I've been kicking around the idea of writing something about mental health for almost a year now, but always found some excuse not to. "It's not the right time." "What I have to say is insignificant." And so on. All of those reasons may still ring true. Nevertheless, I find myself at a point where this post feels necessary. Plus, November is when advocates for mental health and suicide prevention make a push for awareness. (I appreciate that designated awareness days/weeks/months can feel manufactured and thus … [Read more...] about Science Corner: My Mental Health Story
depression
Gratefulness and the (No Longer) New Graduate Student
Dear (No Longer) New Graduate Student, You have responded and poked at my parting words from my most recent letter. How in the world, you ask, could you be expected to be grateful for the illness-inducing amount of stress and expectations that graduate school is presently forcing upon you? … [Read more...] about Gratefulness and the (No Longer) New Graduate Student
Dear (No Longer) New Graduate Student
Dear (No Longer) New Graduate Student, I pray that you've seen Jesus show up in the ways we knew He would since I last wrote. I wish I could hear in detail all the ways He's surprised you, the times He's stood by you and refused to leave you alone in the library, lab, office, and/or classroom when you wanted to give up. … [Read more...] about Dear (No Longer) New Graduate Student
Trouble in Mind: Attending to the Interplay of Mind and Body in Treating Depression
Psalm 139:13-14 (NASB): For You formed my inward parts; You wove me in my mother's womb. I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; wonderful are Your works, and my soul knows it very well. Trouble in mind, I'm blue But I won't be blue always 'Cause I know the sun's gonna shine in my back door someday (composed by Richard M. Jones and first recorded in 1924) … [Read more...] about Trouble in Mind: Attending to the Interplay of Mind and Body in Treating Depression
Navigating the Rapids: When it Doesn’t Go as You Expect, Part 1 (Scholar’s Compass)
’but tragedy, even in everyday life, can be a form of valuable restructuring. It is painful and in some ways destructive, but it also puts things in a new order. -- Thomas Moore, Care of the Soul, p. 101 (Harper Perennial, 1992) … [Read more...] about Navigating the Rapids: When it Doesn’t Go as You Expect, Part 1 (Scholar’s Compass)