...Without my Catholic faith, I easily could have been on the path to a breakdown due to....

Briefly describe your struggle with mental health:   

My loved one (31-years old), has struggled with depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, PTSD, co-dependency, and drug addiction since her early teens due to being raised by two drug addicted parents. Through the years she has sought counseling, inpatient drug rehabilitation, & intensive outpatient therapy.

In your time of suffering, what do you need from the Church? How can we support you?

Supportive priests, parish staff, and parishioners willing to get to know people or families who are struggling and to give them love & hope in Jesus Christ.  This could be done through a one-on-one meeting, through Confession, through an encounter after Mass or even inviting them to a social gathering at Church.  Knowing that someone deeply cares about them can make all the difference in the world.  

How has your Catholic faith helped you in your journey? What devotions, practices and aspects of your Catholic faith have helped the most?          

My loved one’s family environment got so bad a while back that she ran away with her boyfriend for a short period to get away from everything. Before her departure, I invited her to come with me to our local parish Adoration Chapel so that we could pray together and entrust everything to Jesus.

She was not raised in any faith, was never baptized, and had never been to an Adoration Chapel. Before entering, I explained to her that we were about to pray before Jesus, and as Catholics, we believe that Jesus is truly present in this Blessed Sacrament. She was very moved while she prayed and found solace there. Jesus became her refuge in this time of great pain & she strongly desired to learn more about Jesus & the Catholic faith.

Two months later my loved one, her father, and her friend all entered the RCIA program with the help of two local priests. Her boyfriend (a non-practicing Catholic) also attended with them. The following March, my loved one, her dad, & her friend all made their sacraments and entered the Catholic faith. Although my loved one has fallen away from practicing her faith and has ups and downs with her mental health and addictions, she has found great solace and peace in Adoration.

The Office for the New Evangelization’s Unbound deliverance ministry talks that were given at parishes over the past few years have also been a great source of inspiration, consolation, and hope to my loved one and her new husband. The talk compelled them to dive deeper into their faith & seek out emotional and spiritual healing.

What encouragement would you offer to others about the role that your Catholic faith can play in the journey with mental health struggles?  

Without my Catholic faith, I easily could have been on the path to a breakdown due to the chaos associated with mental illness and addiction in my family.

Just as prayer & Adoration have been a great refuge and source of peace for my loved one, so, too, have prayer (especially rosary), Adoration, Mass, the sacraments, and fellowship been MY source of peace & joy in turbulent times.  

Thank you so much for allowing me to share my story.

...In the times when the pain and darkness has been very great...

Briefly describe your struggle with mental health:   

I have struggled with depression and anxiety, including problems with panic, since childhood.  In my 20s I began to work through my pain with the help of wonderful Catholic therapists and friends. This began a long process of inner healing. Even with much significant healing, a lot of chronic emotional pain persisted and that is when I realized that medication may be necessary. Being on medication for depression and anxiety has been immensely helpful for me, although the process of finding the right medication was very difficult.  Through all of these forms of help, at the center of which has been a sustained prayer life, I have experienced profound breakthroughs, healing and freedom. I still struggle with these weaknesses, but the Lord has brought me to a place where I consistently experience great joy, happiness and contentment in my life, something which I did know would be possible.

In your time of suffering, what do you need from the Church? How can we support you?

In the times when the pain and darkness has been very great, over and over I have found in the Church loving people who surrounded me, let me talk about my pain, and helped me see the way forward when I could not see the way myself. I think it’s important for all Church institutions, especially parishes, to have a comfort level with talking about mental illness and emotional pain so that when someone in pain approaches they are not met with an uncomprehending response or an immediate referral away to professionals.  Professionals are necessary.  But as equally necessary for me has been the warm listening ear of regular Catholics who love Jesus and were willing just to be my friend and walk with me in my struggles.  Some of the most significant healing of my life has come through these ordinary, non-clinical relationships.  

How has your Catholic faith helped you in your journey? What devotions, practices and aspects of your Catholic faith have helped the most?          

At the center of my healing journey has been Jesus in the Eucharist. Spending time in Jesus’ Real Presence in adoration and receiving him in Holy Communion has been a source of continual emotional and psychological healing. Significant breakthroughs have come about in the presence of the Eucharist.  In addition, I would also say that a close relationship with Mother Mary has been absolutely pivotal in my healing process. Mary’s gentleness and pure motherhood heals and soothes at a very deep level.

What encouragement would you offer to others about the role that your Catholic faith can play in the journey with mental health struggles?  

If my own journey has taught me anything, it is that there is always hope. There are times when the mental and emotional pain is so immense that everything in you feels that there is no hope. That is when good friends who have faith can be there to remind you, “You are not going to feel like this forever. God is good. God will lead you out of this.” And he does. I have learned first-hand that God does not desire for us to live in darkness and pain all of our lives. God wants to heal us and he wants to be with us in every step of the process, showing us the way forward. 

My encouragement to anyone struggling with mental illness is to take Jesus’ hand and pursue every avenue of healing: a good therapist, medication if needed, healthy relationships, and, above all, draw from the Church’s greatest sources of  healing: the Eucharist, Confession, the Rosary, the Scriptures, etc… Jesus truly loves us and wants to lead us ever deeper into healing and freedom of heart.  

...My loved one is in a battle....

Briefly describe your struggle with mental health:   

My loved one is in a battle.  She has multiple health issues, and can’t seem to get ahead of any of them.  She has been diagnosed with depression, anxiety, ADHD.  She takes all kinds of prescribed drugs, and they are making her into a person we don’t even recognize.  Many people wouldn’t know this because she puts on a great disguise.  The doctors she should see are so expensive, it makes them unaffordable, as are the drugs they keep prescribing.  It is so sad, no one wants to help these people. They are so alone. She has lost her job, and is pushing those of us who love her away

In your time of suffering, what do you need from the Church? How can we support you?

If there were a support group for those of us who are trying to help a loved one, that would be helpful.  But it would need to offer practical advice and resources.  Not just people complaining.  Affordable doctors for those who are ill would be great. I know there are Catholics therapists but they are hundreds of dollars a session.

How has your Catholic faith helped you in your journey? What devotions, practices and aspects of your Catholic faith have helped the most?          

I am helped by prayer and daily Mass.  I also have support of other family members, but we don’t know what to do

What encouragement would you offer to others about the role that your Catholic faith can play in the journey with mental health struggles?  

I would encourage them to grow in their faith and draw close to Our Lord and Blessed Mother. Read the Bible, join a Bible study, find peace and joy in the love Our Lord has for all of us.

...Sometimes we also need reassuring that we are not alone...

Briefly describe your struggle with mental health:   

I have deal with anxiety and depression since I was young. Since I was probably 8 years old that how long I can remember. Suicide has gone through my mind countless of times. Hurting my body too. I still have scars of what I used to do. I did other stuffs but I don’t wanna discuss that here. I still deal with it until this day. I am currently dealing at the age of 27 with anxiety, health anxiety, depression and on my second round of postpartum depression. I have done a lot of stuffs from meditation, journaling, therapist, psychiatric, and even including 20 days at a psychiatrist hospital.

In your time of suffering, what do you need from the Church? How can we support you?

In my time of suffering, I was able to find some help from my church. [My pastor] from [my parish] was very helpful to me during my second round of postpartum depression. Father encouraged me to read the Psalms. I feel like a good way to support those in need is by encouraging them to keep praying to God. Pray for them. Encouraging by getting help from doctors and not making them feel that it’s wrong for doing this.  

How has your Catholic faith helped you in your journey? What devotions, practices and aspects of your Catholic faith have helped the most?          

I feel that my faith was the one thing that saved me and keeps saving me. My faith was the one thing that encouraged me to get the help that I needed from the hospital. I felt deep down that it was the right thing to do. I continue to do my prayers during the day. I download an app called Glorify that I used every single day. I encourage anyone to try it. I also read the biography of Father Pio and he has encourage me to continue to be grateful and have faith no matter what. I encourage you to look up Philippians 4:6-7.

What encouragement would you offer to others about the role that your Catholic faith can play in the journey with mental health struggles?  

Faith it’s what keeps me going. It can do that too for anyone. Seek the Lord. He will answer and help you. He will answer whether is through someone or that gut feeling that we sometimes have. Look for the help of the church even if it’s through a Sister or going on Sundays to church. Dedicated time to the Lord and you will see how your life will start taking a better turn. I am not saying that the church will solve your financial problems or something like that. Believe me it have not done that for me but being close to the Lord has change a little my mind perspective. What I mean is that my perspective changed me to be a little more optimistic. It might not be the next hour or the next day. It might not even be in the next week or month but I promise to you it will eventually GET BETTER and while that happens I encourage you to keep seeking the Lord. I encourage you to be around people that are also struggling. Sometimes we also need reassuring that we are not alone.

...I have struggled with depression and severe anxiety for most of my adult life...

Briefly describe your struggle with mental health:   

I have struggled with depression and severe anxiety for most of my adult life. I started having panic attacks in my late twenties and one was so bad that I had to drive myself to the ER for fear I was having a heart attack. I had little ability to be at peace in any given moment. I had low self-esteem and fear was a constant burden.

In your time of suffering, what do you need from the Church? How can we support you?

In my time of greatest suffering, I needed an expert in the psychological sciences who also understood my faith/worldview and the spiritual components to suffering. I needed guidance as to whether or not my darkness was of a psychological or spiritual nature. I went through a period where strange things were happening that I was not familiar with in my previous bouts of depression and anxiety. There were indeed spiritual forces at work, and I received great relief and knowledge to arm me going forward.

How has your Catholic faith helped you in your journey? What devotions, practices and aspects of your Catholic faith have helped the most?          

“Unbound” was an invaluable resource. Understanding the spiritual side of mental and emotional suffering was not something I understood. Bondage and strongholds are real, and so is our power as baptized Christians and beloved children of God to close the doors to our enemies. I discovered Unbound after three priests all directed me to this ministry.

What encouragement would you offer to others about the role that your Catholic faith can play in the journey with mental health struggles?  

Prayer, the sacraments, and learning the basics of spiritual warfare are absolutely key for me in maintaining mental health. I have a psychiatrist and a catholic mentor/counselor who are also very important in my journey as my mind, soul, and body all need to be taken into consideration. In addition, awareness of my thought patterns and redirecting with deep breathing & scripture has been a key technique in breaking me out of self-sabotaging thought patterns. This is a catholic version of a cognitive technique that many refer to as mindfulness.