple; understanding that moving forward is one of imperfect progress versus perfection.
Like many other bipolar patients, I struggle with weight. A number of my medications have the side effect of weight gain. Other side effects include a slowing of cognitive function and speech. It is no wonder my metabolism is slowed.
After an initial diagnosis of depression, the best thing you can do is become informed, for you and your child. Jumo Health, a digital health resource for families, offers a depression discussion guide which provides questions to help foster conversation with a doctor after a diagnosis.
If all you do is vent (complain), it will make you sick. Yes, there’s research regarding venting.
Por cada $16.64 donados anualmente, podemos ofrecer esperanza durante un año a una persona.
Cualquier cantidad que puedas donar ayudará a llevar esperanza a quienes la necesitan desesperadamente.
Queremos asegurarnos de que le enviamos la información que mejor se adapte a sus necesidades, así que tómese unos minutos para rellenar los datos que figuran a continuación.
(Tenga en cuenta que su privacidad es nuestra mayor preocupación. Fresh Hope nunca venderá sus datos y su información se mantendrá estrictamente confidencial).