Don’t let yourself be dragged down by your thoughts. Don’t let yourself get on the treadmill of blame and shame. Don’t let yourself be valued as others see you and don’t take on board all their neurosis. As sufferers we suppose that we are different and that other people are “normal.” This is an unhelpful view of ourselves that sets us apart and makes us feel isolated. We suffer because we are bearing the blame for things that are not necessarily our fault. The burdens we bear as sufferers is great and God does not give us burdens we cannot bear, but provides a way of escape for us so that we can learn to cope with our thoughts and feelings. We feel deeply and so are easily offended. People set us up for failure but we must not walk in that way. 

In all the wandering of our thoughts we have a sure foundation in God.

“All the way my Saviour leads me, what have I to ask beside. Can I doubt His tender mercy who through life has been my guide?”

These words by Fanny Crosby ring true for every child of God. God will not burden us with what what we cannot bear and will sustain us in all our wrestlings and striving. 

In the midst of our life we must look to our Lord and God and not to those around us. Another person cannot enter another’s mind and decipher the thoughts there. We must examine ourselves and find the root of the problem and deal with it. We can depend too closely on those around us and forget the Lord. To beat the depression or manic state, we must look to the Scripture for sustenance and wisdom.  It is found in our own mind if we are honest enough to face up to it and apply the promises of God which are ever sure. We gain confidence day by day as we learn to cope and ignore the feelings that make us anxious and learn that we can do things even in anxiety and overcome. As we overcome our feelings so this dissipates the anxiety and our feelings subside. We build the confidence as we face one day at a time. 

It is easy and often that we might feel reticent to face the day, but as we take one task at a time and work through the day with some discipline, we end the day glad and with a sense of achievement. It is good to have a page-a-day-to-view diary that we can write in our tasks and tick them off as we complete them. It helps us to be accountable to our own mind. 

Don’t be disheartened but remember that God has His hand on your life and can guide you day by day to get out of the maze of thoughts and emotions. God made us and made us well, even if we get a bit ill now and again, it does not define us. God will build you up and help you to minister to those around you.