My Support Team

I’ve heard a lot of crazy stuff over the years when it comes to mental illness. I’ve been accused of being possessed by demons. I’ve been told I was being oppressed by demons. I’ve been told I was faking it for attention. I’ve been told to just get over it. I’ve been told I was becoming the things I was studying because I was a psychology major and struggling with mental illness. I've been told I was overreacting. I’ve heard a whole lot of craziness, but thankfully God has put some wonderful people in my life that have been willing to set me straight when I have been told some of the craziness that I have been told over the years. And I want to tell you about some of these people.

The first one I want to tell you about is my lovely psychiatrist. She has been with me from the beginning. I can remember my first meeting with her. I didn’t know her from a hole in the ground and there I was sitting there, unsure of how to express myself about mental illness to a mental health professional. I am a Christian and I didn’t know anything about her. I remember saying something about God and she interrupted me immediately and told me that she was a believer too. That woman has been a God sent from the beginning. I have moved away a few times and had to see different physicians and no one compares to her. She is a God fearing woman and you can tell. She is not afraid to stop and pray with me when we are about to make yet ANOTHER medication change or when I am having a particularly difficult time. Medication changes have not always been the easiest things for me…and she can tell you about it, so her being willing to stop and bring God into the room is a really amazing thing to have in a physician. More times than not a medication change has ended me in the hospital. But even though I have been in the hospital seven times she hasn’t given up on me and I know she won’t. I love this woman and I would recommend her to anyone who needs help with their mental health. She’s awesome!

Another person that was a great asset in my life was my old therapist. I remember the first time I met him too. I was petrified of him. I’m not going to go into the reasons why…but basically for the first three months’ worth of sessions with him I was terrified of him. But he stuck with me and I stuck with him and he turned out to be the best therapist I ever had. He would put up with me when I had been furious with him and had cussed him out. He has put up with me threatening to punch him in the face when he challenged me to an uncomfortable level that I just didn’t want to hear. And he would laugh with me when I would make inappropriate jokes. He would wait patiently for me to calm down and come back to reality after flashbacks. And sometimes he would just have to sit there in the beginning in absolute silence, for a long time, while I sat there in a dissociative state. He has to be one of the most patient men I have ever had the pleasure of meeting. And a man of God at that too! There are probably hundreds of reasons why he was a great therapist but these are just a few. I truly miss him and he will not be easily replaced.

And yet someone else that cannot go unmentioned is my best friend…she knows who she is. I cannot count how many times she has just sat with me when I needed a friend. She knows not to ask questions because she knows that if I want to talk about it, then I will talk. I can text her “I need a friend,” and if she can get to me, then she will. If she can’t then she will do her best to have an encouraging text conversation with me. She will remind me that I am stronger than I think I am. She will tell me that things aren’t as bad as I am making them out to be in my head. She will do her best to help me. She is truly a wise woman and I am blessed to have her in my life.

And I can’t forget my mother. I know she’s reading this and she’s thinking about all of her mistakes she has made over the years and I want her to know that I don’t think about all that. I think about watching TV with her. And our late night talks and time spent together; going out to lunch and getting pedicures with her. My mom is there for me when so many people haven’t been. She’s not perfect, but to me that’s what makes her perfect. Sure she’s made mistakes but she’s learned from them and seeing her learn from her mistakes has taught me to learn from my mistakes too. She teaches me to grow as a person as she grows as a person. She loves God with all her heart. I love seeing her worship and hearing her pray. I love seeing her heart for God. In so many ways she is my role model. She has taught me to love God not for what He can do for me, but simply because He is God! I love my momma and I’m grateful she’s in my life.

There have been a lot of people over the years that have helped me through my struggles with mental illness and to name them all would make a ridiculously long post so I’m just choosing to name the four that have made the biggest impact on me thus far. My psychiatrist that has stood beside me and taught me that God and psychiatry can go together…my old therapist, a Godly role model, that taught me so many things that I can’t possible name them all here…my best friend has been beside me since the first grade, and my mother that is a strong woman of God I can look up to, and has been since as long as I've been alive. I love all of these people dearly.

Love, Randi