Guest Posts

Hope for Troubled Minds: Living Our Wedding Vows by Janet Coburn

Born in Kentucky, Janet Coburn now lives in Ohio with her husband of 39 years, Dan Reily. She also lives with bipolar 2 disorder. Janet loves reading and country music. Dan loves gardening and archaeology. Together they love travel, science fiction, and cats (they have two at the moment, Toby and Dushenka). A graduate of Cornell University and the University of Dayton, Janet writes two blogs, bipolarme.blog and butidigress.blog, which she posts in every Sunday. She often contributes articles on mental health to The Mighty website. Janet has also written two books on bipolar disorder, Bipolar Me and Bipolar Us, which are based on her decades of experience with the disorder, and frequently answers questions about mental health on Quora. The man I married didn’t know I had bipolar disorder. To be fair, I didn’t know either. I was famously moody and given to what would now be called [...]

Hope for Troubled Minds: Living Our Wedding Vows by Janet Coburntonyroberts2024-08-26T13:03:26-04:00

Hope for Troubled Minds: Compassion Amid the Chaos

These letters are written by Vikki Plessinger. Vikki is Christian data clerk who hopes to retire in 7 months. She enjoys family vacations & get-togethers, gardening, fishing, hiking & puzzles. I am a mother of 2 children with brain illnesses. One is trying so desperately to save his life. The other seems determined to end hers. My son has a very rare, Central Neurocytoma tumor in the 3rd ventricle of his brain with malignancy. And my daughter has a 17-year drug addiction that has led to psychosis. We'll start with my son. My first-born baby. He had a fall and hit his head & his symptoms led to a CT scan which has led to 8 months of appointments, scans, diagnoses, surgeries & gamma knife radiation. He has lost cognitive abilities, memory, and well, a lot of his life. Justin, This current journey of ours is so very difficult. [...]

Hope for Troubled Minds: Compassion Amid the Chaostonyroberts2024-08-26T13:03:27-04:00

When the Waves of Trauma Come Crashing In by Laura Moseley

Laura Moseley is a single mother of three children, who survived 23+ years of sexual and domestic abuse. I formally work as a customer service rep for a social service organization, as I love helping people. DV advocate, in my "spare" time. I am a blogger, future podcaster, public speaker, and community activist. https://www.facebook.com/dvwalkingwounded https://dvwalkingwounded.wordpress.com/ I, after 23+ years of abuse within my life, would consider myself to have an “unofficial” doctorate in trauma, as I’ve used myself as a bizarre test subject for years -- but not intentionally. It’s more like sitting with my own pain and analyzing, now that I am no longer in active abuse. Trauma, as defined by Merriam-Webster’s dictionary, is “a disordered psychic or behavioral state resulting from severe mental or emotional stress or physical injury.” It derives from the Greek word for “wound,” which initially signified a physical wound, but can now be [...]

When the Waves of Trauma Come Crashing In by Laura Moseleytonyroberts2024-08-26T13:03:28-04:00

“Joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.” by Abigail C.

A baby born after a loss is referred to as a "rainbow baby," so we included this nod to our losses in my maternity photos. Photo credits: A.McGrath Photography “Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.” I have conflicting feelings about this verse (Romans 12:12), although it has been my favorite for as long as I can remember. For one thing, I fail at every part of it. On the other hand, it contains everything I need to survive even the depths of despair. I’m Abigail, and I am many things—a friend of Tony’s, a lifelong Christian, an occupational therapist, a mother of three, a wife, and hopefully a future entrepreneur (you know, in my free time). I have also struggled with an anxiety disorder since high school and more recently added PTSD to the mix. Quick background: I started having panic attacks [...]

“Joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.” by Abigail C.tonyroberts2024-08-26T13:03:28-04:00

A Woman Among Lions, Fighting for Faith and Family by Kirsten Panachyda

My guest blogger today is Kirsten Panachyda. Kirsten writes and speaks to infuse courage into the soul-weary. Her book Among Lions: Fighting for Faith and Finding Your Rest while Parenting a Child with Mental Illness is available now. Kirsten blogs at kirstenp.com. She and her husband Dan have two sons, and they are a roller-coaster-riding, travel-loving, blue-hair-dying family. Once again my night devolved into nightmares, restless dozing, and eventually, sleeplessness. I stayed in bed until I felt like I would explode if I didn't cry and then I crept downstairs. I shuffled into the kitchen, thinking maybe I could make a cup of herbal tea to soothe my tight throat and aching chest. I got as far as the stove, picked up the battered red kettle, and slid down to the floor. My kitchen floor was not something nice to sit on. When we bought the house in 1997, [...]

A Woman Among Lions, Fighting for Faith and Family by Kirsten Panachydatonyroberts2024-08-26T13:03:28-04:00

When the Planet Got Hit by a Bus: A Pastor’s Perspective on the Pandemic.

This week's guest post was written by Rev. George Love. George is a long-time friend of mine going back to seminary days. He is a husband, father and the pastor of Hebron Presbyterian Church in Shepherdsville, Kentucky. George appreciates the invitation to reflect on mental health in the context of our shared journey through the pandemic. A year or so ago the planet got hit by a bus. Everyone on the planet pretty much. Usually when someone gets hit by a bus, it’s just one person. Everyone else sees how monstrously awful it is that this happened and people who weren’t hit by the bus do all they can to come to the aid of the person who was hit. That’s not universally true, but in large part there is truth to it. So, the problem when everybody on the planet got hit by a bus was two-fold. [...]

When the Planet Got Hit by a Bus: A Pastor’s Perspective on the Pandemic.tonyroberts2024-08-26T13:03:29-04:00

The Pandemic and Bipolar Me by Janet Coburn

Our guest post today is written by Janet Coburn. Janet is a freelance writer/editor with bipolar disorder, type 2. She is the author of Bipolar Me and Bipolar Us, available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iTunes, and through other outlets. She writes about mental health issues such as talk therapy, medication, books, bullying, social aspects, and public policy, but mostly her own experiences with bipolar 2. As she always says, "I’m not an expert and YMMV – Your Mileage May Vary." I can’t say that the pandemic has had all that much effect on my life. After all, I have bipolar disorder and anxiety. It’s not like I ever left the house much anyway. This has given me the perfect opportunity to “cocoon” without stigma. Perhaps the major change is that I no longer feel comfortable going out to eat, which was one of my husband’s major method of [...]

The Pandemic and Bipolar Me by Janet Coburntonyroberts2024-08-26T13:03:29-04:00

Saints and Shadows by Les Rust

Leslie D. Rust is a Presbyterian pastor, writer, and blogger who has a keen interest in liturgy, monastic spirituality and the mysteries of faith. Having grown up in the mountains of east Tennessee he is an avid hiker, camper, and makes and hangs out in hammocks of his own creation. He is fond of music, mirth, and at least a little bit of mayhem. He can be found blogging at Character in the Making. characterinthemaking.com. The sun has made its way into my window this morning. It is a clear day with only a few high, thin clouds at the moment—warmer than it has been. Thankful for the sunlight on this new day. Before it rose I was chatting with a good friend who has a ministry dealing with faith and mental illness. He has had a hard time lately including a brief stay in the hospital to help [...]

Saints and Shadows by Les Rusttonyroberts2024-08-26T13:03:30-04:00

From One Generation to the Next by Lindsay & Landon McIntosh

I was raised in a loving Christian home. We went to church every Wednesday, and twice on Sunday. Youth group, choir, and bell choir were part of my life and I loved it…. socially that is…I never really dived into the Bible, I did not know all the books of the Bible, and I could not have quoted a verse if my life depended on it. Church was a safe place to go and have fun with friends. However, the older I got the more things began to change. I noticed that while my friends were still wanting to have fun and socialize, I wanted to listen to the sermon, and I wanted to learn about the Bible. So, I began to sit with some of the older kids, and my parents and really listened to the sermons. Throughout the next several years I worked on building my faith and [...]

From One Generation to the Next by Lindsay & Landon McIntoshtonyroberts2024-08-26T13:03:31-04:00

The Light at the End of the Tunnel by Kevin McDermott

Hi, My name is Kevin McDermott. I'm a firm believer in JESUS CHRIST LORD AND SAVIOUR and am seriously mentally ill. I'm diagnosed bipolar and schizophrenia. Here's my story. About 22 years ago before I was diagnosed with SMI, I left home to embark on a journey that would forever change my life. I had no money and only had the clothes on my back. I wanted to find my way to eternal life. Anyway on my walk I came upon a drainage tunnel which sits outside of Lincoln village apartments. I could walk through it but I had to hunch my back to do it, I walked about a mile and there was an adjoining drainage tunnel that I came to. My mind was racing and I thought of the movie Shawshank redemption where the main character (Andy) had crawled through a sewage of crap and came [...]

The Light at the End of the Tunnel by Kevin McDermotttonyroberts2024-08-26T13:03:31-04:00