Do You Suffer From Depression? St. Ignatius of Loyola Has Been There Too

[Michie]

St. Ignatius knew what it was to have a heart called by heaven and a mind trapped in sadness.


In a secluded cave, near the Catalonian town of Manresa, there was a man. The dancing candlelight pulsed over his clasped hands like a heartbeat. He stood uneven on his knees, for one leg had been rendered shorter from having been wounded in a battle.

“Lord, why is this happening?” he surely must have whispered while praying in that cave.

This praying man had converted recently, in the year of Our Lord 1521, while recovering from the wound that he’d received in battle. As penance he’d given his belongings away and hung his sword and dagger at Our Lady’s Altar in the town of Montserrat. He’d been living since like a holy fool by begging for his keep.

His conversion was genuine, and yet dark thoughts had consumed his mind in the days since, that his own mind had become his own demon. He’d been considering suicide, obsessively on some days, and only his fear of offending God had prevented him from plunging a dagger into his own wrist.

Continued below.
Do You Suffer From Depression? St. Ignatius of Loyola Has Been There Too

 

[friend of]

Do I suffer from Depression? Does living a life of constant anxiety count?

 

[Michie]

Do I suffer from Depression? Does living a life of constant anxiety count?

Most definitely.

 

[BrAndreyu]

My schizoaffective disorder is the depressive type, so I experience depression symptoms in addition to the disordered thinking, hallucinations, and paranoia/delusions.

What makes this interesting is in confession today, the priest said to me that I "do not accept myself" and that he wants me to read a biography of St. Ignatius because it would help me.

 

[Sword of the Lord]

My schizoaffective disorder is the depressive type, so I experience depression symptoms in addition to the disordered thinking, hallucinations, and paranoia/delusions.

What makes this interesting is in confession today, the priest said to me that I "do not accept myself" and that he wants me to read a biography of St. Ignatius because it would help me.

My dad is schizoaffective. It's tough. I'll pray for you.

I was diagnosed with Aspergers as an adult several years ago. I was still getting to know my dad and didn't know this about him, just that he was off and he blamed his brain tumors for everything (which he really has, all non cancerous and not really harmful, but needs meds, he says they've shrank a lot last time he went in). He finally opened up about the primary cause of his issues, which is the schizoaffective. Apparently my grandpa was schizoaffective too, but I never met him before he died; I've heard the "crazy" tales though.

A lot of what my dad says is a lot of what I struggle with. I've been wondering if I was misdiagnosed especially since I didn't have this knowledge of the family history back then.

Anyways didn't mean to make this about me, just that I get and I'll pray for you.

 

[Michie]

My dad is schizoaffective. It's tough. I'll pray for you.

I was diagnosed with Aspergers as an adult several years ago. I was still getting to know my dad and didn't know this about him, just that he was off and he blamed his brain tumors for everything (which he really has, all non cancerous and not really harmful, but needs meds, he says they've shrank a lot last time he went in). He finally opened up about the primary cause of his issues, which is the schizoaffective. Apparently my grandpa was schizoaffective too, but I never met him before he died; I've heard the "crazy" tales though.

A lot of what my dad says is a lot of what I struggle with. I've been wondering if I was misdiagnosed especially since I didn't have this knowledge of the family history back then.

Anyways didn't mean to make this about me, just that I get and I'll pray for you.

You are still in my prayers Space Monkey!

 

[BrAndreyu]

Anyways didn't mean to make this about me, just that I get and I'll pray for you.

You're fine, I'll pray for your dad too.

One of my favorite saints is St. Dymphna because she's the patroness of the mentally ill. I made an icon of her that I keep on my personal altar for that reason.

Schizoaffective disorder is often bizarre and disturbing. I am prone to paranoia & delusions, have disordered thinking, and even have auditory hallucinations (like the other night? I thought that someone was slamming the bedroom door repeatedly at 4am. Of course, I knew right away that since it was 4am, this was not the case and I just blew it off to the best of my ability, said a hail Mary and went back to sleep). I have what are called "fixed delusions" where I know that something might not be the case, but it feels very real to me. Often the fixed delusions are about government and government figures acting in a way that would be persecutory to me and others.

I'm pretty sure my dad is also schizoaffective, but he says that there's nothing wrong with him and that it's merely everyone else that is "jealous of him and out to tear him down". He also asks me to get him LSD and Psilocibin mushrooms almost every time I talk to him, and always wants to do drugs with me and drink, so I for that reason no longer talk to him anymore. It's a bummer because I used to want him to be involved with my life, but he's too difficult to deal with, so I had to scrape him off.