“Saying Goodbye to Stigma”: As Christians, we believe it’s time to open up a healthy conversation around Mental Health. Often, as believers, the idea of struggling with, talking about, or even acknowledging issues related to our mental well-being can be disregarded.

Charmain, from our CBN UK Team, has written a devotional testimony to help engage you in questions surrounding faith and mental health. We have been praying that this will be a tool to encourage you in your own journey or perhaps help resource you as you walk alongside someone you know facing the same struggles. 

Day One – My Story: Part 1 

Psalm 23:4 – Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.  

Mental health. 

What a subject to explore, especially as a follower of Jesus. 

If you or someone you know and love has ever struggled with their mental health, please keep reading. More than that, please finish this devotional. I hope that, by the end of it, you will have discovered that mental health – and more specifically, mental illness – are not things to be ashamed of, nor are they something to keep hidden in the shadows. 

Firstly, I’d like to introduce myself – hi, I’m Charmain – and a little bit of the journey that I have been on. My hope is that this will add credit to my thoughts and writings, but also let you know that you are not alone.  

So, my first experience with mental health – and illness. 

Where The Story Begins…

My first brush with mental illness developed when I was 19 years old.  

My maternal grandmother passed away and it hit me hard. She had helped to raise me as my mother battled her own struggle with mental illness and she had a huge impact on my young life. 

The loss of my grandmother was more than I could bear and, in the midst of the first year of my degree studies, I began to crumble. 

I was finding it hard to get out of bed, to motivate myself to get to rehearsals and classes and generally to take care of myself and my pursuit of further education.  

A Trip To The Doctor

After much deliberation and many tears, I decided to take a trip to the doctors to see if they could help. 

From memory, they had me fill in a questionnaire, I assume to gauge where I was emotionally and mentally in life at that point in time. 

I answered as honestly as I could bear to and, lo and behold, by the time my questionnaire had been reviewed, I had been diagnosed with depression. I was given a course of medication and advised to take them daily for the foreseeable future.  

This is part one of my story, come back tomorrow for part two where I will unpack how my diagnosis of Depression took an unexpected turn.