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Hi there. Welcome to the mental refuge podcast. I'm your host. My name is Angela McDonald. I want to introduce myself and tell you what you can expect to gain from this brand new mental health podcast. You're probably thinking to yourself. Uh, another podcast related to mental health. Come on now, to me there seems like there's a lot out there and I personally haven't come across one like this one in. I'm excited for you to listen. I run a website called the mental refuge where I talk about my own personal struggles with mental health. And I try to help others in their mental health journey as well. This podcast will be a mixture of storytelling from my own personal battle with mental illness. Along with some useful tips that I have found helpful over the years, you might be like me. I am a wife and I'm a mom of two. And I'm a Christian who has a major mental illness. I first struggled with depression back in 2013, and I was later diagnosed with bipolar disorder type one, catastrophic anxiety and PTSD. I know what chaos feels like. I know what it's like to feel alone and isolated. And I feel like there's no one out there who struggles. Like I do. I know what it's like to feel unloved or even unworthy. I know what it's like lying in bed for two hours after waking up, just to have the strength and energy to take a shower and to get on with my day. And even question what I'm even living for. I know what it's like wanting to take my own life. Over and over and over again. I also know what it's like to have a manic episode and to get two hours sleep at night only to wake up and not be able to shut off my mind because my thoughts are absolutely racing out of control. I know what all these feel like, and I'm betting you do too. But I also know this part of my recovery journey includes my faith. And Psalm 34 18 tells us God is close to the brokenhearted and he saves those who are crushed in spirit. You see if I have learned anything over the past few years, it is that God is in the details, especially when it comes to our mental health. He is our ultimate refuge and the one who we can always go to. Now. The mental refuge is a community where we can learn about each other and learn how to tackle mental illness head on here. We will encourage each other. We will lift each other up and we will remind each other that we are not alone in this world. This is a safe place. This is a refuge. Whether you are. Brand new diagnosed, or you've been seeing a therapist or a psychiatrist for 30 years. I don't care whether you have anxiety, depression. Bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, Schizoaffective disorder, whatever it may be. Or if you're just listening to this hoping and praying that you can help someone else, maybe there's somebody in your family, this dealing with one of those things. There's something for all of us here. So don't you think for one second that I don't have your back because I did. So, let me tell you what this podcast is not because this is not like any other mental health podcast out there. This is not a replacement for therapy or medication. You still need those things to thrive and to even function on a daily basis. This is not a place of condemnation or judgment. This is not a place where you will feel alone. We are all in this together. And this is definitely not a place where I will tell you to just pray about it and your depression will go away. Unfortunately, I have come across way too many podcasts where experts are telling us to just pray about it. And our depression will just go away. If you have a major mental illness, you know that while God can do anything more than likely, he's not going to take this away from us. This is our life. This is our struggle, and it's not going anywhere. And we need help in order to fully move forward and live. I think it's time to break down the social stereotypes and start coming clean about our struggles and our triumphs. We as Christians, especially as Christian moms, we need to talk about our struggles with others. We have to talk about the fact that sometimes life sucks and we might not want to be a mom anymore. Or that we don't even want to live anymore. A lot of us are so ashamed of how we feel, but you know, what. Every single time I bring it, my thoughts to different therapists over the years, they always tell me the same thing. You are not alone. There are so many of you out there. One of my favorite quotes is when we share a vulnerable stories and breakthroughs, they can help create a bridge for another person to cross. So basically the more we are open and honest with ourselves and we open up to others, the more we can heal together. Mental illness. Doesn't have to be a life sentence where we are bound by chains and we struggle just to even live. We can get through it together, hand in hate. Let's have a real talk for a second. I want you to know that if you have a mental illness, You can live a happy and successful life. If you are a Christian who has a mental illness, you can live a happy and successful life. And if you are a Christian who is a mom who has a mental illness, you can have a happy and successful life and even thrive in life. I know that that thought might seem so far off from now, but I promise you better days are coming. Just you wait and see. With that being said, I want you guys to help encourage me as well. I need just as much help out there as anyone else does. I'll be the first to admit that I don't have it all figured out. I still struggle. A lot. There will forever be times where I will fall into a deep, dark depressive episode. That will be so hard to climb out of. So I'm going to need you to remind me, so send me a message. And remind me that I can climb out of that pit and that you'll be right there with me to deal. Okay. So some personal facts about me. So I've been married to my best friend, TJ for 10 years, 10 and a half years now, I think, um, we've been together for 15. And like I said earlier, we have two kids, a nine year old boy and we have a seven year old girl and we live in North Carolina. And I can't forget about our dog. Benny Benny is an English Cocker spaniel, and we call him our little wiggle butt because he's just so incredibly happy and he shakes his little butt so much. It's adorable. Um, as far as my career goes, how I even got to this point in my life. So I started out college is undecided and I switched over to elementary education and then English education and then interior design. Before I settled into merchandising, I've always wanted to open a retail store, but it actually ended up working in accounting for 10 years. And then it became a stay-at-home mom for close to a year and a half. And Jerry, my time at home, I really focused on my recovery. And I actually decided to become certified as a peer support specialist. So right now, Um, working as a peer support specialist at a local mental health rehabilitation center, I've been doing that for the past year and a half. I work part-time. And in case you don't know, because I didn't know until a few years ago, a peer support specialist basically works with someone, either one-on-one or in a group setting someone who also has a mental illness and I can help them with their personal goals. So, like I said earlier, not only will I be sharing my personal story of mental illness, but I can share with you some of the coping tools that I use on myself and that I've also taught others. And lastly being a person of faith, you've probably picked up on it by now, but I believe that Jesus. Therapy and medication can coincide and I hope you do too. So be on the look out for weekly episodes and feel free to join in on the discussions held as well. Also, feel free to jump on over to my website@thementalrefuge.com and check out some of the posts I have on there. I truly hope this podcast brings some sort of light into your life where you can feel encouraged and less alone. I'll talk to you soon.