This has been the buzz statement for the past several years. You hear about mental health concerns on the news, in social media outlets, at the workplace, in the schools, from your children, from friends, and lately, at church. The sad truth is that people struggling with mental health challenges is nothing new. People have struggled since the beginning of time but it hasn’t been until recently, that people have begun to voice their thoughts about the matter and about their own personal struggles. It seems as though, that long held shame and guilt causing people to stay quiet about this issue is losing it’s grip.
God has stepped into this season ready to shake up what has been suppressed for decades in the minds of those who are wounded. That which has been suppressed in the minds of those that He has called for great kingdom purpose in this season. God has allowed the uncertainty and fear that came with the recent Pandemic to shake and uncover hidden wounds with familiar remnants of uncertainly and fear. These wounds which the enemy has strategically used to bind in secret and prevent people who are called by God to walk in freedom and purpose. 1 Peter 5:8 tells us to be alert and of sober mind because our enemy, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. I believe strongly that the enemy has used the mind as a battle place for way too long and God is speaking to His children in this season saying “it’s time to be renewed.”
SO THIS IS A MENTAL HEALTH CHALLENGE
My name is Jeannette Alcantara and I am a Christian Licensed Mental Health Counselor and owner of a Christian mental health practice in Riverview Florida. Before I get into the nitty gritty about mental health in this blog series and pour out all that the Lord has laid on my heart for you, I would like to tell you a bit about my story and how I came to God through a mental health battle with anxiety and depression.
In my early 20s, I found myself dealing with elevated anxiety, to the point of having panic attacks. It started when half of my face became paralyzed at the age of 20 years old. It was the first moment I came to realize that anxiety had gotten a hold of me and I was struggling. It was a very scary experience and I couldn’t understand what was happening. I went into the emergency room and the doctor told me I had a temporary condition called “Bell’s Palsy.” A condition where my 7th cranial nerve was swollen, causing half my face to be paralyzed. They assured me that it would return to normal after a few weeks but additional tests were necessary to rule out a possible stroke. “20 years old… how in the world could something like this be happening to me.” This was all that I could say in that moment. The doctor kept asking me if I was stressed about anything or if I had recently dealt with an emotional or stressful event. Apparently, high levels of stress is linked to such condition. I knew I had been dealing with stress in a negative way so that conclusion made perfect sense to the reaction my body was having. Even though my face returned to normal after a few weeks, it was something I would never forget. Unfortunately, even though it was scary, I did not seek professional help to learn to manage stressors in a healthier way and I just kept juggling life as if I could handle the world all on my own.
A few years later at 24 years old, I, the girl who could typically take on the world, found herself drowning and while my legs kicked to try to stay above water with all of the demands of life, I was steadily going under. I was irritable, emotional, crying constantly, distant, pretending to be fine, angry with my husband, tired, and I felt completely empty. One day I found myself in the middle of a panic attack. It was actually the third panic attack within a two month period that I had experienced. After that incident, I realized that I couldn’t continue pretending that all was well and that I could handle this struggle on my own.
SO THIS IS GOD
There were two grand problems in my life at that time. One was that I had struggled with symptoms of elevated anxiety and depression since my early 20s and I had not addressed the issue properly. I had not sought out the professional help that I really needed to effectively cope and manage all that I was trying to handle at the time. The other grand problem was that I knew of God, but I did not know God. I grew up knowing about Jesus but I did not have a personal relationship with him. So when I found myself able to cross out massive life goals off of my “Life Dreams Checklist” but felt completely empty inside, unable to enjoy the blessings in my life, I knew something was seriously wrong.
Sometimes in life when you experience hurt and betrayal from people you love, it’s hard to open your heart and fully trust something that you don’t see or completely understand. I grew up knowing that Jesus was the son of God and that he died on the cross for me, but did I really believe it. Did I really believe that a great God would die on a cross for me, that I was worth such a sacrifice? Was I really that important? Believing in God’s existence was never the problem for me. The problem was that I did not believe He loved me.
HEALING AND WHOLENESS
In this very emotionally chaotic season of my life, I found myself seeking healing and wholeness. My greatest motivator was my children. I wanted to be at my best for them. I was now seeking greater purpose beyond a success checklist. I was seeking a me that could face past wounds and fully heal from them. A person that could learn to respond better emotionally and learn to have control when things seem to be out of control. I was seeking a me that didn’t depend on my own strength but could draw on something solid. I needed God in my life. I needed an authentic relationship with Jesus. I needed to understand and lean on the word of God. I needed connection through prayer and worship with the Holy Spirit. I needed to allow God to love me fully and unconditionally. I needed to not conform to the patterns of this world but be transformed by the renewing of my mind.
Thankfully I stopped allowing shame and fear to keep me from seeking professional counseling. I was able to receive help to heal from some emotional wounds that I had been carrying, learned strategies for managing stress in healthy ways, and processed some situations I was facing at work and at home. God allowed work to be done in me through the help of a professional mental health counselor and later, my husband and I found a Christian marriage counselor that helped us get through some struggles in our marriage. This help I received was life changing but above all, the greatest transformation in my life and health came from me giving my entire life over to Christ. I came into a relationship with my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and was born again. He not only redeemed me from my sin but God took the passion I had for helping the hurting and stirred a desire in me to help people overcome mental health struggles. I pursued a master’s degree in counseling and began leading others into healing and into an authentic relationship with Jesus. What the enemy meant to use to break me, destroy my family, and prevent me from fulfilling my call, the Lord used to reach me, redeem me, and launch me into ministry work.
GOD’S MESSAGE FOR YOU
I believe there are kingdom anointed sons and daughters who have been set apart for kingdom mission in this season who are struggling in their mind with childhood wounds, emotional chaos in their heart, and deep feelings of sorrow and sadness. God is saying no more. He is here and He is calling you into agreement that the time has come for you to come out of the pit where you have made your bed. In Jesus name, you will no longer be bound to mental battles and emotional chaos. He, our redeemer, is strengthening and equipping you and making a way for healing. He just needs you to step into position to receive.
“In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. 7 These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed” I Peter 1:6-7
Jeanette Alcantara, Christian Licensed Mental Health Counselor