What's Wrong With Me ??

As promised Counselor Yolanda Velez shared some of her expertise with us today.  She answers some of our questions like, "whats wrong with me? lol Its good to know that there can be other  explanations to our emotional state than; demons, sin, over reactions, too sensitive, etc. Riding on the topic of stress, depression and anxiety; she began by giving us an example of what the dangers of extreme "spirituality" can cause.  She quotes "I was helping a woman that expressed how depressed she was and how anxiety had over taken her heart.  She wanted to be a mother more than anything else in the world.  She was advised by spiritual leaders that if she really wanted a child she must fast and pray.  She was told that she didn’t have a baby because she needed “more faith” so then she got into a 40 day fast.  While under this 40 day fast, she suffered a chemical in-balance in which she ended up in a psychiatric hospital.  The sad thing was that when I saw her, it was well after a decade of the incident and she was still under the impression that she didn’t have her child due to her lack of faith and prayer.  When all along, her depression was due to a chemical imbalance in her body." I don't know about you, but that story sounds familiar to me, during my upbringing I recall many times when we were told to fast and pray for something that we simply needed to take action on. 

Mrs. Velez continues  by saying; 

" it is not always a spiritual thing!  There are times in our lives where we suffer from stress and anxiety because of a death of a love one, lost of employment, financial downfalls, health, and simple day to day issues that become hard to handle.  Which could cause depression and anxiety.  These are real problems and we must work with them.  In Proverbs 4:23 it says, “Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life”. 

I agree with this 100 percent, not only because Mrs. Velez is an expert, but because it's what I experienced for myself.    These matters of the mind can completely debilitate you to the point where you are not functional.  Therefore require immediate attention; if we are adamant about living a fruitful life.

 In her article Mrs. Velez provides us with some great tools to consider when going through depression, stress and anxiety. She quotes;

 "I do believe we must spiritually evaluate our lives.

This evaluation will help us put in perspective our life.  I recommend a check list. 

1. Prayer
2. Reading of the Word
3. Check if there is any sin evident in our life.
4. Begin a healthy eating habit
5. Begin a Exercise routine 
6. Meet with great people that will partner with you in prayer and will not leave you alone.
7. Fellowship with positive people (small groups)
8. Meet with a christian counselor

Steps that I recommend outside of the spiritual aspect:
1. See your Physician for advice (Advice him about your depression and anxiety)
2. Start seeing a mental health specialist

Just by taking a small dose of an anti-depressant will give you the energy to start living again. It may only be for a short period of time. But you will have energy to start working with the issues that overwhelm you. Please be careful on not becoming depended on this medication. It is only for a time, so that your emotional energy gets restored. God loves you so much, that He doesn’t want to see you in a depression that is not always a spiritual thing."

by: Yolanda Velez
Licensed Christian Counselor

I want to thank Mrs. Velez for taking the time to provide us with this necessary information.  When we know better, we do better.   What do I mean by this? that we no longer have an excuse to walk around feeling miserable and making others miserable. LOL 

Love you, thanks for reading.... please SHARE, you never know who may need to hear this. :)