Anxiety over anxiety

[michaeldimmickjr]

I have been struggling with anxiety for a long time now. Since grade school. Only a couple years ago did I begin to take medication for it. While I was a protestant, I always hear people say, "trust God to heal you!", "You don't need medicine, you only need Jesus!" I stopped taking my medications so I could fully rely on God, and trust Jesus. I prayed all the time for Him to heal me. I went almost a year without taking anything, claiming I've been "healed." My anxiety has slowly but surely come back. I went to the doctors today and got new prescriptions for anti-anxiety medication. I can't help but to feel so overwhelmingly guilty though. Am I wrong to get back on medication? Should I only trust in God? At the same time I feel that my protestant upbringing is what is causing me to feel so guilty. I would truely appreciate any advice/stories. I'm sure I'm not the only one who has felt this way, especially I'm sure a lot of you are protestant converts. Thank you so very much in advance for taking the time to read this.

In IC XC,

Michael

 

[Photini]

Trust in God and take your medicine. Pray and learn in time to trust Him fully (that's for all of us). . And talk to your priest.

 

[choirfiend]

Trust in God to heal us, yes, but understand that He also uses the hands and feet of us His servants to do His will. Do we sit around waiting for Him to feed the poor, or do we understand that we are to be His hands on earth and feed the poor...Do we sit around, waiting for Him to miraculously heal us (I am the last worthy of such a miracle) or do we ask for His strength in overcoming every adverse work of the devil but take the healing medicine supplied to us by the doctors who are His healing Hands on earth...He can and does heal us all the time, and sometimes He uses others to do so. He uses the fruit of the earth as heavenly food for our souls and bodies (through communion) and He can use the fruit of the earth (medicines and doctors) to heal us through the medical arts. He heals us just as surely either way.

 

[g4goddess]

i take anti anxiety meds too so I know how you feel.

But doctors are put here on earth because God called them and so If your doctor feels you need to be on medication, please don't feel guilty. Its ok to take them, there's nothing wrong with taking it if you need to.

take care

 

[kamikat]

I may have attended a non-denom church, but never aquired that mindset. I have struggled with anxiety and depression most of my life. At one point, I was even a house-bound agoraphobic, due to anxiety attacks. Mental illness is just that, an illness. Would you hesitate to take insulin if you had diabetes or blood pressure meds if you have high blood pressure? Your brain is an organ, just like your heart or pancreas. I recommend that you take the meds, get better, THEN begin searching for causes. If you haven't had goal-oriented therapy, try to find a therapist that exposes you gradually, in a controlled manner, to your triggers. Another thing to look into is food allergies or sensativites. In my case, once I removed wheat, dairy and soy, all of my mental illness symptoms disappreared. My older son has classic ADHD symptoms when exposed to certain food colorings. I highly recommend researching these things and trying an elimination diet to see if you have any sensativies. There are also some natural remedies that I've heard can help.
kamikat

 

[michaeldimmickjr]

Thank you very much everyone.

In IC XC,

Michael

 

[Marjorie]

There's a Jewish story that I *think* I read in the Talmud, of one man who said to a rabbi that there should be no doctors, because God is our healer and to trust in doctors is to not trust in God... the rabbi said, "interesting!" and went away... later he came by the man and saw him farming, and said, "what are you doing? God is our provider, how can you farm?"...

God's miracles are true, and His healing power is indisputable, but one of His greatest miracles is giving what is essentially nothing (human nature) the ability to cure diseases... and God is always the source of Life, through whatever method.

In IC XC,
Marjorie