Addictions: Coping Strategies

Talk about falling off a log….
I kept meaning to start my addictions series, but I never did. However, recently I had an experience that pushed the topic back to the front of my mind. I was recently challenged to find effective coping mechanisms, and a brief Internet search came up with many topics talking about [...]

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Mental Illness: Stress Management

As I mentioned earlier, I was invited to do a series on mental health for a Relief Society activity. I chose to do four 30-minute sessions on four different topics: Depression, Anxiety Disorders, Stress Management, and Gospel Discussons on Mental Illness. I thought it all went very well, though I had hoped to have a [...]

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Addictions: And Away We Go!

I’ve finally figured out how I want to present this little series on addictions, at least, I think I’ve figured it out.
The Church provides a 12-step program based on the program used by Alcoholics Anonymous. The program is outlined in a short book produced by the Church with each chapter emphasizing a specific step, and [...]

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Mental Illness: Addictions vs. Obsessions

I answered this question briefly in the comments to another post, but it’s such an intriguing (and important) concept that I wanted to treat it in an actual post.
SarahB asked what the difference between an obsession, such as OCD, and an addiction is, and I have many thoughts on the subject. A secondary question is [...]

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Something new to talk about: Addictions

Yesterday, I gave “the” pornography lesson during priesthood. I’ve always hated that lesson, and I think I speak for pretty much everyone when I say that it’s in the bottom tenth of lessons we like to talk about at church.
Because of that, I tried an approach I thought would be more effective. I based most [...]

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Mental Illness: Addictions

It’s on my mind right now.
One of the great privileges I have in my current calling is that I occasionally get to witness the remarkable effect that the atonement has in the lives of others. One of the truly disheartening privileges, and yes, I think privilege is the right word, is that occasionally I get [...]

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Mental Illness: Abuse

This is one of those areas that I truly wish I was more qualified to really speak about. Even then, however, I feel I’ve seen enough of life to at least comment. Sorry for the randomness of it all….
I’m seeing more and more that abuse and mental illness, while independent of each other, often have [...]

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Mental Illness: Resources

I noticed in the March Ensign that the church has launched the new disabilities resources area on LDS.org. One of the disabilities listed was Mental Illness, and there is a wealthy of information there, both from the church and from outside resources.
If you’d like to check it out, click here.
It’s an excellent site.

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Mental Illness: Obsessive Compulsive Disorder

Something occurred to me recently, and I’ve really struggled with facing it head on. I’ve spoken out frequently about the need for the mentally ill to share their stories both as a way for others to understand and for themselves to be understood, but I’ve been somewhat dishonest with myself.
All this time I’ve spent asking [...]

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Mental Illness: This needs to continue

Wow.
That’s about all I can say. Wow.
The response to yesterday’s post on postpartum depression has been overwhelmingly positive with dozens of links, hundreds of hits, and many heartfelt thanks. I’m somewhat surprised by the energy of the responses, particularly the gratitude expressed for the honesty of the writer of that story. And it’s obvious to [...]

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