We have interviewed 18 people who have overcome struggles with the help of religion. These stories show that religion and faith are some of the most powerful ways to overcome struggles of mental health.
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I’ve interviewed 18 people who have been helped by religion, and here are the top 5 struggles that these people have overcome:
In our many years of publishing helpful mental health content, we always received questions from our readers about specific situations. While we have a lot of helpful tips to share on how to be happier, we simply can’t offer advice for every situation.
That’s why I’ve set out to interview folks with every type of mental health struggle. My job as an interviewer is to categorize these interviews and present them in a way that is most helpful to our readers.
“Healing just doesn’t come without suffering. When I failed for the first time academically, it hurt. I cried… a lot. And was down for a while until I felt I needed to know myself better. I started meditating and thinking about who I am. What’s my purpose? What am I doing with my life?”
Struggled with:
Anxiety
Childhood trauma
Helped by:
Meditation
Religion
Self-improvement
“I skidded on my face and tore ligaments in my knee and shoulder. Other injuries include several broken bones in my pelvis and my skull had a fracture from my hairline to the top of my head. It took several stitches to close up a head wound. I sustained a contrecoup head injury.”
“At my darkest point, I attempted to take my own life. When I went to commit the act, I heard an audible voice say, “If you do this you will kill your mom of a broken heart.” It was as if a lightning bolt stuck through my entire body and jolted me out of a longtime trance.”
Struggled with:
Depression
Divorce
Helped by:
Religion
“Being a drug dealer and thinking I would be dead in a matter of months from my infectious diseases caused me to become really sloppy. This led to a S.W.A.T. raid on my apartment which led to me becoming homeless. Everyone around me thought it was only the drugs that impacted me.”
Struggled with:
Addiction
Depression
Hate
Homelessnesss
“I started to experience an anxiety disorder, an eating disorder (I lost around 10 kg), depression, trust issues, and other mental problems as well. I was becoming this person that I didn’t recognize anymore, all while drifting away from being the person I wanted to be.”
Struggled with:
Anxiety
Breakup
Eating disorder
“After a lengthy battle with cancer, my journey was made even more difficult by the added stress of acid reflux and esophageal achalasia. Three months went by in which I had to struggle through each day just to keep down any food that entered my system at all.”
Struggled with:
Anxiety
Cancer
Depression
“My symptoms began immediately following a workplace shooting on Saturday, November 28, 2015, and were exasperated due to the activity of the company, the criminals, and the cops. The company treated me as if I were a criminal, the criminals attempted to kill me three additional times, and the cops (Houston Police Department Organized Crime Unit) treated me as if I was a thorn in their flesh.”
Struggled with:
Depression
Insomnia
PTSD
Stress
Helped by:
Exercise
Religion
Treatment
Volunteering
“I used to have a mindset of: “poor me” – “I’m just a victim” and “none of this is my fault”. Eventually, I knew I had to change that narrative to one of control. I had to take accountability for the things that I could change, and be honest about the things I was doing that were making everything worse.”
“A man spiked my drink and assaulted me, leading to a diagnosis of PTSD and depression. This event fundamentally changed my life, leading me into a violent relationship and a period of repression and struggle. Despite these challenges, life moved on. I got married, and had two beautiful boys, but then faced another intense period of grief, losing seven loved ones in just a few months.”
Struggled with:
Abuse
Assault
Depression
Grief
PTSD
“There were constant thoughts that I wasn’t good enough. If my own parents could leave me, and I wasn’t enough for them to stay and want to be part of my life, despite all my great accomplishments, anyone can and will.”
Struggled with:
Anger
Childhood trauma
Self-sabotage
Suicidal