Lesson for May 6, 2018

Today our lesson was taught by Natalie Wankier about “Christ-Centered Healing: How to Respond When Mental or Emotional Challenges Affect You or Those you Love.” Natalie began the lesson with a goal of presenting general information about mental and emotional challenges, especially anxiety and depression. Natalie said if we’re experiencing these problems, we are not alone and it’s common to experiences them at some time or other. She gave us some background on anxiety and depression and said to realize thee problems are on a scale from mild to severe, Nephi’s psalm is about Nephi’s emotional problems. Job and Christ were also brought up. People in the scriptures are no different than we are. Their problems have been around a long time and seemed to be severe to them and they were severe, but the ones who turned to God were helped. We might ask ourselves why we are feeling like that when other people are going through worse. But it’s important to validate our own emotions. Past trauma or abuse and past events or attitudes affect us. We have chemical imbalances, stress, disruption, beating ourselves up, not eating right, not sleeping, can all affect us negatively. By getting 30 minutes of exercise 3-5 times a week is the same as taking a low grade anti-depressant. There seems to be a direct correlation between physical and mental problems. Humans have an innate drive to heal. The healing process can be slowed down if here is debris embedded in a wound. Our brains try to heal us. Women often go back to abusive relationships. If they feel valued or able to renegotiate their relationships. There are things we can do to facilitate the growth we need and get a different perspective and know who we are. Elder Holland’s talk about “Like a Broken Vessel” with a lot of good advice. He tells us it is not shameful when we look for help. There are many resources to get help. Often the problem is genetic or medical, so it’s important to get the right diagnosis and the right medication. There is no need to carry this burden alone. Heavenly Father wants us to get this help. That’s why Elder Holland was inspired to give that talk. We shouldn’t think we must overcome this problem by ourselves. The gospel tells us we need to o what is needed to take care of our problems. Symptons can feel lighter if they are shared with an appropriate person, such as a professional. Mindfulness, being present, or coping strategies can be learned. Be open to our emotions teaching us. Acknowledge our feelings so we can know how to handle them. What works best for us is important. Knowing our own triggers can help us prepare for emotions we may experience. We can create emotional safety for ourselves and others by involving Christ in our healing process.