Articles
5 Ways to Manage Stress
Are you feeling stressed out? You’re not alone – stress affects millions of us each day. Whether you face stress at work, school, or in your relationships, stress costs you a lot. It takes a toll on your physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual health. However, you can learn how to manage stress so it doesn’t control you anymore. You can learn the difference between good and bad stress, and how to manage both kinds so you have greater peace of mind. Good Stress vs. Bad Stress You may not have realized that some stress is good. You need deadlines to keep you [...]
Helpful Bible Verses for Depression
If you feel depressed, you are not alone. About one out of every twelve people in America have symptoms of depression. However, God is with you in your depression, even when you feel isolated and misunderstood. Bible verses for depression can give you hope when your depression feels like dark clouds blocking the sun out of your view. Bible Verses for Depression: What the Bible Says Like all hard emotions, depression shows up in the Bible. When we consider Bible verses for depression, we find examples from both the Old and New Testaments. The prophet Jeremiah dealt with depression the entire time [...]
Honoring Your Window of Tolerance
The last couple of years have been plagued with never-ending trauma and bad news. While this isn’t the first time in history people have faced so much collective trauma, it won’t be the last. But because of the seemingly endless trauma, people are finding they are struggling a bit more to function on a daily basis, and this affects each person's window of tolerance. How Trauma Affects It Many people are less productive, having difficulty concentrating, and seeking counseling or medication for the first time in their lives. They are dealing with more symptoms of depression, anxiety, PTSD, and other mental illnesses. [...]
Common Kids’ Mental Health Concerns
Watching a child grow up can be beautiful, nerve-wracking, frustrating, and wonderful all at the same time. As they progress along their developmental journeys, kids will often go through phases of behavior that make parents ask, “When will they outgrow this?” But what should parents do when a particularly difficult behavioral or emotional stage doesn’t go away? At what point should parents be concerned about their kids’ psychological health? While most concerning behaviors don’t call for a major intervention, there are times when a child’s problem behavior surpasses what is normal for their developmental stage, or their altered emotional state lasts longer [...]
Ways PTSD Can Manifest in Our Bodies, Minds, and Lives, and Spiritual Practices that Can Help
PTSD is a whole-body tragedy, an integral human event of enormous proportions with massive repercussions. – Susan Pease Banitt Individuals who suffer from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) live with invisible suffering every single day. They look just like anyone else, act like anyone else, and are expected to function in the world like anyone else. Yet they are carrying heavy trauma and deep sorrow. Our hearts go out to those dealing with PTSD. You find yourself in a world that expects everything to be “okay” and doesn’t know what to do with people for whom life is not ok. Our culture doesn’t [...]
How to Recognize Codependent Behavior
Everyone desires connection. Everyone wants to be valued and loved and made to feel useful. So, it isn’t any great wonder that all healthy relationships have an aspect of give and take, of sacrifice and gain, and of care and receipt of care. When you love another person, you naturally want to meet their needs and have yours met in return. But what happens when this healthy idea of interdependence with others gets distorted? At what point does a relationship turn from healthy mutual reliance to unhealthy codependent behavior? While there isn’t an exact answer to the questions above, there are some [...]
Infidelity in Marriage: Understanding the Betrayed Spouse
Infidelity in marriage has been described by those who have experienced it as devastating, due to the emotional hurt and distress it causes. Discovering that one’s spouse has been unfaithful creates a wave of destruction that can take years to recover from. It has been noted that about fifty percent of all married couples will experience infidelity of some form in their lifetime. Though it is common, the experience is personal, painful, and lonely. Understanding what a betrayed spouse goes through after discovering their partner’s infidelity is crucial to healing those going through it and informative for those who might be a [...]
Overcoming Comparison and Finding Your Joy Again
Are you currently in a season of feeling like you are falling behind? Failing? Missing something? Do you frequently struggle with comparison? Do you find yourself saying any of these statements? “Their house looks gargantuan and is decorated farmhouse picturesque while mine is covered in toys and toddler crumbs before 6:30 a.m.” “They can take expensive vacations and we are barely making ends meet.” “They have four children that are all involved in extracurricular activities/sports while we have two children and feel like we are running around like chickens with our heads cut off.” “Their toddlers are always so well-behaved and mine [...]
Why am I Angry, and How Do I Make it Stop?
If you are someone who struggles with anger, you may wake up each day with the best intentions to remain calm and kind. But soon the stressors start, and you find your resolve crumbling as the familiar signs of irritability set in. Anger manifests itself uniquely for everyone, but some common signs of a rising temper may include an elevated heart rate, tunnel vision, feeling overheated or trapped in your clothes or environment, and the desire to express your feelings in a verbal or physically forceful manner. While some individuals may have problems with their expressions of anger, many who acknowledge they [...]