How this book is put together
This is a "Toolkit". Toolkits are designed especially for people struggling with mental health difficulties such as depression and anxiety. It is a well-known fact that mental conditions impacting ones thinking, emotions and behaviors also tend to make concentration more difficult.
That’s why it may be hard to listen to a whole sermon or speech for 45 minutes without wandering or being distracted. That’s why reading a full-length book may be cumbersome.
Since cognition is often adversely impacted by depression/anxiety this book is divided up into small segments with ample white space.
People with mental health conditions also may have their learning styles affected. A person that normally likes to digest information through listening, reading or doing something may find he combining all three of these styles to gain new insights from a book.
A left-brain person may regularly prefer logic and data presented in clear and concise manner but in the midst of a mental health difficulty may lean on the right side of his brain – abstraction and ideas.
This book is constructed with a variety of learning activities. You will be asked to read information and copy the questions down on a separate piece of paper, journal and/or 3x5 cards. The reflective questions will help you think meaningfully about how the material applies to your life.
Don’t skip any parts or assigned activities. Everything in this book has been put there for your overall benefit.
My Goal
My goal for you is that you would enjoy a closer relationship with God that would inspire you to the point where your thinking will begin to change. Your cognitions will be more In line with how God thinks about you. His truth is the foundation of the entire book
Of course you are probably reading this book now because you or someone you know has the desire to reduce symptoms of depression/anxiety. The principles and practices in this book are proven to help heal the unpleasant results of mental health difficulties. I have personally used most of these strategies in my recovery to optimize the potential God has blessed me with.
Why Listen To Me ?
Perhaps the greatest qualification I could have is that I am your peer. I have struggled with mental health difficulties as long as I can remember.
As a kid I suffered from various types of adjustment problems. In hindsight it can be determined that these were early symptoms of complicated anxiety and depressive conditions. In my youth I wondered why I was "different" than my friends and heroes (my dad being chief among those I idolized by was incapable of emulating.
I can remember seeking out professional counseling early in college. While I was stricken with milder forms of the disorders that hamper me today I managed to get good grades, become popular at school (elected as President of a 100 man fraternity and Homecoming King Runner-up on my campus of 20,000 students) and enjoy an active and rewarding social life.
God blessed those days with the beginning of a long-term relationship with my wife to be. She was the perfect woman to whom I was married for 22 years. We have been blessed with three wonderful children that remain a very close part of our lives.
In the decade that followed college I manage to not only secure my dream job but rise to the top of the company. By my late 20’s I provided leadership to 50 people.
Ironically I overcame intense fear and anxiety around speaking in public. My career required outstanding motivational teaching and sales skills. Despite paralyzing emotional difficulties I was often retained by Fortune 500 companies (over 200 organizations) to help maximize employee potential as training and consulting executive.
By my early thirties I was officially diagnosed with Panic Disorder and Syncope. I was started on psychiatric medication but most did little to help cure my episodes. However despite health difficulties God used me to become a leader in the church, grow a national ministry and lead a consulting firm. Annual career earnings rose to the top 2% of all workers.
Around the age of forty the diagnosis of Bipolar Disorder was given to me. This condition is marked by mood swings – ranging from deep depressive episodes to periods of unrealistic elation often referred to as mania. While this condition caused significant hardships that resulted in missing quite a bit of work I still managed to achieve the following
-ordination into the ministry
-licensed mental health counselor
-graduate school university professor
-published author
The next decade was significantly dotted with psychiatric hospitalizations (12 in a short period of time). I sought help from 20+ counselors and psychiatrists during this time. Moreover, they tried over 100 different medications (not to mention dose adjustments with each). I was deemed "treatment resistant".
Put simply this means that I didn’t respond as most people to the strategies that were employed. In addition to the traditional practices of the day I also underwent shock treatment and experimental infusions that had significant evidence in favor of their use. Neither helped. In fact ECT made matters much worse.
On top of my mental health diagnosis my doctors also found significant physical health conditions that have been proven to contribute to, cause and/or compound mental illness.. Over the years they found low thyroid, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, syncope (dizziness), ulcers and neurocognitive impairments (memory and executive thinking function). Most of these conditions were inherited but undiagnosed for most of my life.
Perhaps the most difficult symptoms I have continued to fight over the years are tied to the side effects of the medicines they tried. Because of the complexity of the issues I face there is not a great deal of research to date on what type of medicines and at what dosages are used to treat. I have experienced insomnia, GI problems, heavy sedation, and elevated levels of harmful bodily chemicals. I have even been hospitalized for allergic reactions to certain medications that the most experienced doctors could not figure out.
The aforementioned problems contributed to all sorts of challenges in living. I’ve experienced auto accidents, the loss of jobs, the loss of a marriage, an attempt at ending my own life, and a host of other nightmares I wont delineate here.
But what you need to know is that God has been with me the whole time. I have used much of the material in this book to live a successful life. So can you!