You Can Find Peace amid Mental Health Trials

God cares about our mental health, and he hopes that through these trials we will choose to lean on him and trust in his healing process.

Facing unrelenting fear can be destructive. When I was diagnosed with generalized anxiety disorder, I experienced days where I couldn’t function emotionally or physically. I had to remove myself many times from social functions, school responsibilities, and church meetings. I felt so alone. Then, I made a choice that changed my life: I decided to put God first and trust that Jesus Christ could give me strength.

The strength and support that the Savior offers is available to everyone. In the Liahona, the article “Finding Help for Mental Health Struggles” features an anonymous author’s account of his or her personal experience with mental health. The article teaches that you shouldn’t be ashamed to ask for help. Mental health is not a weakness; it is a real condition that needs to be treated. 

Our Savior knows those truths, and he stands with open arms, hoping to help us heal. “Even if many people around me don’t understand mental health challenges, the Savior does,” the author says. Our mental health trials can bring us closer to Heavenly Father and his son Jesus Christ, and we will discover that we can overcome any obstacle with their help. The restraining bonds we feel will break, and we will experience peace.

I was able to experience peace by relying on Jesus Christ as I contemplated serving a mission. While I wanted to serve a mission, I was also concerned about my mental health. I feared that I was wasting my time by preparing because I would probably end up back home a month or two later. However, as I prayed and studied the scriptures every morning on my mission, my mind and body were strengthened. I still experienced anxiety attacks, but the suffocating and debilitating emotions I had felt before weren’t as extreme. By putting God first in my life, he became the anchor I needed.

In John 14:27, the Lord says, “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” Since my mission, I have practiced giving my trials to the Lord through study and prayer. My anxiety hasn’t gone away, but I’ve learned that I’m not alone. We can find hope in the Savior, and he will make our burdens light if we let him.

Check out “Finding Help for Mental Health Struggles” in the Liahona to discover the peace and hope that is always available to you through Jesus Christ.  

Source: Liahona 

—Haley Roper, Latter-day Saint Insights

FEATURE IMAGE BY ANDREW NEEL

Find more insights 

Read Elder Jeffrey R. Holland’s general conference talk “Like a Broken Vessel” to learn more about the peace that comes through giving our trials to the Lord.

Learn more about caring for your mental health by reading Michael Gardner‘s article “A 3-Step Guide to Maintaining Your Mental Health.”