3 Things to Do When You Feel Like You're on the Verge of a Crisis

  In a nutshell: 

• I’ve had seasons of both emotional and mental health crises. 
• I experienced an emotional breakdown that lasted three years and a mental health battle that lasted 7 months. 
• We are interconnected; spirit, soul, and body. Each one affects the other. 
• Warfare is normal but it is not should not be a lifestyle. 
• If you don’t sleep, your brain doesn’t have time to recover. 
• It is important to begin to picture the good that God has for you in place of the lies that fill your mind. 
• When you are depressed, often the things you need to do are the very things you don’t want to do. 
• It is important to empathize with someone that is depressed or anxious.
• When someone is depressed they need to be encouraged to stay motivated. 

3 PRACTICAL WAYS TO FIGHT DEPRESSION

The challenge is, when you are struggling with depression, the things you need to do in order to get well are often the very things you do not want to do. However, I’d propose that it’s possible that the lack of desire to take care of yourself is the very thing that is keeping you trapped in a box of depression and chained to anxiety . Sometimes finding a breakthrough from depression may not be as simple as going for one walk or eating a nutritious meal, but rather a persistent process of loving yourself well over months. It is an intentional decision to tend to the needs of your whole personhood-your body, soul, and spirit. 

I want to share some practical advice on how to take action and find the weapons to win the war in your mind. I know the thought of doing anything can feel absolutely impossible—at least it did to me! 

1. Go to the doctor. 

It is important to see a medical health professional and have a complete physical and blood work done that includes a hormone test. It is critical to know if the chemicals in your brain are unbalanced or malfunctioning in order to receive proper help. This is one of the first steps to a breakthrough. Sometimes, you need medication for a period of time to get the help you need; there is no shame in this. I think of it like this: if you had diabetes we would not just tell you to just spend some more time in prayer instead of taking the insulin that your body needs (unless of course, you are healed). In the same way, if your brain needs certain chemicals to function properly it is important to make sure you take them. 

2. Read books.

Having a better understanding of brain chemistry and how your brain works is extremely insightful. This is what inspired me to reach out to a doctor and find the help I needed. I highly recommend From Panic to Power: Proven Techniques to Calm Your Anxieties, Conquer Your Fears, and Put You in Control of Your Life by Lucinda Bassett and Who Switched My Brain Off? Controlling Toxic Thoughts and Emotions by Dr. Caroline Leaf. 

3. Take care of your body.

Sleep is where your brain recovers. If you go too long without enough sleep, it begins to stop working properly. Once you get enough sleep, you’ll begin to be able to differentiate which thought is your own and which is from the enemy. It is also very important to eat properly and exercise even if you don’t feel like it initially. Lastly, make sure to spend time in sunlight to increase your serotonin levels.

I want to encourage you if you are struggling with a mental health struggle, and you cannot see how this will ever possibly end, that in Luke 6:21 it says, “Blessed are you who hunger now, for you will be satisfied. Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh.” This too shall pass!

Lastly, if you know of someone that is struggling with their emotional or mental health make it your mission to love them well. Sometimes this might need to be tough love. This could look like making them come on a walk with you even when that is the last thing they want to do or cooking them a meal and making sure they eat it. Most importantly, it is about being a voice of hope, reminding them this too shall pass. 

What are things you find helpful if you are feeling depressed? I would love to hear your testimony of overcoming any mental health battle in the comments below.