Prakruthi Angelina on Mental Health and Faith | Overcoming Anxiety, Depression & Worry | John Giftah

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0:41 Speaker 1: Welcome to Fuel for the Soul with John GIFTA.

0:49 Speaker 2: One of the things that a lot of people love,

0:51 Speaker 2: especially in the Christian world. People find it hard to

0:53 Speaker 2: talk about is mental health. They're like, you know, you're

0:57 Speaker 2: not trusting God in a you should be more strong

1:01 Speaker 2: and things like that. And these are some things that

1:03 Speaker 2: people say, and it really reritates me a lot, especially

1:06 Speaker 2: because if somebody is not feeling well, you say, oh,

1:09 Speaker 2: let me pray for you, take care of you. But

1:11 Speaker 2: if somebody is not well in their mind, you're like

1:15 Speaker 2: rebuking them and that dements in them, and you know,

1:20 Speaker 2: stuff like that, So you know, you are into mental health,

1:24 Speaker 2: you're also a counselor, you know, and being a Christian counselor,

1:28 Speaker 2: can you give a few words about the reality of

1:32 Speaker 2: mental health and to bring that awareness among Christians that

1:35 Speaker 2: is lacking.

1:37 Speaker 3: I'm so glad we're talking about these things. Thank you

1:39 Speaker 3: for bringing this topic as well, because I think the

1:42 Speaker 3: more we have conversations about it, the more we are

1:44 Speaker 3: able to eliminate the mystery or the stigma around it

1:49 Speaker 3: and actually understand it for what it is.

1:52 Speaker 4: I think for me, I could not avoid.

1:54 Speaker 3: This because, like I said, when my dad left, everything

1:58 Speaker 3: changed and so much that we went through which we

2:02 Speaker 3: didn't have any help to deal with at that time.

2:06 Speaker 3: I mean this was in there's many many years back,

2:10 Speaker 3: and at that time there was so much stigma associated

2:13 Speaker 3: with this whole thing, even even in the non Christian world.

2:17 Speaker 4: And uh, you know, so I think that's that for me, started.

2:21 Speaker 3: Off this whole journey of anger and depression, and I

2:25 Speaker 3: was very suicidal as well at one point, and and

2:30 Speaker 3: there was no proper help to go through this either.

2:34 Speaker 3: I was like, oh, I'm demon possessed. I need someone

2:37 Speaker 3: to you know. But then I was so I mean,

2:41 Speaker 3: I was so aware of it, and I was so

2:42 Speaker 3: ashamed of.

2:43 Speaker 4: What I was going through.

2:44 Speaker 3: I thought I was literally the only Christian going through

2:47 Speaker 3: this because everyone seemed great on the outside. Everyone was

2:51 Speaker 3: like praising and smiling, and I didn't know that the

2:55 Speaker 3: enemy was using the same lies and the same kind

2:57 Speaker 3: of battles in the mind. And so there was a

3:00 Speaker 3: spiritual element to this struggle for sure, Like there's always

3:03 Speaker 3: a spiritual element, and so I'm so glad that there's

3:08 Speaker 3: different people, there's different spaces integrating you know, theology, integrating

3:13 Speaker 3: God and psychology, because for me, it was that process

3:18 Speaker 3: of looking at my struggle through the world of God.

3:21 Speaker 3: And I also took up psychology because I was just

3:23 Speaker 3: drawn towards understanding people, understanding how why our brains work

3:27 Speaker 3: like that, I myself am a very complex mind to

3:31 Speaker 3: understand myself also, and I think that journey right helped

3:35 Speaker 3: me see psychology through the lens of God's word of

3:41 Speaker 3: who God has made us to be, God's design for

3:44 Speaker 3: our minds.

3:45 Speaker 4: And at the same time, I think it's so important to.

3:48 Speaker 3: Understand the science, to understand, you know, the neuroscience, the

3:54 Speaker 3: way our brain works. There is a physical component of

3:57 Speaker 3: mental health as well, right if you find it two

4:00 Speaker 3: abstract or two who what is this? You know, we

4:02 Speaker 3: study our brain as part of the body, but we

4:05 Speaker 3: also study our brain as part of the mind. And

4:08 Speaker 3: so I think what we need to understand in the

4:13 Speaker 3: Church is that God desires wholeness for us right in.

4:18 Speaker 4: Our body, in our mind and our spirit and our soul.

4:21 Speaker 3: And we are not just a spirit, but we also

4:25 Speaker 3: have a mind, we also have a body. So a

4:27 Speaker 3: lot of Christians also believe that we shouldn't take medicines

4:30 Speaker 3: or we shouldn't do anything for our but I believe

4:33 Speaker 3: God wants holistic wholeness and wellness for us.

4:35 Speaker 4: He wants us to prosper.

4:37 Speaker 3: Three John two says, beloved, I pray that you prosper

4:40 Speaker 3: in every way even as your soul prospers.

4:43 Speaker 4: And I think that's the foundation and root of it.

4:47 Speaker 4: Like God is the source.

4:48 Speaker 3: Of our healing and our wellness and our wholeness. And

4:52 Speaker 3: I believe that we can't have true wholeness without God

4:55 Speaker 3: because He's the only one who gets right to the

4:58 Speaker 3: depth and the root right. And at the same time,

5:01 Speaker 3: I think we need to make use of the wisdom,

5:04 Speaker 3: the knowledge, the understanding that we have through science through

5:07 Speaker 3: all of these people doing amazing work and research, whether

5:10 Speaker 3: they're Christian or not, because we can learn so much

5:14 Speaker 3: from you know, one another. And so yeah, I'm not

5:17 Speaker 3: a qualified therapist, but I am. I have been in

5:21 Speaker 3: psychology for since I was in the eleventh and twelfth

5:24 Speaker 3: and for me, because of this personal journey, I think

5:27 Speaker 3: I've had that opportunity to really wrestle with these things,

5:32 Speaker 3: really understand, you know, and ask all.

5:35 Speaker 4: Of these questions. You know, how much of this is

5:38 Speaker 4: this demonic? Is this good? Is this from God?

5:41 Speaker 3: And I do believe we need wisdom and discernment, but

5:45 Speaker 3: we need to start talking about these things honestly, because

5:47 Speaker 3: like you said, it's so frustrating when you have a

5:50 Speaker 3: real problem. There's no solution anyone's giving you, but they're

5:54 Speaker 3: giving you unnecessary advice.

5:55 Speaker 4: Or help that you just need to pray more. Just

5:59 Speaker 4: are you show you if fast enough? You know, like okay,

6:03 Speaker 4: thank you?

6:06 Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, like you said, you know, this is a

6:10 Speaker 2: very tricky part because sometimes when you go for help,

6:14 Speaker 2: people only say that you're not prayed enough for you're

6:16 Speaker 2: not strong in God. But but sometimes you know, even

6:19 Speaker 2: in the scripture, people did go through things you know

6:22 Speaker 2: whether it's Elijah the Mighty prophet. He brought down rain

6:24 Speaker 2: and fire from heaven. Next minute he was in a

6:27 Speaker 2: wilderness us it depression Jonah. At one point he said,

6:31 Speaker 2: I want to die. He went to that suicidal depression.

6:34 Speaker 4: Who's the other one? Who?

6:35 Speaker 2: Uh the opposite Paul in quarrinthiins he said, things were

6:38 Speaker 2: so bad I wanted to in my life. And we

6:40 Speaker 2: keep saying about job saying that. Joe was saying, uh,

6:43 Speaker 2: you know, blessed be the name of the Lord. But

6:45 Speaker 2: that was chapter too. But but then in chapter I said,

6:48 Speaker 2: you know, curse the day, you know, stuff like that.

6:51 Speaker 2: So you know they all did go through this. You know,

6:54 Speaker 2: it's not just you or it's just sometimes people have

6:57 Speaker 2: said this. You know you're pastor and you you know,

6:59 Speaker 2: I've gone to suicide, you know, depression myself. Like I'll

7:03 Speaker 2: tell you, there are different sides to this.

7:05 Speaker 4: See.

7:05 Speaker 2: One is the mental aspect, but there's also the spiritual

7:08 Speaker 2: aspect for sure, because you know, either the enemy attacks

7:12 Speaker 2: you physically or he attacks you in the mentally. Also,

7:15 Speaker 2: I've also had demonic encounters, the demonic things, and sometimes

7:20 Speaker 2: when I'm walking on the road, the you know, the

7:23 Speaker 2: enemy just wants to push me to end my life.

7:26 Speaker 2: And now I've seen that, and I know, like when

7:29 Speaker 2: I go through those swings of depression and all of

7:31 Speaker 2: those things. I think in the last four years, I

7:33 Speaker 2: think the cycles of depression increased even more and I

7:36 Speaker 2: just started battling even more and then I started slowly

7:40 Speaker 2: coming out of it. But but but that's the truth.

7:43 Speaker 2: It's people were saying, you know, you're not praying enough,

7:46 Speaker 2: you're not fit to be a preacher, and all of

7:48 Speaker 2: these things. But then I'm open to share about it

7:50 Speaker 2: because I want people to be blessed through that. Like

7:53 Speaker 2: you said, yes, it's ultimately God or heels, but you know,

7:57 Speaker 2: the Lord was reminding me while you were sharing. In

7:59 Speaker 2: Second Kings chapter twenty, when King Esakia was about to die,

8:04 Speaker 2: God gives the gave the word saying you're going to

8:07 Speaker 2: live for fifteen more years. But he also gave another

8:10 Speaker 2: command that people don't remember much, and that is, you know,

8:14 Speaker 2: he said, go and take these leaves I think fig

8:16 Speaker 2: leaves or something and put it on the ball and

8:18 Speaker 2: you will be healed. So God, yes, God is the

8:21 Speaker 2: ultimate healer, but sometimes God also uses means like this.

8:24 Speaker 2: God is the one who heal. God is the one

8:26 Speaker 2: who said, you know your healed, but he used that figlease.

8:29 Speaker 2: It's not that Fregrees had any power at that point.

8:32 Speaker 2: But you know that's why you know, maybe sometimes God

8:35 Speaker 2: uses there, God uses counseling, God uses you know, certain

8:40 Speaker 2: things that you can do. So can you shed a

8:43 Speaker 2: little bit more light on you know, people being open

8:46 Speaker 2: to taking up such means?

8:49 Speaker 3: Yeah, I think what two very important things that you said. Right,

8:54 Speaker 3: everything is spiritual, That's what I believe, because we.

8:56 Speaker 4: Are made of spirit.

8:58 Speaker 3: We're living in the spirit realm right now we can't

9:01 Speaker 3: see it, but so much is happening in the spiritual

9:05 Speaker 3: and the enemy's only goal is to steal, kill and destroy,

9:09 Speaker 3: right Like I mean, he wants to destroy us and

9:12 Speaker 3: he will use any means necessary. And Joyce Maya's Battlefield

9:16 Speaker 3: of the Mind, I think was one of those was

9:18 Speaker 3: one of those pioneering books which really made it very

9:21 Speaker 3: clear and simple that hey, your mind is a place

9:24 Speaker 3: where the enemy can take hold off and use these

9:27 Speaker 3: things against you.

9:29 Speaker 4: And so there are many ways to tackle this.

9:32 Speaker 3: And of course prayer, of course the Word of God

9:34 Speaker 3: are very foundational to build our spiritual string, to build

9:38 Speaker 3: our spiritual muscle. But thinking that that's the only dimension,

9:44 Speaker 3: or thinking that that should be enough somehow puts this.

9:47 Speaker 3: I think that's where we've all come from, right, Like,

9:50 Speaker 3: especially our generation, we've grown up under this thing of

9:53 Speaker 3: your faith is not enough, You're not praying enough, and

9:55 Speaker 3: so you're suffering with this.

9:57 Speaker 4: How can you be a man of God? How can

9:59 Speaker 4: you be working in ministry?

10:01 Speaker 3: And then go through all of these things especially, And

10:03 Speaker 3: so I'm really grateful that you're even willing to share

10:06 Speaker 3: about those things, right, because we do two things with

10:11 Speaker 3: mental health, right, Either, like I said, either we ignore

10:13 Speaker 3: or deny it, or we think just because someone has

10:17 Speaker 3: a mental health issue, something is totally.

10:20 Speaker 4: Wrong with them.

10:20 Speaker 3: They can never be okay and God is not with

10:23 Speaker 3: them if we can go to that extent.

10:24 Speaker 4: Also, but what to demonize? Yeah yeah, yeah, that's.

10:28 Speaker 3: A real really bad thing. So let me do one thing, right, Like,

10:33 Speaker 3: I want to break down mental health wave.

10:35 Speaker 4: What is mental health? Something? I've even hard people saying,

10:39 Speaker 4: oh that person has mental health.

10:41 Speaker 3: No, we all have mental health because we all have

10:43 Speaker 3: a mind. If you, I mean, do you have a mind.

10:47 Speaker 3: Let's start there, right, what is our mind?

10:50 Speaker 4: Right?

10:50 Speaker 3: It's our emotions, that thoughts our whole experience. And so

10:55 Speaker 3: mental health is part of all of our lives, just

10:58 Speaker 3: like physical health. Right, we talk about it. That's all

11:01 Speaker 3: that it is. Right, So mental just has to do

11:03 Speaker 3: with the mind, let's start there. And so it's all

11:06 Speaker 3: to do with our thoughts, our emotions, and our behavior

11:10 Speaker 3: and things that happen in this realm.

11:12 Speaker 4: Right.

11:13 Speaker 3: And there's different levels of severity also to what we

11:16 Speaker 3: deal with. Just because you're feeling.

11:18 Speaker 4: Sad does not mean that you're depressed.

11:20 Speaker 3: If you're feeling sad, you're feeling sad, So take that emotion.

11:23 Speaker 3: You know, if you're feeling angry, we deal with emotions

11:27 Speaker 3: in therapy. We deal with thoughts in therapy.

11:29 Speaker 4: Right. So a good therapist, even if it is a

11:34 Speaker 4: Christian therapist or a non Christian, a good therapist or

11:37 Speaker 4: a counselor is not someone who's giving you just advice

11:40 Speaker 4: to fix your life. Please listen to this. Christian counselors, you.

11:45 Speaker 3: Are not sent to advise someone or tell them because

11:49 Speaker 3: I'll tell you something like pastoral counsel is good. Pastoral

11:52 Speaker 3: counsel is from the world of God, from you know,

11:55 Speaker 3: God's perspective. You minister to their heart. You're representing God's

11:59 Speaker 3: voice in their life. That is amazing. But Christian counseling

12:03 Speaker 3: is different from pastoral counseling because Christian consuling is not

12:08 Speaker 3: opening up the Bible and saying, what are you going through?

12:10 Speaker 4: Okay, I have a verse for that. Let me let

12:12 Speaker 4: me shoot.

12:13 Speaker 3: That out, let me speak that or declare that, and

12:15 Speaker 3: that should fix it. You know, there is a place

12:17 Speaker 3: for that, right like you, you believe that, I believe that.

12:20 Speaker 3: But therapy is about making space for a person to

12:25 Speaker 3: be heard, to be seen to really, you know, go

12:30 Speaker 3: through their emotions, go through sometimes their past, the trauma

12:33 Speaker 3: that they've been through, or so many different things.

12:36 Speaker 4: Right.

12:37 Speaker 3: But basically principles of counseling and therapy is that you

12:41 Speaker 3: make space for them to be heard.

12:43 Speaker 4: You help them find their own solution. As you speak

12:47 Speaker 4: about your problem.

12:48 Speaker 3: Right, so many things come up and there's much more

12:51 Speaker 3: to it, but I'm trying to simplify it. And a

12:53 Speaker 3: good therapist has to provide that space of understanding, acceptance,

12:57 Speaker 3: and safety where you're able to face yourself and see

13:03 Speaker 3: what's happening on the inside. Right, And it's so important

13:07 Speaker 3: to understand why professionals are needed in this field because

13:11 Speaker 3: you won't if you're going through something serious, right, like,

13:15 Speaker 3: you're not going to go to some random person and

13:17 Speaker 3: take whatever medicine they give you. You will want to

13:19 Speaker 3: go to a specialist in that also you will take

13:22 Speaker 3: second opinion in their opinion, and because you want to

13:24 Speaker 3: receive the best care. And I think even in the

13:26 Speaker 3: field of mental health, we are all working towards it,

13:28 Speaker 3: hopefully to try and get the best care to people.

13:35 Speaker 4: And so yeah, I think therapy. Maybe it sounds like

13:38 Speaker 4: a big word, but.

13:40 Speaker 3: And some people might think, why should I go pay

13:41 Speaker 3: someone to just go talk to them or get advice

13:44 Speaker 3: from them?

13:46 Speaker 4: But that's not all that it is.

13:48 Speaker 3: It's not supposed to be that at all. Therapists are

13:51 Speaker 3: trained in many different fields. There are trauma therapists, there's

13:56 Speaker 3: cognitive behavioral therapists. They deal with your thoughts and behavior,

14:00 Speaker 3: different forms of it. If you want to find out more,

14:04 Speaker 3: I mean, hopefully I'm also working on some resources that

14:07 Speaker 3: can help people connect to these kind of spaces.

14:11 Speaker 4: But that's the.

14:12 Speaker 3: Hope that you know, we will try and learn more

14:14 Speaker 3: about this instead of either demonizing it or stigmatizing it,

14:18 Speaker 3: or just or even denying that you need help, just

14:21 Speaker 3: even that small step to.

14:22 Speaker 4: Say, hey, maybe I need to take some help.

14:24 Speaker 3: It's not that something is wrong with you, right, or

14:27 Speaker 3: that something will always be wrong with you, but but

14:31 Speaker 3: something is.

14:32 Speaker 4: Wrong with you, right.

14:32 Speaker 3: But if you're dealing with the headache, something's wrong, you

14:34 Speaker 3: need you need help. And so it's as simple as that.

14:37 Speaker 3: So I just hope that we can all do that

14:39 Speaker 3: right to just destigmatize it and to make it not

14:42 Speaker 3: something so extreme, and also understand that there are some

14:46 Speaker 3: really severe cases where you need medical interventions sometimes and

14:50 Speaker 3: it takes a long time to you know.

14:52 Speaker 4: See breakthrough. But you know, what are you going to do?

14:55 Speaker 3: That's that's what we're dealing with as part of the

14:57 Speaker 3: broken world. And either you can or you can say, hey,

15:01 Speaker 3: God's in it with us, and let's try and figure

15:04 Speaker 3: out how we can do this.

15:07 Speaker 4: Yeah, that's so true.

15:09 Speaker 2: But in terms of mental health, like we say, okay,

15:14 Speaker 2: you know, if you have to take care of your

15:15 Speaker 2: physical health, they say certain things exercise or during this

15:19 Speaker 2: much of water and things like that. So that's good.

15:26 Speaker 2: So in terms of mental health, what are some things

15:29 Speaker 2: I mean? Of course I did speak about this earlier

15:31 Speaker 2: and I think there are a couple of points that

15:33 Speaker 2: we can come up that when you take care of

15:35 Speaker 2: your physical health, there's always uh that also is going

15:39 Speaker 2: to help you in you know, having better help mental

15:41 Speaker 2: health and all of those things. But on a counseling perspective,

15:46 Speaker 2: from your perspective, what are some habits that people can

15:50 Speaker 2: have that will help them have a good mental health?

15:53 Speaker 3: Okay, wow, Okay, So I definitely believe health is holistic,

15:59 Speaker 3: the spiritual physical, that's mental, emotional, right, and you can't

16:03 Speaker 3: neglect one without it affecting the other. And so we

16:09 Speaker 3: pay attention to all of these things. Like you rightly

16:11 Speaker 3: brought out, there is such a direct connection between the

16:14 Speaker 3: body and the mind. So many things in our mind

16:16 Speaker 3: affect our body and vice versa. And so yeah, all

16:20 Speaker 3: of that is there specifically to do with the mind.

16:24 Speaker 3: I think some good practices are Self awareness is something

16:30 Speaker 3: that a lot of us probably need to grow into, right,

16:34 Speaker 3: to learn to be connected to your body to what's happening.

16:38 Speaker 3: Most of the times, you're not even here some way

16:40 Speaker 3: thinking about future or past or something else, right, some

16:44 Speaker 3: text that you didn't get a reply for, that's what

16:47 Speaker 3: consumes are right, So just being present being connected. And

16:52 Speaker 3: there's even exercises to learn how to do that. We

16:55 Speaker 3: call it grounding exercises, right, learn how to breathe and

16:59 Speaker 3: you know, as you say breathing exercises to people.

17:01 Speaker 4: Are like, oh what, but see, we.

17:05 Speaker 3: Have to get comfortable with the truth that our body

17:07 Speaker 3: and mind and emotions and our spirit are all connected.

17:10 Speaker 4: Like practically spirit is not sitting somewhere else. I mean,

17:14 Speaker 4: I don't know spirit word.

17:16 Speaker 3: But then you know, God has designed it in a way,

17:18 Speaker 3: right that we are one being right, and a lot

17:22 Speaker 3: of these problems happen when that dissociation happens as well,

17:25 Speaker 3: and we're not connected with our minds. So yeah, being present,

17:28 Speaker 3: being aware, I think even being comfortable with journaling, talking

17:34 Speaker 3: through your emotions and thoughts really helps.

17:39 Speaker 4: And we have some amazing.

17:40 Speaker 3: Tools from the world of God as well, right, Like

17:42 Speaker 3: to take our thoughts captive.

17:45 Speaker 4: What does that mean? It's not just to say.

17:47 Speaker 3: I take all my thoughts captive right now the name

17:49 Speaker 3: of Jesus and then forget about it.

17:50 Speaker 4: It's not just that to sit down with your thoughts.

17:53 Speaker 3: And be like, okay, say I'm feeling negative about my face.

17:58 Speaker 3: For example, say I have pimples, and I'm I'm feeling Okay,

18:01 Speaker 3: what do.

18:01 Speaker 4: I do with that? Now?

18:03 Speaker 3: It's affecting me obviously, it's affecting how I feel about myself,

18:07 Speaker 3: my confidence and all of that. I can just say,

18:10 Speaker 3: I rebuke that thought in Jesus name. I can do

18:12 Speaker 3: that if it's especially I mean, strongholds.

18:14 Speaker 4: Do break in the name of Jesus. We believe that

18:16 Speaker 4: we need to do that.

18:18 Speaker 3: But it also can start with you sitting with that

18:20 Speaker 3: thought and saying, Okay, right now I'm feeling sad, I'm

18:24 Speaker 3: feeling frustrated about my face.

18:27 Speaker 4: This is the situation.

18:28 Speaker 3: And then just processing that and just facing that instead

18:32 Speaker 3: of suppressing or denying it.

18:34 Speaker 4: Right, things like that could also help.

18:36 Speaker 3: And yeah, I did a workshop recently where we kind

18:40 Speaker 3: of shared a few things like this. But I would

18:45 Speaker 3: also say, if it is getting a little difficult, don't

18:49 Speaker 3: hesitate to reach out for professional help.

18:52 Speaker 4: Because that does help to break things down.

18:57 Speaker 3: Bring in a lot of awareness, because sometimes awareness is

18:59 Speaker 3: like that some one needs to tell you from the

19:01 Speaker 3: outside you can't see somethings. But so yeah, and then

19:06 Speaker 3: there are of course the spiritual practices of reading the Word,

19:10 Speaker 3: being with God, spending quiet time. Those are foundational as well.

19:14 Speaker 3: So yeah, I hope, I hope that makes sense.

19:18 Speaker 4: That's so good.

19:19 Speaker 2: Yeah, so, I because I spoke on very similar grounds

19:23 Speaker 2: last time, so I think especially the Avaness part and

19:26 Speaker 2: all of these things are kind of new. So yeah,

19:28 Speaker 2: it will definitely be helpful for those those of you

19:32 Speaker 2: who are watching. And also remember, like, there's nothing wrong

19:35 Speaker 2: in taking help, right Like weeple want to remind you

19:38 Speaker 2: that there's nothing wrong in taking help. You know, we're

19:41 Speaker 2: there recruities there, there are so many you know, go

19:45 Speaker 2: for the go to the right resource, like don't go

19:48 Speaker 2: to the wrong place and get into more mess, but

19:52 Speaker 2: go to the right place and you'll definitely, you know,

19:55 Speaker 2: see some positive results in your life as well. So

19:59 Speaker 2: if somebody battling depression or suicidal thoughts right now, what

20:05 Speaker 2: is your word to them? How how can they deal

20:09 Speaker 2: with it?

20:11 Speaker 3: If you're dealing with depression and suicide, it would be

20:17 Speaker 3: best if you can take professional help.

20:19 Speaker 4: The reason being, you know, sometimes with things you don't

20:24 Speaker 4: know when it can get really bad.

20:26 Speaker 3: A lot of people are also going through high functioning depression,

20:30 Speaker 3: which is you're actually not doing okay, but because we've

20:34 Speaker 3: gotten so used to pushing through.

20:36 Speaker 4: Just going ahead with life. I'm fine, I'm fine, I'm fine.

20:40 Speaker 3: You're doing things as normal and no one may know it,

20:44 Speaker 3: but you know you're actually going through that, right and only.

20:48 Speaker 3: That's why a lot of people don't want to be

20:50 Speaker 3: in quiet spaces with their thoughts, alone with their thoughts.

20:52 Speaker 3: They try to avoid it no matter what they do.

20:54 Speaker 4: Right. So, what I'm trying to.

20:56 Speaker 3: Say is, when it comes to depression and suicide especially,

21:00 Speaker 3: it is quite serious. We don't want to underplay it

21:03 Speaker 3: and just to feel better about ourselves.

21:06 Speaker 4: We don't want to be like, oh, I'm fine, I'm fine.

21:08 Speaker 3: So it might feel really hard, it might feel scary,

21:13 Speaker 3: but reach out for help because the right resource, like

21:16 Speaker 3: you said, will be able to help you process these things,

21:20 Speaker 3: deal with these things in a better way. You don't

21:23 Speaker 3: have to succumb to the danger that is depression and suicide,

21:29 Speaker 3: because it could get dangerous at some points, right, and

21:32 Speaker 3: so it is important that we understand the seriousness of

21:35 Speaker 3: it and do reach out for help. I know finances

21:38 Speaker 3: might be challenging at some point and all of that,

21:41 Speaker 3: but think about it. Your life matters, Your life is

21:45 Speaker 3: worth it, and if you can get the help that

21:47 Speaker 3: you deserve and need. Don't let anything stop you from

21:51 Speaker 3: doing that. Maybe eight years ago I would have just

21:55 Speaker 3: said God will deliver you from depression, just keep praying.

21:59 Speaker 4: But today I really.

22:00 Speaker 3: Do understand the need to seek help and the need

22:04 Speaker 3: to really be open about it.

22:07 Speaker 4: Talk to someone that you trust.

22:09 Speaker 3: You know, there would be at least one or two

22:11 Speaker 3: people I think around, maybe not in your immediate circle

22:14 Speaker 3: if you're afraid of being teased or bullied, but do

22:17 Speaker 3: find someone that you can trust and ask for help,

22:21 Speaker 3: because it's important and you deserve that help.

22:25 Speaker 2: Especially when you think about Elijah right when he was

22:28 Speaker 2: going through the depression, the first thing he did is

22:30 Speaker 2: he cut himself off from people and he started magnifying, saying,

22:34 Speaker 2: I'm the only one going through this, you know, nobody

22:37 Speaker 2: else and all of these things, but no one of

22:39 Speaker 2: the things that you can do when you are going

22:42 Speaker 2: through that is, you know, make sure that you don't

22:45 Speaker 2: cut out from people, you know, like take intentional steps

22:48 Speaker 2: to talk to somebody, and also, you know, don't let

22:52 Speaker 2: I mean it says the scripture says that he went

22:54 Speaker 2: into the wilderness, like you know, like a wilderness of

22:56 Speaker 2: the mind is where people go to like the constantly

23:00 Speaker 2: keep thinking about it, keep thinking and keep meditating on it,

23:03 Speaker 2: like day in and day out, and what happens is

23:07 Speaker 2: you know, and they also be careful what you watch

23:09 Speaker 2: and listen during that time because I think a couple

23:13 Speaker 2: of months ago, I ended up. I mean just I

23:17 Speaker 2: was watching a documentary and that documentary was about a

23:19 Speaker 2: guy who come to suicide, and you know, the next day,

23:23 Speaker 2: everywhere I'm walking, I feel like, okay, you're going to

23:26 Speaker 2: end your life, you know, like that, you know, and

23:28 Speaker 2: then I'm like, okay, even the documentary. I just have

23:31 Speaker 2: to be careful in what I watch, you know, because

23:33 Speaker 2: if you know what is your pitfall, if you feel

23:35 Speaker 2: like you're going to be depressed if you're watching something

23:38 Speaker 2: or not just depression, it could be something that you're

23:41 Speaker 2: dealing with, like you know, if somebody is dealing with lust, okay,

23:44 Speaker 2: and if you're going to be watching romantic movies after

23:47 Speaker 2: romantic movies, it's only gonna you know, so you need

23:50 Speaker 2: to get to that place like okay, identify what is

23:53 Speaker 2: your issue and be aware of that and you know,

23:56 Speaker 2: cut it off in the route. You know, if watching

23:59 Speaker 2: something is going to have afect you, if you know,

24:01 Speaker 2: being with a group is going to affect you, or

24:04 Speaker 2: being alone is also going to affect you. Take the

24:07 Speaker 2: right steps, and that is something so important.

24:10 Speaker 3: I also want to add about depression, right, Like you said,

24:15 Speaker 3: there are things that.

24:16 Speaker 4: You can do.

24:17 Speaker 3: I mean, if it's a real struggle to reach out

24:19 Speaker 3: for help, it's really hard, especially when you're depressed.

24:22 Speaker 4: The only thing you want to do is hide, be

24:24 Speaker 4: in a dark.

24:24 Speaker 3: Room or isolate or you know, it could look different

24:27 Speaker 3: for different people as well. But I also want to

24:33 Speaker 3: say that sometimes even really small things can help, can

24:38 Speaker 3: really help you break free from it, Like in terms

24:42 Speaker 3: of like you said, watching what you are consuming content

24:49 Speaker 3: and all of that.

24:51 Speaker 4: I think I'm struggling to put language to this, so

24:54 Speaker 4: bear with me.

24:55 Speaker 3: So there are there are many different aspects of depression

24:59 Speaker 3: and then also many different types of it, and there

25:02 Speaker 3: are different ways that people experience it. So that's why

25:05 Speaker 3: my first suggestion would be god therapist, someone who actually

25:09 Speaker 3: can figure out what exactly is happening, whether it's severe,

25:13 Speaker 3: whether it is mild, and based on that they'll be

25:15 Speaker 3: able to help you navigate as well. Right, because there

25:18 Speaker 3: is that tendency on our own to either underplay it

25:21 Speaker 3: or overplay.

25:21 Speaker 4: It and then think like home losh, I'm just you know,

25:24 Speaker 4: so I think it's really important to have that.

25:27 Speaker 3: As much as I can give many tips from my

25:30 Speaker 3: personal experience as well, it may not apply to you,

25:34 Speaker 3: but yeah, start somewhere is what I would say.

25:36 Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, like you said, what worked for somebody else

25:39 Speaker 2: is not going to work for you. You know, you

25:41 Speaker 2: need to understand that individuality of what is going to

25:44 Speaker 2: be specific to you. And that is something that a

25:48 Speaker 2: therapist and spending time with God, you know, all of

25:51 Speaker 2: this together you will find that unique thing that works

25:54 Speaker 2: for you. For example, when I was dealing with that

25:56 Speaker 2: entity crisis, you know, what I used to do is

26:00 Speaker 2: to stand in front of the mirror every day and

26:01 Speaker 2: I used to quote the scriptures. I'm cute, I'm fearfully

26:04 Speaker 2: and wonderfully made, I'm made in the image of God,

26:07 Speaker 2: and all of these you know, cute. It is not

26:09 Speaker 2: a Bible verse, but anyway, you know what things about us. Yeah,

26:14 Speaker 2: so I used to say these things every single day,

26:17 Speaker 2: and that actually helped me have you know, like when

26:19 Speaker 2: I step into the world, like you know, after that,

26:22 Speaker 2: it used to really make it easy for me. Like

26:26 Speaker 2: when I was dealing with that, right, So that is

26:29 Speaker 2: something unique. Like some if if I go and tell

26:31 Speaker 2: somebody random that I did that little thing, I'm crazy.

26:34 Speaker 2: But you know what is a crazy Maybe the thing

26:38 Speaker 2: that's going to help you breakout of the craziness in

26:40 Speaker 2: your life.

26:41 Speaker 3: That's what for me, holistic wellness is so important, and

26:45 Speaker 3: I want to help people really get comfortable with dealing

26:50 Speaker 3: with their emotions. And I think that's the reason, uh,

26:53 Speaker 3: you know, I've been talking about it. Talking about my

26:55 Speaker 3: own struggles is something that you said, you know, has

26:58 Speaker 3: my brain buzzing.

26:59 Speaker 4: So I just want to.

27:02 Speaker 3: So much of our thoughts and our emotions are because

27:06 Speaker 3: of neurowirings that have happened over the years, right, like upbringing,

27:11 Speaker 3: the patterns, the things that we're around. It's not just media,

27:14 Speaker 3: it's our.

27:17 Speaker 4: Close ones.

27:17 Speaker 3: Family, parents have a very significant influence. Friends, things, people say,

27:22 Speaker 3: things we get into our brain, right, and especially when

27:26 Speaker 3: we grow up. As we grow up, so many things

27:30 Speaker 3: shape our understanding, our worldview, the filter through which we

27:33 Speaker 3: are looking at things. Right, and so say, for example,

27:37 Speaker 3: overthinking is something that is part of anxiety, yes, but

27:41 Speaker 3: overthinking is also something a lot of us do in general, right,

27:45 Speaker 3: because we've especially introverts, I think.

27:48 Speaker 4: I don't know, maybe extraords also do, but I can

27:50 Speaker 4: speak for myself. You just think about everything.

27:53 Speaker 3: Right, and like, there's so many thoughts going on in

27:55 Speaker 3: your head now this.

27:59 Speaker 4: Yes, there are practical the things that.

28:00 Speaker 3: You do to change this, right, and that has to

28:04 Speaker 3: do with like the rewiring of your brain the patterns

28:09 Speaker 3: that you have, right, And so that takes takes on

28:12 Speaker 3: a process of really breaking it down and seeing, you know,

28:15 Speaker 3: how what is leading to what? Right, And I think

28:20 Speaker 3: it's important to understand this because it will give us

28:23 Speaker 3: these specific tools, Like you said to like basically what

28:26 Speaker 3: you were doing, you were rewriting.

28:30 Speaker 4: The thought patterns in your brain.

28:31 Speaker 3: You want to affirm for yourself that this is what

28:34 Speaker 3: I believe about myself, so that when the default belief

28:36 Speaker 3: that's already wired comes, you're able to have another resource

28:39 Speaker 3: and say no, no, no, no, no, that's not I might

28:42 Speaker 3: be thinking that I might have felt that in the past,

28:44 Speaker 3: but now this is what I want to believe about myself, right,

28:48 Speaker 3: And so it's important to do.

28:49 Speaker 4: That just to clarify.

28:50 Speaker 2: So the one that you talking about is to break

28:53 Speaker 2: those old patterns in your mind, right.

28:56 Speaker 3: Yes, yeah, okay, because thoughts can form strong and like

29:01 Speaker 3: you said, there are spiritual ways to battle that, and

29:04 Speaker 3: there's also.

29:07 Speaker 4: Evidence to prove that we can do that by.

29:09 Speaker 3: Taking small steps to to rewire, to renew on my

29:12 Speaker 3: Bible calls it renewing on my romans, and so yeah,

29:17 Speaker 3: that's okay. That's want me to get victory over these patterns,

29:21 Speaker 3: whether it's overthinking, whether it's resorting to sadness or different things.

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