By: Caitlin Hayes
Mental health is a topic familiar to many of us. Maybe you yourself or someone you know deals with depression and/or anxiety. The more that life goes on, the more depression and anxiety seem to exist in people. It is important to remember that there are two classifications: clinical and situational.
Clinical depression/anxiety is when your brain chemistry is such that you physically and emotionally cannot control your depression/anxiety. This often requires medications and therapies to properly manage the condition.
Situational depression is when a certain situation in life produces a mindset of depression causing anxiety or nerves. The good thing is that there is an approach to combat this type of mental illness and it is so super easy! The one downfall to mental health is that it makes us focus on our problems and our lives and we tend to forget about others.
Someone once told me when I was in a time of deep situational depression that I needed to stop focusing on myself and look at how I could help others. It sounded harsh, but I knew the person telling me this truly cared about me and was not trying to minimize what I was going through. They were trying to help me realize that the world goes on and there are others around me in whom I needed to invest my time and energy.
I took this advice and started to looking for ways to help others. I found a few younger girls in my family and church to mentor and try to encourage. I began to volunteer more at church in the nursey and with the children.
Philippians 2:4 says, “Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.” (ESV). I encourage you to read all of Philippians 2. I challenge you, if you are struggling and cannot seem to get out of a rut, find places where you can serve and give your time. It will not take long for you to see an improvement!
Shine! 