All Christians

Per yesterday’s post, tomorrow is International Overdose Awareness Day. To help with the awareness, we wanted to share some statistics and a video via our site to help develop awareness of substance use and overdoses. These statistics come from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.

If you or someone you know struggles with substance dependency, I’d encourage you to simply go talk with a counselor. If you are not sure where to find one, talk with your insurance company for a referral for who they cover. If that’s not possible, use this services locator.

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Several news organizations are reporting that Google is currently beta testing a depression screener for people to take if they are Google’ing ‘depression’ or ‘clinical depression.’ After several attempts in Chrome and Edge browsers, I was unable to find it, but if you look on the right-hand side where it talks about what depression is, what the symptoms are, and treatment options that are effective, it has a non-invasive button to look for it.

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Professionals have a saying when it comes to difficult clients, “work within your competency.” If you have never worked with someone who is suicidal, refer out. If you do not feel equipped to help someone that struggles with bipolar or schizophrenia, refer out. To refer out, you need to know who you will need to have a resource list of people and resources to utilize.

This document will be a part of our resource page that will be constantly updated as new resources are shared.

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Mental health is a very defined practice which for the past one hundred years has been established, refined, regulated, and researched. The formal definition says “a person’s condition with regard to their psychological and emotional well-being.”

One common misconception is mental health workers see disorders in everything. While mental health symptoms that make up a disorder may be present in areas of a person’s life, a person has to meet a specific set of criteria that is defined in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. The current version is the DSM-5.

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The pain of a physical wound is difficult. Think about the last time you smashed your toe on something, gave yourself a paper cut, or bruised yourself from some physical activity. But we have doctors who can actually see the problem, diagnosis it, and provide a remedy. We see the wound, accept their treatment plan, and follow through with it.

With mental health, we are not so lucky. You cannot always see the wounds and the treatment plans may not lead to healing as fast as you want.

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The past couple of articles noted some shortcomings with the Church and mental health. The reproach may be necessary, but we should have hope in our faith and in our salvation. The Scripture below are verses to help inspire hope in whatever pain or suffering you may have at this time. My suggestion as a counselor is to use these as points of motivation and encouragement for you. As a fellow Christian, I ask that you use these as reminders of God’s promise and implement them into your prayers.

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Answering this question is foundational to the purpose of this entire website. Without answering this question, we have no reason to continue in discussing how mental health can collaborate with the church.

[Read more…] about Can Christians Go To Counseling?