July 27, 2021
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On Finding a Potential Spouse
Because my dad was verbally abusive and emotionally distant when I was growing up, I find it difficult to trust men.
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January 17, 2021
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On Choosing Whom to Live With
I have thought for a long time now that people considering an intimate relationship with someone should ask that individual for character references.
December 2, 2020
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About Mental Illnesses and Moral Judgements
God has allowed people to develop mental illnesses for the same reason some people have heart disease or cerebral palsy; it’s a consequence of original sin, and nothing they did.
November 16, 2020
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Thoughts on Attributing Genuine Spiritual Experiences to Demons
As I read through the book Finding Jesus in the Storm, I come across parts that are emotionally difficult to deal with. They’re difficult because they make me angry.
November 2, 2020
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A Participant's Reflection on the 2020 Disability Concerns Leadership Training
For a congregation to show agility in accommodating their congregants with disabilities means they cannot continue to do things the way they always did.
October 28, 2020
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My Cousin Élise
Élise was a bright young woman who developed paranoid psychosis at roughly the same age as I did my schizophrenia—around mid-twenties to early thirties. The two illnesses are related. They are both psychotic.
July 13, 2020
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On Hatred and Mental Illness
Since his behavior was not normal, some people assumed that it must have been mental illness.
June 2, 2020
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Some Thoughts on Risk-Taking
In an episode of North Woods Law, Fish and Game wardens and volunteers carried a girl who had broken her ankle down a mountain in the rain. My roommate commented on the danger of hiking in the rain.
April 23, 2020
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Some Thoughts on Governments’ Responses to COVID-19
A few years ago my sister bought a board game titled Pandemic. Every time we played, we lost. We used to think we were doing something wrong. Now I think it's the nature of the beast.
April 9, 2020
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On Managing Stress During a Pandemic When You Have a Mental Illness
Many people who read my blogs know that I live with schizophrenia, and that on the whole I’m doing pretty well, but last night a number of factors caused me to feel angst about the current situation.
February 24, 2020
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On Psychosomatic Disorders
Many people assume that when we say a disease has a psychosomatic cause, it means the disease is imaginary. Not so.
December 11, 2019
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Trial and Error: A Way of Life
Finding the right medications has taken decades for Michèle Gyselinck.
December 9, 2019
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Remembering the Polytechnique Massacre
December 6th, 2019 marked the 30th anniversary of a mass-shooting in Montreal. We take time to remember the event and those who lost their lives.
November 25, 2019
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A Modern Twist on Daniel and the Lion's Den
Who needs protection in our current world? This story reminds us about the global crisis of child marriages and the need to continue to work towards a safe world, free from abuse.
August 29, 2019
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On Pain and Lament
As many people who experience suffering from mental illnesses know, this affliction often causes extreme psychological and emotional anguish. I’ve personally found my most meaningful Scripture text in Lamentations.
May 21, 2019
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When Supreme Court Justices Have Mental Health Struggles
One question that came in challenged the judge’s ability to do his job because of his illnesses. This challenge is based on the assumption that mental illnesses affect an individual’s intelligence and judgment.
April 14, 2019
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Why We Must Talk About Suicide
I was heartbroken this morning when I heard that a 17-year-old young man took his own life. Please, please don't miss this opportunity to start a conversation on suicide today.
February 13, 2019
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On Pinning Blame and Human Nature
People try to pin the blame for egregious deeds onto people with mental illnesses or anyone with whom they can’t relate as humans, because this blaming distances them psychologically and emotionally from evil.
January 29, 2019
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On Schizophrenia and the Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde Phenomenon
I hope that reading this will help people to better understand what schizophrenia is and how it affects those who suffer from it.
January 15, 2019
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On Crosses and “Why Me?”
For a long time I struggled with the notion that as followers of Christ we should be glad to suffer, even if the troubles we get are not necessarily persecutions per se.
December 6, 2018
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On Mental Illnesses and Head Knowledge
Many people in the CRC complain that our denomination tends to favor head knowledge at the expense of the heart. But for people who live with mental illnesses, basing our faith on knowledge acts as an anchor against raging emotions.
October 12, 2017
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On the Paradoxes of Poverty
As I lay in bed, I thought about a discussion I had with a sister in the faith that highlighted just one of many paradoxes of poverty.
February 9, 2017
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On Living With Disabilities and Poverty
I think we should work harder at advocating a decent standard of living for people living with disabilities. Living in poverty places undue burdens on already vulnerable souls.
May 22, 2015
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On Chronically Normal People
The media compound problems by reporting in minute detail whenever a person with a mental illness attacks someone who is presumed to be sane. The same media don't say a word when the opposite happens...