When you feel there is no hope….
You are not alone!
ARLENE’S TAKE ON DEPRESSION, ANXIETY, AND HOPE!!
Life is good right now for this inspiring author, but it hasn’t always been that way……and if you are experiencing depression, having anxiety attacks, or worse yet – suffered from a nervous breakdown or perhaps you feel you are headed for one – then this page is for you!
It’s been thirty five (35) years since I was where you may be today, but if I had known then, what I know now about fighting off the darkness that comes upon us out of what seems to be nowhere, my story may have been a lot different…….But then, I do believe that “everything happens for a reason” and now that the dark days are behind me, I have come to realize that perhaps all the pain and torment I suffered for almost 5 long years was not in vain. It was meant to help others today who feel the sun will never shine in their lives again. I can say this, because that is exactly how I was feeling too! Depression is a feeling of being so low in your life that nothing at all seems to matter. All you want to do is lie down, pull the covers over your head, and just make the world go away….. Yes, we hear people saying to us, “What is wrong with you? You have so much to live for, just snap out of it, and yada, yada, yada, on and on”. They mean well, I’m sure – but unless you walk in another person’s shoes, you just have no idea of what this debilitating illness is really all about.
I want those of you who are battling this illness to know that you are not alone, and it is nothing to be ashamed about. I can tell you that now, because when I was going through the dark clouds in my life all those years ago, depression and anxiety disorders were not openly talked about. Back in the day, this was more of a “taboo” subject and you were made to feel weak. I believe it was embarrassing for the family to admit to others that their loved one was going through this incapacitating state of mind.
Fast forward to today, you must believe and know that you are not alone – God is with you always! Just as HE is not the cause of your illness, nor will God abandon you going through your hard times either. You are reading this right now for a reason and I just feel that reason has been God-Driven as well. Think about it. You need to know that there is HOPE when you believe and there definitely is a blue sky beneath the dark clouds of your life right now. I couldn’t see it when I was going through the fog of my breakdown. I had tried 3 suicide attempts and went through 7 shock treatments before I experienced a miraculous healing in 1980. God did what the doctors couldn’t do. God will help you too. Read about my testimony in “Signs from God” and you will believe too!
My daughter and I feel we are on this journey and mission together to spread God’s word. You are welcome to share your stories on our blog page or contact me directly for open (or) private discussions on depression, anxiety, but most of all the HOPE that God heals the hurting and hears our prayers, always!