Why Support Groups Are Superior To Therapy Groups

 

As some of you may know already, I enjoy going to two support groups here in Toledo, Ohio. These support groups are called Schizophrenia Anonymous (SA) and Bipolar/Depression Alliance. I really do enjoy these groups because they really help me a lot in understanding my Schizophrenia and Bipolar disorders. What some of you may not know about me is that before I found these two support groups, I was attending therapy groups. I did not receive the kind of help in these therapy groups as I have found in the support groups that I currently attend. You may be wondering what the difference is between a support group and a therapy group. After all, aren't both groups aimed at helping people? In this blog, I shall talk about the similarities between support groups and therapy groups, but then I shall give reasons why I believe support groups are much more beneficial than therapy groups. I fully admit that this blog will definitely opinion-bases and thus what I talk about will be based on my own subjective opinion. I realize that some people would find more help from a therapy group rather than a support group. I will respect those people's feelings and opinions on the matter. However, this blog will not be written for those people. I am all for people doing whatever they want that will beneficial for their own mental well-being, as long as it is ethical and legal. Anyways, for those of you who are not familiar with what support groups and therapy groups, I will now explain them. 

Therapy Groups: 

According to The National Library of Medicine, 

"Group therapy is the treatment of multiple patients at once by one or more healthcare professionals. This approach can be used to treat a variety of conditions, including, but not limited to, trauma, anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. This activity describes the principles of group therapy and enhances the knowledge and tools of interprofessional team members in facilitating effective group sessions"

In a nutshell, therapy groups are areas where individual patients, or clients, are taught and led from a licensed psychotherapists. These psychotherapists tend to have a lot of book knowledge concerning different mental health disorders, and may even specialize in certain individual disorders. As a result, these individual therapists are capable of teaching their patients how they are able to cope with their mental health symptoms. You may be wondering just how successful are therapy groups, right? Well, According to the American Psychological Association (APA), 

"But group therapy is as effective as individual therapy for a wide range of symptoms and conditions, and it is more efficient, allowing a single therapist to reach many people at once. In many cases, groups can be even more effective than individual therapy, thanks to the stigma reduction and solidarity that people experience in the presence of their peers"


Pros For Therapy Groups: 

1. One can obtain knowledge for their own mental health disorder from a professional
2. One can be surrounded by "like-minded" individuals 
3. One can learn therapeutic skills to learn how to manage their symptoms           

Support Groups: 

If you think that support groups aren't any different from therapy groups, you would be mistaken. According to the Mayo Clinic, 

"Support groups bring together people who are going through or have gone through similar experiences. For example, a support group may connect people with cancer, heart disease or diabetes. Or it may bring together those with alcohol, drug or tobacco addiction. Support groups also can be for people dealing with grief, or for caregivers of people with cancer or dementia. Support groups may even be specific to a person's age, sex or beliefs" 

Basically, support groups are groups are for people who are struggling with similar difficulties. For example, in my SA group, we all have struggles with Schizophrenia, and thus we have a proper understanding of what each person is going through. While mental disorders affect each person differently, it is very comforting to see other people dealing with the same struggles as other people in the group. Support groups are even run by group leaders who struggle with the same addictions, mental disorders, and/or anything else. 

You may be wondering just how successful support groups are, right? Well, according to Google AI Overview (you determine for yourself as to whether this is a credible source), 

"Support groups are highly effective at reducing isolation, boosting emotional resilience, and improving coping strategies, though their clinical impact varies depending on the specific condition. Research shows they often match individual or group therapy in lowering stigma and providing a strong sense of community, while functioning best as a complement to—rather than a replacement for—professional medical or mental health"

Pros For Support Groups:

1.  One can be surrounded with likeminded people who are experiencing similar struggles 
2. The group leader is someone dealing with the same struggle, so they can understand what the person attending the group is currently experiencing 
3. One can be given the proper coping skills that will truly work because the group leader will know what works as someone who deals with same struggle. 

Now, you may be wondering why I personally prefer to attend a support group over a therapy group. Well, there are actually quite a few reasons why I have found more help from the support groups that I attend. I will list them below, but keep in mind this will not be an exhaustive list. There are actually many reasons, but for the sake of this blog, I will keep it short. 

Focus On Everyone: 

What I mean by this is because I have noticed in so-called "therapy groups" the focus tends to be on person every week. I know this is not the intent on the therapists part. The therapist may have every intention on helping each person in the group, but usually what ends up happening is that one person will talk about something that happened to them earlier in the week. As a result, the whole group session turns into a session about that person alone. In a support group, everyone has equal time to talk about their struggles throughout the week and no one person can monopolize on the time. Everyone in the support group has a common understanding of one another and therefore, the focus can be on everyone else equally. 

Leader Is More Than A Professional 

I have noticed that support group leaders tend to have actual life experience with certain disorders as opposed to therapists who merely have book knowledge. I have written elsewhere of how life experience is superior to mere book knowledge, so I won't rehash my reasoning for that in this blog. Instead, I will share the link to that blog here: Lived Experience V.S. Book Knowledge. I am not saying that a mental health professional cannot offer any help whatsoever. Mental health professionals can help to a certain extent, but an actual peer supporter, who deals with similar issues, can be of much more help and support. 

Therapy Groups Tend To Be Pagan 

I have noticed that secular therapy groups tend to teach their clients antibiblical pagan concepts. For example, the practice of so-called "Mindfulness" is a pagan exercise that is heavily pushed by many mental health professionals. The word of God does not teach meditation via the process of "emptying one's mind". Instead, we are called to fill our minds up with His word, literally the exact opposite of what the world teaches us. I know there are support groups that secularized by paganism too, but I have found out about Christian supports groups that exist, such as Grief Share and others too. I have yet to find therapy groups led by Christian therapists, but even if there are some, I wouldn't trust that those therapists would actually promote Christianity or merely psychologized "Christianity". 

I sincerely hope that this blog helps you better understand the difference between therapy groups and support groups. Whichever group you choose to attend, I hope the group proves to be a real blessing in your life. Please feel free to post your personal experiences you have had with these two groups in the comment section below. Thank you very much for taking the time to read my blog and may the grace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ richly bless you all!

-David Lee Chu Sarchet 
Christian Mental Health Advocate 

Check out the CCMH Ministry Website

Life Update 08/16/2026

 As you can most likely tell, I have been missing in action lately. I have not been posting blogs or videos in a long while. There are reasons for this too. The purpose of this blog is to give you all an update about how I currently am doing. Do not worry, I am perfectly fine! No aliens secretly have kidnapped me and put a probe in me! I just have had a lot on my plate currently and there are only so many hours in one day. I find myself scrambling just so I am able to get some of the things that I want done. I know that you all are wondering when I will get back to posting blogs and videos more frequently again and by God's grace it will be soon. I just need to figure out how to cram everything into one 24-hour period. I will be splitting this blog into four sections for my life update: Physical, Spiritual, Emotional, and Future. As you read what I have to say in these four categories, please think about how you can help me with either correction or encouragement. I want you all hold me accountable in the areas that I need to be held accountable and encourage me in all the areas that I need to be held accountable. Also, as you read this blog, please see this as an invitation to know what to be in prayer for me.  As the scripture says, "As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another". This blog is an open invitation for you to sharpen me as I walk with the Lord. 

Physical 

I have recently decided that I need to quit smoking, yet again. I say "again" because last year I went without smoking for three straight months without a single cigarette, but then for reasons unknown I ended up smoking again. I am really ashamed of myself for falling back into smoking again. However, recently the Lord placed it on my heart to quit again, but this time for good. God revealed to me how cigarettes are not doing anything for me, but they are literally burning a hole in my pocket. I do admit that I genuinely enjoy smoking, so when I am not smoking I feel like I am missing a close friend. However, that "Close friendship" is best described as Stockholm Syndrome! I must confess that this time around I went about five days without smoking, but then this morning I ended up buying a pack right before I went to work. I decided to pick myself back up and trust the Lord to guide me as I start my journey over. I know that I am not condemned by God and that He loves me with an undying love. Not only that, but God is sovereign and in complete control. As a result, this setback is not catching Him by surprise. He will get me out of this addiction and I will be able to bring Him glory and honor. 

Also, I have currently been on a slew of psychiatric medications to help my Schizoaffective disorder. For those of you not familiar with psychology, Schizoaffective disorder is basically Schizophrenia and a mood disorder, such as Bipolar or Depression. In my case, I have Schizophrenia and Bipolar type 1. This means that in between my mood swings I can experience periods of psychosis, where I can get delusional or see and hear things that are not there in reality. The medication that I currently on are Zyprexa, Trilyptal, Seroquel, and Lamictal. These medication seem to be helping me out tremendously with very minimal side effects. The only significant side effect is my memory loss but I am not entirely sure where that is coming from. Does this mean that my medications have completely wiped out, or "cured", my mental illness? Not at all! I still struggle with my mood swings and psychosis, but they are much more manageable because of my medication. For that reason alone, I praise the Lord for His sovereign care. 

Spiritual 

As for my spiritual side, I have notice that lately I have gone back and forth from being "on fire" for God and being too complacently.  What exactly do I mean by this? Well, first off, on most days I absolutely love studying the Word and studying His Word. I feel closest to Christ when I am digging deeper into His word, regardless of whether I am reading straight from the Bible or when I am studying theology that points me to God. However, I do admit that I have been studying theology far more than I have been studying His word. I know it should not be that way. I should literally thirst for His word just as if I was stranded in the desert and I desperately need water. Unfortunately, I have failed in this endeavor too many times for me to count. 

Emotional 

My emotions have pretty much been stable. Sometimes I am not sure if they are too stable, however. I say this because sometimes my emotions feel stagnant. I remember years ago I was on a certain medication that caused me to feel a "flat affect" where I did not think I could ever get angry or happy! I do not think that is what is going on now, though. The reason I say this is because while my emptions feel suppressed to a certain extent, I can still feel my emotions. When I am sad, I truly am sad. When I am angry or happy, I will be angry or happy in that moment. I fully understand why I need my medication and I know that I most likely need them for the rest of my life and I am truly fine with that too. However, I long for the day when either the Lord comes here or I go to Him because then I will truly be free.



Future 

I do not think I eve spoke in depth about what I foresee in the future. Well, I am currently taking courses in Nouthetic counseling (aka Biblical Counseling), and I really am excelling in these courses, by God's grace. I know that this is complete 180 degrees from what I used to say against Biblical counseling. However, I now understand that I was in the wrong. Biblical counseling is the most effective way of addresses man's deepest need because it cuts straight to our hearts in order to expose our wickedness. Biblical counseling points people to the Savior who died and rose again for His elect individual. Jesus is our only hope in this life and the next. Right now, I am taking an online course for the Christian Counseling and Education Forum (CCEF). Once I get my certification, then my pastor is going to help m enroll in the ACBC so that I can get trained and get a deeper education in the field. I would love to become a biblical counselor one day, Lord willing. 

As for the future of the CCMH ministry, I want to keep doing the interviews, but I need people to reach out to me. If you are a Christian who suffers from mental illness, please email me at christcenteredmentalhealth@gmail.com or call/text me at 567-343-3727 Also, if you are a mental health professional, secular or Christian, who would like to be interviewed, please feel free to contact me by the same method. I also would love to see the CCMH ministry branch off of the internet. I would love to see the CCMH ministry be able to open up a local Christian-based mental health recovery and peer support community center someday in the future. I would love to see this come to fruition even if it happens right before I breathe my last breath. 

I would like to thank you for being willing to take the time to read this blog and if you have any prayer requests for me, please feel free to post them in the comments below. We should be in prayer for one another because we are all one in the body of Christ. Have a blessed day and go out and serve your King! 

-David Lee Chu Sarchet 
Christian Mental Health Advocate 

Check out the CCMH Ministry Website

Check out the latest CCMH interview w/ Samantha Black

Are You A Mary Or Martha In The Body of Christ?

 

I recently had a very interesting conversation with one of my brothers-in-law about working for God or resting in His sovereign rule. As a result, I immediately thought of Mary and Martha. For those of you who do not know who Mary and Martha are, they are literally the sisters of Lazarus, the man whom Jesus raised from the dead. I believe that in the universal Church, there are many "Marys" and there are many "Marthas" too. What I mean by this is that there are Christians who believe that they must do more work for God, while there are those Christians who believe they need to just rest in Christ. Don't get me wrong, I do believe in the value of hard work. Currently, I have been working tirelessly toward getting my Biblical Counseling certification, leading Bible studies, and I have even earned my Mental Health First Aid certificate. So, please do not mistake this blog as me promoting slothfulness. I am aware that as Christians, we should work with our hands diligently as we glorify God with what we do and with what He has given us. The purpose of this blog is to discuss how simply resting in Christ and learning from Him is more beneficial than trying to work for our salvation. I will base my blog on Luke 10:38-42, and I will give three reasons to support my thesis. In case you are not familiar with Luke 10:38-42, it says the following, 

"Now, as they went on their way, he entered a certain village, where a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home. She had a sister named Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet and listened to what he was saying. But Martha was distracted by her many tasks; so she came to him and asked, 'Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to do all the work by myself? Tell her then to help me". But the Lord answered her, 'Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things; there is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken from her." 

As we can see from this text that Martha was "distracted" by her many works, while Mary was content to simply sit and listen to Jesus. I believe that Martha was an archetype of many Christians today because so many of us seem to have become distracted by "many things". These things may be good things, such as ministry work, charity work, and any other humanitarian work. However, when we start to focus on these things as a way to earn God's favor (which I believe many sincere Christians do), then these works become idolatrous. Another thing we see from this text is that Mary was spoken highly of by the Lord Himself. Jesus literally said that we really need "one thing". What was that "one thing"? Well, when we turn to Matthew 4:1-4, we read the following, 

"Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. He fasted forty days and forty nights, and afterwards he was famished. The tempter came and said to him, 'If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become bread. ' But he answered, 'It is written, One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God. 

Reason #1 

What do you think of when you read this verse? When I read this, I understand that man was not meant to work ourselves into the ground. We need more than merely working for bread. No, we need to listen to "every word that comes from the mouth of God". Learning from Jesus is the true bread that we all need in this life and the next. This is why Jesus told Martha that she chose what was the better thing. You see, Mary understood that she needed to actually hear from Jesus more than she needed to do work for Jesus. This is why Jesus showed her great favor. So many Christians out there feel that if they are not doing more for Jesus that they are being "slothful". Trust me, I completely understand this because when I feel like I am taking too long a break from my work, I tend to feel very guilty because I am being "slothful". However, in those times when we are feeling that way, we should draw closer to Jesus so that we can learn from Him concerning what He wants us to do. I believe that God puts us in what would seem to be "slothful" seasons in our lives because He wants us to take the time to really learn what we need to learn from Him. The Christian faith is not always about "Do Do Do" but instead it is about "Learn, Live, Learn" 

Reason #2

When Mary was content with sitting at our Lord's feet, she was showing true humility because she realized that she did not have it all figured out. Mary knew that she needed to depend on Christ. We all should be like Mary because we are all finite and frail human beings who are prone to sin. You see, Martha was guilty of the sin of pride. Martha believed that if she did enough work for Christ, then He would approve of her because He was pleased by her performance. However, this was not the case. In reality, Jesus favored Mary for her humility, while He reprimanded Martha for her pride in looking down on her sister. How many Marthas do you know in the Bride who look down on the Marys in the Bride? I am pretty sure that there are more Marthas than we care to believe there are. 

Reason #3

This story of Mary and Martha should show us that we are all equal before God. Sure, I said that there are many Marthas and Marys in the Bride of Christ, but I do not believe that all Christians are either Mary or Martha all the time. As we read in Romans 3, none are good because we have all fallen astray, so this means that any of us can fall into the Mary or Martha category at any given time. I know that in my own personal life, I tend to sometimes be a Mary (where I am content with merely learning from Jesus), and there are times when I am a Martha (where I feel like I need to constantly do more for Jesus).  So, the "Mary and Martha" paradigm I am using is more of a spectrum than it is a categorical system. I cannot stress enough that any one of us can fall into the Mary or Martha categories at any given time. When we feel we are more like Mary, it is because the Lord has us there so we can learn from Him. When we fall into the Martha category, we need to analyze our own hearts so we can see what our underlying motives are for doing the work we are doing. 

I hope that this blog has helped you better understand the Mary and Martha spectrum. Are you constantly working to obtain favor from the Lord? Or are you resting in His sovereign care? Or, are you right in the middle of the spectrum? Regardless of where you are, I do not cast judgment upon you. I understand what it is like to be a Martha because when I was younger in the faith, I felt like I had to always "do more". After all, I was afraid of becoming too "slothful". Back then, I did not trust God for His sovereign care, so I felt like I had to manipulate people and circumstances to be in my favor. However, as a more mature Christian who now understands and trusts in God's sovereignty, I realize that I can be more like Mary by resting and learning from Him. Thank you very much for taking the time to read my blog, and I'd like to know what you all think. So, please feel free to leave me a comment below and share this blog with someone who you think needs this message. May the grace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ richly bless you all! 

-David Lee Chu Sarchet 
Christian Mental Health Advocate 

Check out the Christ-Centered Mental Health Ministry Website

Why Reading Books Are Good For Your Mental Health

 

Many of you already know that I am an avid reader of many books. Honestly, I have had a love for the written word ever since elementary school. I remember reading the Animorphs series in third grade. Also, my mother used to have me write letters to my sisters every week. This instilled in me a love for writing. It distresses me immensely that reading and writing seem to have fallen into disrepute. I believe that most of the issues that have led to the ignorance in society stem from the fact that people have given up on reading. There are far too many people who are glued to their screens, either playing video games or watching movies. To be clear, I am not saying that there is inherently anything wrong with playing video games or watching movies. I really do enjoy doing both of these activities. I believe that both of these activities can be beneficial. However, I do find it distressing how so many people in today's time seem to become addicted to being in front of screens. I would love to see people grow a love for reading books again. That is why I decided to write this blog. The purpose of this blog is to discuss the benefits of reading good books. As the great Reformed Baptist Charles Spurgeon once said, 

"Read many books but live in the Bible" 

As you can see, the Prince of Preachers acknowledged that we should be avid readers. I think he even realized that there are benefits to reading. I do acknowledge that he said that we should "live in the Bible," and I agree that the Bible should be the most important book we should read. However, that does not mean we are to throw out any book that is not the Bible. As a matter of fact, I would say that if we do that, we are, in essence, going against biblical teaching. Now, you are probably wondering how I can say that, right? Well, when we turn to Ephesians 4:11-13, we read the following, 

"The gifts he gave were that some would be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for the building up the Body of Christ, until all of us come to unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to maturity, to the measure of the full stature of Christ" 

As you can see from this text, Paul is telling us that the Lord has given us "pastors and teachers" as gifts to the Church in order to "build up the Body of Christ". I believe that this text could apply to books that various teachers have written. Does this mean that we can trust any and all books? Heavens no! We all need to be good Bereans and make sure all teachings line up with the Word of God. As long as we have good discernment, then we do not need to read many great books. Anyway, I will now go into the benefits of reading on mental health. I will separate these benefits into four categories: Critical Thinking Skills, Decreases Memory Loss, Distraction, and Stress Reduction. I know that there are many other benefits, but these are the main benefits that I'd like to cover for the sake of this blog. If you can think of any other benefits, please let me know in the comments below. 

Critical Thinking Skills 

I believe that when you are an avid reader, it really does sharpen your thinking skills. This is why there has been such a huge push to have people read less and to be glued to screens instead. As long as we do not read for ourselves, we will always be at the mercy of those who want to control us. When we take the time to really develop our reading skills, then our cognitive abilities will be strengthened, and we are less likely to be taken advantage of. One of my favorite movies is a movie called Idiocracy. The reason why I like that movie so much is that it shows where our country is heading if we continue letting books go. So many people, Christians included, are too eager to allow others to do their thinking for them. I find this to be tragic. As an old pastor of mine used to say, 

"You do not know what you truly believe until you have studied the very best arguments against what you currently believe." 

What he means by this is that for you to develop your critical thinking skills, you must be willing to do proper studying. If you are not content with just believing what you are told (even if it comes from an authority figure), then you should be willing to study all the different angles surrounding a certain topic. I believe that that is the only way to have a well-rounded belief system. 

Decreases Memory Loss 

This goes right along with the Critical Thinking Skills, but it is slightly different. Studies have shown that when people engage in reading activities, their memory loss declines by 32% and when people do not engage in reading activities, their memory loss declines by 48%. This is clear evidence that reading books strengthens your memory. I am not saying that if you read, then you will develop a photographic memory right away. However, by engaging in the act of reading, your memory muscle will become stronger. I use the metaphor of working out. When you work out, you cannot just start with a 500 lb weight set right away. No, you have to start by lifting 10 lbs and then 15 lbs and so on. Developing your memory muscle works the same way. You may not be able to read a full-fledged novel right away, but instead you may want to start by reading one paragraph, and then once you have that down, you move to the next paragraph. Sure, that method will probably get you through a book slower than average, but your mind will be satisfied. 

Distraction 

Now, this is one of my favorite things about reading. As most of you may know about me is I love reading books on theology, philosophy, and psychology. However, what most of you may not know about me is that I love reading a good fiction book as well. The reason why I love reading fiction books is that it is a great way for me to temporarily escape from the real world by going into a fantasy world. Currently, I am reading a book called Batman: Resurrection. I love how when I am stressed about something, I can pick up my Batman novel and just read that as a distraction from whatever is ailing my mind. I will forewarn you that this can be detrimental if you engage in it too much. Distraction skills must be utilized sparingly. It is good for us to distract ourselves from reality temporarily, but eventually we must come back to reality. 

Stress Reduction 

This skill goes right along with Distraction because when we read to distract our minds, it really does cause us to become less stressed. As a matter of fact, Dr. David Lewis tells us that when we read as little as six minutes a day, it can reduce stress by 60% by reducing heart rate, easing muscle tension, and altering our state of mind. This means that when you read when you are stressed out about something, the very act of reading will cause you to relax. I find it remarkable that Dr. David Lewis says that all we need to do is read for a mere six minutes! Since this is the case, imagine how relaxed people in our country would be if only we brought back reading for people. 

I hope that this blog helps you better understand why reading books can and will benefit your mental health. I know that reading for some of you is difficult, but I'd like to challenge you to just pick up a book, any book, and read for six minutes a day and let's see how you feel after about a month or two. I would be willing to bet that your cognitive functioning will increase and you will find yourself to be much more relaxed, too. Thank you for taking the time to read my blog, and I hope this encourages you to read more. May the grace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ richly bless you all! 

-David Lee Chu Sarchet 
Christian Mental Health Advocate 

Check out the Christ-Centered Mental Health Ministry Website





 

My Journey Towards Writing A Fiction Novel (Part 1)

 

Most of you already think of me as a Mental Health Advocate who runs a full-time mental health ministry, who has written some books on faith and mental health for the sole purpose of reaching out to people who suffer from mental illnesses while educating Christians who do not properly understand mental illness. Most of my work until now has been serious work, but what you may not know about me is that I am a lover of a good fictional story. As a matter of fact, I really love superhero stories, especially when they pertain to Batman lore. Well, I'd like to introduce you to a new novel idea that I have decided to write. It has nothing to do with mental health, so this will be a challenge, but I am up for the challenge. The purpose of this blog is to give you a brief synopsis of what this story will be about without giving you any spoilers. In future posts, I will be documenting my journey. The reason why I want to do this because I believe that fiction stories can be good for mental health. I say this because sometimes it is good to get away from all the seriousness of life and just jump right into a different world. I know this from personal experience because in my life, it has helped me to get away from real-life drama. I suggest that this tactic should be utilized sparingly because it can cause you to lose track of reality if used too much. I will now proceed to tell you more about my story idea. But first, I'd like to give you the back story to how I came up with this idea, and I even want to explain the character biographies, too. 

It all started when I was a teenager in juvenile detention. I have always had a dark viewpoint in life. Well, during some of the darkest times in my life, I decided that I wanted to create a character who was an unbeatable villain.  The reason for this was that I was tired of seeing bad guys in movies always losing to the good guys. Yeah, I know that may sound like a horrible perspective because who seriously desires to see the bad guys win? Well, as a troubled young teen, I honestly did want to see that because at the time I was a little "antichrist" who thought I could beat God Himself, even though I believed that the devil was foolish for thinking that same thing! So, at this point in my life, I came up with an unbeatable foe that would utterly annihilate any good guy that comes across his path. His name is Dark Crow. However, I eventually scrapped the idea after becoming a Christian because I believed the idea was too dark for a Christian. After all, shouldn't we be about joy and peace instead of dark and dreary? However, in recent years, I have decided to revive my Dark Crow character, who is still very much unbeatable, but this time, there will be a heroine who will fight against him. Her name is Jessica Johnson. I will now get into their character bios. 

Character Biographies: 

Dark Crow

Age:37 

Ethnicity: African-American 

Powers: teleportation, telekinesis, superspeed, energy absorption, master of all martial arts, telepathy, reality changer, morph, soul-snatcher, mind control, immortal, and indestructible 

Weakness: being separated from his staff 

Purpose: Take over the world and make it submit to Satan 

Jessica Johnson AKA White Ninja 

Age:36 

Ethnicity: Asian-American 

Abilities: Master Martial Artist, agility, perfect aim with a golden faith gun,  and genius-level intellect 

Weakness: Overly Emotional 

Purpose: Save her husband 

Synopsis 

Jason Johnson is a rising lawyer who started his own law firm, Johnson & Johnson. His firm is such a success that his wife, Jessica Johnson, can retire from being the CEO of a Fortune 500 corporation to just be a housewife who takes care of their young son. Everything seems great until one day the devil sends an evil spirit to possess Jason and make him into his devilish servant. As a result of what the devil has done, God recruits Jessica to become a heavenly warrior called the White Ninja. As the White Ninja, she is to go to war with the intention of freeing her husband from the spirit of the Dark Crow. Can Jessica succeed in freeing her husband, or will she just become another victim of the devil? 

Thank you for taking the time to read this blog, and I hope that it has generated interest in you to want to read my novel. Please pray for me as I work on this, too. May the grace of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ richly bless you all!

-David Lee Chu Sarchet 
Christian Mental Health Advocate 

Check out the Christ-Centered Mental Health Ministry Website

How To Honor Your Father & Mother When They Are Toxic

 

"Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the Lord your God is giving you"

As some of you may know that I did not have the model parents. My mother was a chronic schizophrenic who refused to treat her mental illness. As a result, my mother has caused a lot of drama in my life, but I never stopped loving her because I know that she couldn't help herself. As for my father, I suspect that he is a chronic narcissist who is a pathological liar, too. It is for this reason that my relationship with my father is virtually non-existent. Every time I would attempt to have a relationship with him, he would always become disrespectful by either starting arguments with me or by insulting my faith in Christ. However, I do understand that as a Christian man, I am obligated to honor my father and mother. The Scripture above commands us to do so. It does not say that we should only honor the parents who were good to us, but instead it just tells us to honor them regardless of whether or not they deserve to be treated. I know that this is difficult to do, especially when we do not have good parents. As you can tell, the Scripture above belongs to the Ten Commandments, not "Ten Suggestions", and it is the only commandment that has a reward attached to it. I believe that the promise means that if we honor our parents, even when they do not deserve our honor, God will bless our lives. Trust me, I know that this is difficult, and this is why I decided to write this blog. The purpose of my writing this blog is to help you better understand how you can honor your parents, even if they are toxic. Now, I am not saying that you need to bring your toxic parent back into your life. As a matter of fact, I will argue that you can honor your parents from a distance without even talking to them again. As you read this blog, please think about what I am saying and try to think of how you can apply what I am saying to your daily lives. For the sake of this blog, I will focus on three ways that you can follow the command to honor your toxic parent(s), but there are many other ways, though. If you can think of other ways, please feel free to comment below. The three ways you can honor your toxic parent(s) are the following: 

1) Never Say Anything Negative About Them 

2) Always Pray For Them 

3) Don't Allow Yourself To Be Consumed With Anger Toward Them 

As I said earlier, these are not the only ways you can honor your toxic parent(s). I will now elaborate on each of these points. 

Never Say Anything Negative About Them 

When we turn to Proverbs 15:1, we read the following, 

"A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger" 

Believe it or not, how you speak about your parent(s) can be dishonoring to them. I am not saying that you cannot report when they mistreat you, but it does mean that you should never say anything slanderous about them. For example, I may have had bad experiences with my father, but you will never hear or read anything where I have said that "my father is a moron," or that "my father is an idiot," or any other variation. The reason I will never say anything demeaning about my father is that, as a Christian, I believe it is my ultimate duty to represent Jesus Christ accurately to the unbelieving world. I know unbelievers can have toxic parent(s), and so I need to show them what it looks like to show their poisonous parent(s) honor and respect. It is part of my testimony to an unbelieving world that needs to see an accurate representation of Jesus, who prayed to the Father while He was on the cross to forgive His enemies. I would like to add that if you are merely reporting to someone what your toxic parent(s) have done to you, then that does not count as speaking slanderously of them. If you need to let someone know what they have done to you, then do not feel guilty about it, as long as you do not speak a word of slander against them. 

Always Pray For Them

If we turn to 1 Timothy 2:1-3, we read the following, 

"Therefore, I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved, and to come to the knowledge of the truth." 

Now, I know that this is one of the prooftexts that Arminians use to justify their position that God wants every single individual in all of humanity to be saved. However, this would be a gross misunderstanding of what Paul is saying. If you read this text in context, Paul is clearly saying that God desires all kinds of people to be saved, but I digress. As you can see, God wants us to "pray for all who are in authority". I believe that this command is not only for professional authorities but for personal authorities as well. Your parent(s) are still over you regardless of whether or not they are toxic. This means the command to pray for all authority still applies. Paul never said, "Only pray for those in authority who are good to you". Keep in mind, when Paul penned these words, he was under arguably the most heinous rulers known to mankind. So, we have no excuse to not pray for those who rule over us. I know that this is a difficult teaching for those of us with bad parents to grasp, and I know I will ruffle some feathers with this blog, but it is what God's word teaches, and I am constrained by His Word to be faithful it His teaching. As Christians, we are commanded to pray for the well-being of our parent(s) simply because they rule over us. And when we follow this command, God promises us that we "may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence" 

Don't Allow Yourself To Be Consumed With Anger Toward Your Toxic Parent(s) 

When we turn to Ephesians 4:26, we read the following, 

"Be angry and do not sin, do not let the sun go down on your wrath..." 

First, I'd like to make the obvious point that being angry is not sinful. I say this because if anger were sinful, Paul would not feel the need to clearly separate being angry from sin by telling us to not sin in our anger. So, please do not allow yourself to feel condemned if you struggle with anger toward your toxic parent(s). However, just as it says, "do not let the sun go down on your wrath", do not allow yourself to become consumed with wrath toward them. I understand that this is easy for those of us with toxic parent(s) to do, but we need to resist that temptation by any means necessary. When we allow ourselves to be consumed with wrath, it will only harm ourselves because our parents are most likely not even thinking of us. Why should we allow our toxic parent(s) to rent space in our heads any longer? As I stated earlier, Jesus asked the Father to forgive His enemies while He was on the cross. As people who claim to follow Jesus Christ, we are commanded to do the same thing. We should be willing to forgive the toxicity of our parent(s) even if we choose to never talk to them again. That is what God would want from us. 

I hope that this blog helps you better understand how you can honor your parents, even when they are too toxic for you. We are commanded to always forgive, but forgiveness does not always mean reconciliation. If you cannot reconcile with your parent(s) for any reason, then just remember these points, so that you can understand how you can still follow the command to honor your father and mother. Thank you very much for reading this blog, and may the grace of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ richly bless you all! 

-David Lee Chu Sarchet 
Christian Mental Health Advocate 

Check out the Christ-Centered Mental Health Ministry Website

Smoking & Schizophrenia

 

Smoking cigarettes is a common addiction for those of us who suffer from Schizophrenia. As a matter of fact, studies have shown that about 70-80% of people with Schizophrenia smoke cigarettes, according to the National Library of Medicine. This means that over half of the people suffering from Schizophrenia have a nicotine addiction. I know that in my own personal life, I have struggled with smoking myself.. Actually, I have been going on and off from cigarettes since I was 19 years old. And now I am 37. So, believe me when I tell you that I completely understand what it is like to deal with a nicotine addiction. Actually, I have heard that quitting smoking is a lot more difficult than quitting heroin, and I believe that to be a fact, even though I have never done heroin. I know that for those of us who deal with nicotine addiction, it is very difficult to not feel deep shame concerning the addiction. After all, doesn't the Bible tell us not to be mastered by anything? I believe that it does; however, the same Bible also tells us that we are no longer condemned. If we turn to Romans 8:1, we read the following, 

"There is therefore NOW no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus..." 

Let that sink in for a minute. Paul is telling us, in the present tense, that we are no longer condemned. Why can he say this? It is solely because of what Jesus has done on our behalf. If we turn to 2 Corinthians 5:21, we read the following, 

"For our sake, he made him to be sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God" 

Theologians have referred to this as "The Great Exchange." What this means is that when Jesus went to the cross on our behalf, God literally made Jesus sin, and then He made us righteous in Christ. He did this for us based solely on His grace. He did not have to do this. As a matter of fact, if God had never sent Jesus to the cross for us, He would still be holy, just, and loving. So do not think that God saved you because you were somehow more special than anyone else. God freely chose to lavish on us His grace and mercy and love, and it had nothing to do with anything we did. I know this is hard for us to grasp because grace is not something we can easily grasp. We are hard-wired for law: we do some work and we get payment of some sort. That makes sense to us. But God flips that upside down on us by saying we did not do anything, yet He is giving us everything. So, if you are struggling with a nicotine addiction, please keep this in mind. 

Another thing I'd like to address is the fact that some people think that smoking cigarettes is sinful. I personally do not think smoking is sinful because there is nothing in Scripture that either explicitly or implicitly condemns smoking. If there is an act that is not explicitly or implicitly condemned in Scripture, then you are free to engage in that act because it is not sinful. However, if we turn to 1 Corinthians 6:12, we read the following, 

"All things are lawful for me, but not all things are beneficial for me. All things are lawful for me, but I will not be dominated by anything" 

As you can see from this text, all things are "lawful" for me, but not all things are "beneficial" for me. What I believe this means is that while we are free in Christ to smoke cigarettes without fear of condemnation, smoking cigarettes will not be beneficial. We may be free to smoke cigarettes if we want to, but we will suffer the consequences of smoking cigarettes. We are not condemned for lighting up a cigarette, but we should not allow it to master us. What are some of these consequences? 

Smoking Breaks Down Your Medication

It is a known fact that when you smoke a cigarette, the nicotine will break down your medication in your system. This means that the medication will not work to its fullest potential. This is why a good psychiatrist will encourage you to quit smoking because they want you to be at your best. 

Smoking Cigarettes Will Cause You To Urinate Out Your Medication

This is another known fact in the mental health world. When you smoke cigarettes, it will make you have to urinate much more than usual, and when this happens, your medication will be coming out of your body. This means that your medication will no longer be in your system, and then you will be more susceptible to psychosis. As a result, you may have to be hospitalized if your psychosis is severe enough.

I hope that this blog helps you to better understand what it means for someone with schizophrenia who suffers from nicotine addiction. If you are in this boat, please do not feel condemned, but realize that there is hope at the end of the tunnel. There are resources out there to help you quit smoking, such as the 1-800-QUIT-NOW line. That is a free program where they will set you up with a coach who will talk to you once a week to give encouragement and support on your quit journey. The program will also give you free nicotine patches, gum, or lozenges. Do not give up on quitting smoking because if you succeed at this, then you will greatly benefit. 

Thank you for taking the time to read my blog, and may the grace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ richly bless you all! 

-David Lee Chu Sarchet 
Christian Mental Health Advocate 

Check out the Christ-Centered Mental Health Ministry Website

Life Update 09/17/25

 

It has been a while since I last updated you all on my current status. Normally, I do these life updates in video format, so this is the first time I'm doing it as a blog post. The purpose of this blog is not to draw attention to myself by glorifying my mental illness. The purpose of this blog is to give the reader encouragement to know that it is all right for a Christian to deal with a mental illness. I understand that mental illness is still very much a taboo subject in the Body of Christ. The reason for this is that many Christians do not want to expose themselves as a mentally ill person, or they are ashamed of a loved one who deals with mental illness. As a mental health advocate, it is my duty to help Christians become more comfortable acknowledging their problems instead of feeling like they are outcasts in the Body of Christ. It is a shame how so many Christians are quick to help someone homeless, drug addicted, or a prostitute, but they ignore those of us who suffer with an "invisible disability". I will try my best in this blog to be as open and transparent with you as possible. This blog will be separated into three categories: Hallucinations/Delusions, Mania/Hypomania, and Medications. Again, I am not bragging or boasting about my disability in this blog. I just want to highlight for people my experience in the hopes that it will help someone who is dealing with something similar. I also want to help someone better understand what someone like me is going through, too. As the Scriptures say, we are to "weep with those who weep and rejoice with those who rejoice" (Romans 12:15).  I believe that this verse is telling us to be in relationship with other believers so closely that we literally can experience what each other is experiencing. I know that no two people will completely understand what someone is experiencing fully, but as we grow closer to one another, we can better identify with one another. I will now elaborate on my three categories. 

Hallucinations/Delusions

This is a situation that I deal with quite frequently, but it is exacerbated in church settings. Some of you may already know this, but I deal with hallucinations telling me that I am God and that people are praying to  me. When I am not properly medicated, it is especially difficult for me to sit through an entire church service without being bombarded with these hallucinations. However, since I have been on this cocktail of medications, the hallucinations and delusions seem to be kept at bay. I still sometimes hear breakthrough hallucinations, but they are much easier to ignore these days. Sometimes I will hear breakthrough hallucinations whenever I am talking to someone whom I care for, and they tell me to hit them in the face. These hallucinations have become easier to ignore, too. My psychiatrist once told me that if I were able to quit smoking, then the medication would do its work a lot easier. I praise God that he seems to have been correct. 

Mania/Hypomania 

This is something that I frequently deal with, mostly these days. As a matter of fact, I deal with mania and hypomania more than I deal with depression. In case you are wondering what these words even mean, "mania" is characterized by extremely high mood fluctuations to the point of becoming delusional. "Hypomania" is characterized as a milder form of mania, and it can lead to high-risk behavior, such as overspending and sleeping around. The last time I really became manic was a couple of years ago, after I got out of a really bad argument with my father that led me into this manic episode. As a result, I did things such as calling the police to brag about how I "personally heard from Donald Trump," and I did other really bad things during that episode. I ended up going to the mental hospital for a few days because of that.  These days, I have not really dealt with any mania episodes, but I have still been dealing with some hypomania. It is for this reason that I leave my wallet at home when I go out to places because I know that if I have my wallet on me, then I will be tempted to blow through all of my money. I need to learn to give my wife my debit card whenever I fall into this episode, though. 

Medications

Ok, this is where things become quite controversial because I know that a lot of professing believers really have some issues with someone like me taking psychiatric medications. I used to feel the same way that they do. As a matter of fact, I used to be so ashamed of taking medications that I would refuse for many years. It is because of that that my illness gradually became worse over time. This is why I am so adamant in telling Christians who struggle with mental illnesses to keep taking their medications, because I do not want them to fall into the same dilemma that happened to me. I know that someone with a mental illness may feel fine without their medication for a while (even many years), but their mental health is gradually getting worse the longer they refuse to take medication. The way that I see it, there is no shame in taking psychiatric medications. People would never tell a diabetic person that it is shameful for them to take insulin shots because they know that if the diabetic person does not have their shot, then they could die. Well, in the same way, if someone with a mental illness does not take their medication, then they can end up either dead or in prison. I am not over-exaggerating. This is a life and death situation when it comes to us taking our medication. If you feel like the medication you are currently on, or if you do not like the negative side effects, then tell that to your psychiatrist. The more honest and transparent you are with your psychiatrist, the easier it will be for them to help you. And do not feel discouraged if you cannot find the right medication right away. It took me over a decade to find the right medication that works for me, but it was all worth it in the end because not only does my medication work, but there are very minimal side effects, too. In case you are wondering what medication I am on, I will list them here: 

Morning

Lamotrigine 100mg 
Olanzapine 10mg 

Evening 

Oxcarbazepine 600 mg 
Quetiapine 400 mg 
2 Olanzapine 20 mg 

I am glad that you took the time to read my blog, and I hope that it helped you to better understand the mindset of someone like me. If you are someone with a mental illness, then I hope that this blog helped you realize that there is absolutely nothing wrong with you. "Normalcy" is relative anyway because every single human being has their own unique struggle in life. All we need to do is keep our eyes focused on Jesus Christ, and He will guide our paths through this life. Thank you very much for taking the time to read my blog, and may the grace of Christ richly bless you all! 

-David Lee Chu Sarchet 
Christian Mental Health Advocate 

Check out the CCMH Ministry Website

How Mental Illness Has Affected My Marriage

 

Marriage is a difficult relationship to manage in life. The reason for this is that we are all sinners. When you get two sinners living together for life, it is difficult for the two to learn how to deal with one another. This is made even worse when mental illness is thrown into the mix. According to the AI Overview, 

"Couples with a history of mental illness, whether in one or both partners, face a higher risk of divorce compared to couples without mental illness. Studies indicate this increased risk can range from 20% to 80% higher, depending on the specific mental disorder and its severity." 

This may sound daunting, but there is real hope for marriages that are built on a solid foundation centered on Christ. In this blog, I shall discuss how my mental illness has affected my marriage but then I will give some advice that has worked for me and my wife. The purpose of my writing this is to show you that marriages that deal with mental illnesses can work out, despite what the statistics say. I want to give you hope so that you will not feel discouraged from pursuing marriage. A godly marriage is a beautiful thing that God has blessed us with on this side of Heaven. I firmly believe that the Lord has someone for everyone. If you have a desire to be married, then God will grant you the desires of your heart. I believe this because Psalm 37:4 tells us, 

"Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will grant you desires of your heart" 

Did you notice what the Psalmist is saying here? He basically is saying that if you find your delight in God, then He will grant you your heart's desire. I believe that this means we must find our ultimate fulfillment in Christ, and once we do that, then our desires will become His desires. When our desires become His desires, that is when He will give us what we want because we will want what He wants. I sincerely hope that this makes sense to you. We just need to trust in His timing to reveal who our spouse is. Trust me, it took me over a decade to find my wife, but once I found her, I realized that upon meeting her, it was literally the best thing to ever happen to me. But, I digress. Let me explain how my Schizoaffective Disorder has affected my marriage. I will reference three ways, but I want you to know that there definitely are more ways, though. These are just three ways I would like to cover for the sake of this blog. These three ways are: Leadership, Financial, and Sacrifice. I will elaborate on each of these points now, and then afterwards, I will give you some encouraging words of advice that will help you make your marriage successful. 

Leadership

This has probably been the hardest barrier for me to understand. I believe that part of the reason it has been so difficult for me is that I never had a godly man teach me how to lead a wife before I became a Christian in my 20s. However, this is only part of the reason. The main reason is that my mental illness causes me to be extremely lazy. This is a symptom called anhedonia. In case you're wondering what anhedonia is, it is a symptom that decreases one's interest in things that they once found pleasurable. My anhedonia causes me to no longer enjoy leading and spending time with my wife. It is for this reason that sometimes my wife has had to step up to tell me what I must be doing as the man of the household. For example, I know that I should be leading my wife in our weekly Family Worship times, but sometimes all I want to do is read my books or watch movies and TV shows on Netflix. It is for this reason that I sometimes discourage myself from leading us in Family Worship, and my wife will have to bring it to my attention. 

Financial

This is the second most important barrier that has affected our marriage. You may or may not already know this, but my wife is the primary "bread-winner" in our household. It is for this reason that sometimes I feel like I am "less of a man" because I am not currently working a traditional 9-5 job. I try to encourage myself by saying that I am doing the best that I can, despite having a mental disability, but it does not always work. However, this is why I am working so hard in this ministry and why I am working so hard in my Biblical Counseling Courses too. I know that as long as I am faithful in glorifying God with the work He has given me, then eventually He will bless the work that I do. I am just glad that my wife believes in the work that I do. This is one of the reasons why I feel blessed to have my wife. 

Sacrifice

This is the third most important barrier in my marriage. I say this because sometimes I feel like my wife has and is making more of a sacrifice for me than I am making for her. After all, she is the one who left her home to come be with me. I know that she was willing to make that sacrifice because she believes in me, but I feel like I should have done more for her. Even to this day, I still feel like I should be doing much more for her. It is for this reason that I try my best to do the little things around the house just so I can ease the burden off her shoulders. I know that she does appreciate that I do that, too. 

 Now that I have explained how mental illness has affected my marriage, I shall give some godly advice for how you can live in a successful marriage centered around Christ, even though mental illness is prevalent. If we turn to Proverbs 18:22, we read the following, 

"He who finds a wife finds a good thing, and obtains favor from the Lord" 

Husbands, if you want a successful marriage, you must take this verse to heart. You must see your wife as the good thing that is displaying favor from God. I personally look for every opportunity to show my wife that I truly do appreciate her. Do we have the perfect marriage? Of course not! But I do my best to show my gratitude for her, and I am always thankful to the Lord for showing me favor by giving her to me. If you want a successful marriage, you need to do what I am doing. 

If we turn to Ephesians 5:25-28, we read the following, 

"Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, in order to make her holy by cleansing by the washing of water by the word, so as to present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or anything of the kind--yes, so that she may be holy and without blemish" 

As you can see from this text, brothers, it is our duty to love our wives the way Christ loves His church. How did He show us this example? He displayed His love for us by sacrificing Himself on the cross and thus, bearing our sins and our punishment that we deserved. Theologians call this "The Great Exchange". What this means is that when Jesus went to the cross, He took all of our sins upon Himself, and His perfect righteousness was imputed onto us. It is for this reason that we, as His bride, can stand before God as holy and blameless in His sight. If Christ was willing to take the ultimate sacrifice for us, then how much more should we be doing for our own wives? Husbands, this means that if your wife had a long day at work and she wants to rest, then maybe you should take care of the dishes instead of making her do it. The same applies to other household chores too. If your wife wants to spend time with you, but your "boys" want to hang out, then you should be able to tell them no because your wife comes first. If your wife tells you that she does not want to cook dinner one night because she had a hard day at work, then you should fend for yourself on those days. You should also offer to give her a back rub. The bottom line is this: you should be willing to do more for your wife than she is doing for you, even if you do not feel like doing anything. Anhedonia is no excuse to disregard the commandment that tells us to lay down our lives for our wives. Also, anhedonia is no excuse to neglect Family Worship. I personally understand that anhedonia is difficult to overcome, but if you want a successful God-honoring marriage, then you must do whatever you can to overcome anhedonia. We can accomplish all things through Christ, who gives us strength (Philippians 4:13). 

For those of you who feel condemned because you have failed at being a "bad" husband for your wives, I would like to leave you with one last word of encouragement. When we turn to Romans 8:1, we read the following, 

"Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus..." 

I personally find this scripture comforting, especially when I consider my own failures in being a "rotten"  husband. It helps me to understand that no matter what I am not condemned by God because He has borne my condemnation already. It is for this reason that you and I can celebrate, despite our failures. If you have let down your wife in any way, shape, or form, please understand that it is alright. You do not need to feel like God is punishing you or even that your wife should love you any less than she currently does. All you need to do is acknowledge your failure to God and your wife, and then pick yourself back up so that you can do better next time. 

I hope that this blog really helps you understand how you can be a better husband for your wife, even if you are dealing with a mental illness of any kind. I pray that you will not feel condemned by this blog, but instead, the Lord will use this blog to give you encouragement to be the best husband that you can be. It will not be easy, and some days you may even feel like giving up, but on those days, you need to give it all to the Lord, and He will direct your steps (Proverbs 3:5-6). Thank you for taking the time to read my blog, and may the grace of Jesus Christ richly bless you all!

-David Lee Chu Sarchet 
Christian Mental Health Advocate 

Please check out the CCMH Ministry Website

Advice For Why You Should Stay On Your Medication

 

As a lot of you may already know about me, I have been on psychiatric medication for about a decade now. What you may not know is that I have gone a long time without medication. It is for this reason that I feel like I have the personal expertise to talk about this subject. I have found that for people with various mental illnesses, it is extremely vital for us to take and remain on our medication because going off of them can be detrimental to our physical and mental health. However, before I dispense my advice, I would like to give you some words of encouragement. If you are someone who has to take medication for your mental health, please keep in mind that that does not mean you are not "normal" or that you are a "freak of nature". I say this because when I was younger, that is exactly how I used to think, and I know there are others out there who think the same thing. If you take medications for mental health reasons, it is just like a diabetic having to take insulin shots. What I mean by this is that just like a diabetic needs to rely on their shots to keep them alive, so we rely on our medication to keep us alive or even out of prison. Another myth I hear from people concerning psychiatric medication is that taking medications displays a lack of trust in God. This is patently absurd because the people who make this argument will never tell a diabetic that their taking insulin shots displays a lack of trust in God. If they are not willing to say this to diabetics, then they should not tell us that either. So, if you have to take medication for mental health reasons, keep in mind that you are perfectly normal. Now, I will go over my advice, but I will separate my advice into three categories. These categories are Time Length/Life Consequences, Relationships, and Side Effects. I will elaborate on each of these points, but first, I'd like to say these are not the only reasons why you should remain on your medications. These are the main reasons, but if you can think of any more reasons, please feel free to comment below. 

Time Length/ Life Consequences 

What I mean by this is that if you have a clinical mental illness, you must remain on your medication so that you can have a good quality of life. I know that we cannot control the quantity of life because we all only live as long as the Lord permits. However, we are in control of how we live our lives. This means that we have the choice between not taking our medications and accepting our medications. If you choose the former, then you will risk ending up dead or in prison. I say this because depending on your illness, you risk having an episode where you can either be killed or you will do something that will get you locked up. If you choose the latter, then you will more than likely live with a better quality of life. Sure, you may deal with some bad side effects, but overall, your life will be better off. I say this because if we remain on our medication, then our minds will be much more stable. It has been proven that mental illness progressively gets worse over time, but when we take our medications regularly, then our mental progression will be much slower. If we go without our medication, that is dangerous because our mental illness will progressively get worse quickly. So, if we want any hope whatsoever of living a functional life, then we must remain medicated. I know this from firsthand experience because when I was younger, I tried to live without medication. As a result, my life went completely out of control. I ended up homeless in the streets at least ten times in my life. I vividly remember sleeping on park benches and in abandoned cars, too. I even remember going into mania episodes that either drew the attention of the Secret Service or even caused me to get into humiliating situations. It is for this reason that I came to the realization that I should keep taking my medication. 

Relationships 

If you remain on your medications, then it will greatly benefit how you treat your loved ones. I say this because I have noticed that when I am off my medications or when I need a medication adjustment, I treat my loved ones poorly. On the flipside, I have noticed that when I am medicated and my medications are working properly, then I treat my loved ones better. I believe that this is the reason, because for some of us with mental illnesses, if we go off our medication, we can become very paranoid. This paranoia can cause us to no longer trust our loved ones. This distrust of our loved ones will cause us to mistreat them, not because we hate them, but because we are trying to protect ourselves. However, when we are on our medication, our minds can think more properly and clearly about our loved one. As a result of this, we will be able to trust our loved ones more easily because we can see that they truly care for us. It is for this reason that our relationships will be better. 

Side Effects 

This is probably the most controversial topic that I can address because I know a lot of people do not like the side effects that come with taking medications. I know that the side effects are hard to deal with. I also know that sometimes the side effects can be life-threatening, too. It is up to us individually to decide what side effects we are willing to deal with because ultimately, it is our bodies that we must live with. I can tell you that when we find the right medication, the side effects should be minimal. It literally took me over ten years before I found the right medication, but once I did find the right ones, my life has been a lot better. I say this because I do not want you to become discouraged because you have not found the correct dose of medications that work for you. It may take a while, but you must not give up. If you keep being open and transparent with your psychiatrist about everything you are experiencing, then it will make things a whole lot easier for him or her to help you out. The saying "help me help you" is a perfect motto for the psychiatrist because he or she can only do so much if we are not completely honest with them. 

I hope that this blog encourages you to remain on your medication or helps you to help someone else remain on their medication, too. Keep trusting in Christ, and He will guide you into all truth. Thank you for taking the time to read my blog, and may the grace of Christ richly bless you all. 

-David Lee Chu Sarchet
Christian Mental Health Advocate 

Check out the CCMH Ministry Website

Biblical Counseling Is Biblical After All

 

As some of you may know already, last year I was adamantly opposed to Biblical Counseling. My contention with Biblical Counseling was that Biblical Counselors all seemed to be anti-psychology. As someone who greatly values the insights of psychology, I thought that anything that opposed psychology must be rejected. However, this year I have had the amazing opportunity to learn more about Biblical Counseling, and now I actually would like to earn my certificate in Biblical Counseling. You may be wondering what exactly Biblical Counseling is, right? You also may be wondering how someone like me could make such a complete 180 on something that I was so adamantly opposed to. Well, to answer the second question, I have learned that Biblical Counseling is very helpful for people. As a matter of fact, it is indeed more helpful to people than psychology because the help that it provides comes straight from the Scriptures. This does not mean I am against psychology. No, I will always support psychology, but now I see the immense value in Biblical Counseling. To answer the first question, the Biblical Counseling movement was founded by a Reformed theologian named Jay Adams, and it was originally called "nouthetic counseling". The term "nouthetic" comes from the Greek word, which means "to admonish". Jay Adams believed that mental illnesses were actually sin issues that needed to be confronted from a biblical perspective. He authored the book "Competent To Counsel," where he discusses in depth what exactly he means by this. As a result, he was very much opposed to psychology and psychiatry as it was presented in his time by people like Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung. It is for this reason that I was so opposed to Biblical Counseling because I thought that Biblical Counselors were still adamantly opposed to psychology, and as someone who is currently receiving help from psychology, I felt like he was saying I was not a very good Christian. I have recently learned that the Biblical Counseling movement has since progressed away from its founder. There are two Biblical Counseling organizations called the CCEF (Christian Counseling Education Forum) and the ACBC (Association of Certified Biblical Counselors). They are basically similar to one another with very slight differences. For example, the ACBC believes that a counselor needs to operate under the auspices of a local church, whereas the CCEF believes that individual counselors can operate separately from the local church. The organization that I have been studying under is the CCEF, and I am very excited about the prospect of earning my certificate from their organization. My goal in this blog is to show how Biblical Counseling is indeed biblical. I will do this by explaining four points in this blog. These points will be: Sin Issues, High View of Scripture, God Cares, and Helping People. These are not the only points that prove that Biblical Counseling is indeed biblical, but these are the most important points. If you can think of any other important points, please share them in the comments below. I will now elaborate on each of these points. 

Sin Issue 

If we turn to Psalm 51:5, we read the following, 

"Behold, I brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me" 

As you can clearly see from this text, we are all born into sin. There is not a single human being on this earth who was born without a sin nature, besides the God-Man Jesus Christ. We clearly see evidence of this in Romans 7:15-17, which reads, 

"For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me." 

As you may already know, these very words were penned by the Apostle Paul himself. I know that there is some debate concerning whether or not Paul was speaking pre-conversion or post-conversion, but I think it is very clear that he was speaking about himself post-conversion. Theologians say that this text is describing the indwelling sin that affects all believers. Some theologians even say that this is evidence of Total Depravity, according to the TULIP acronym. Regardless of how you view this text, it is obvious that all humankind deals with sin. Biblical Counselors see texts like this and how these sin issues can manifest themselves in people who would be diagnosed with mental illnesses. This does not mean that they see all mental illnesses as sin issues. As a matter of fact, they distinguish between organic illnesses and inorganic illnesses. Organic illnesses are illnesses that stem from chemical imbalances in the mind. An example of this would be Schizophrenia or Bipolar disorders. Inorganic illnesses would be illnesses that are not chemical imbalances in the mind. An example of this would be alcoholism or gender dysphoria. These are very important concepts to keep in mind when listening to Biblical Counselors because if you do not keep these in mind, their rhetoric can get confusing. 

High View Of Scripture 

If we turn to 1 Timothy 3:16, we read the following, 

"All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work" 

Biblical Counselors use this text to justify their methodology when it comes to counseling their clients. They believe that everything they need when dealing with someone is found directly in the Scriptures. This text does indeed say that too. When dealing with clients who have a certain organic or inorganic illness, it is always helpful to point them back to the Holy Scriptures. If we fail to do this, then all we will accomplish is putting a band-aid on an open wound. It is only through the Scriptures that one can receive the real hope that they need to cope with life's daily struggles. This does not mean that psychology cannot be of any hope whatsoever. Psychology can help tremendously, but it should always take a backseat to Biblical Counseling. I believe that in cases of Schizophrenia and Bipolar disorder, one must address the matters of the heart alongside mental health treatment. In the case of alcoholism, the only thing that will help is direct confrontation of one's sin. As counselors, we must always keep this in mind if we are to be of any kind of help. The Scriptures indeed have everything we need to know for life and godliness. 

God Cares 

In 1 Peter 5:6-7, we read the following, 

"Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God, so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties upon him because he cares for you" 

In this text, we are commanded to cast all of our anxieties upon God. It is important to keep in mind that this is not a suggestion. No, this is a direct command from the apostle Peter. He follows this up by reminding us that God cares for us. This is remarkable to think about. The infinitely holy and just God of the universe takes the time to care for us. Biblical Counselors are really good at reminding us of this very fact. As a matter of fact, I think that Biblical Counselors are better at reminding us of this than even Integrationists are. The reason for this is that Biblical Counselors are always drawing their clients back to what the Scriptures say. Integrationists tend to first use psychology to comfort their clients, and then they take them to the Scriptures. This is a sad indictment against the Integrationist movement. The bottom line is that God does indeed care for all of the little details in our lives, and it is for this very reason that we can always turn to Him. 

Helping People 

When we turn to Romans 12:15, we read the following, 

"Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep" 

As you can see from this text, we are commanded to be in such close communion with one another that we can know when to rejoice with one another and when to weep with one another. This means that we need to understand one another, and that is no simple task. In today's culture, everyone is so individualistic that we usually are not close enough to other people to be able to fulfill this command. I am not just talking about people outside of the church, but inside the church as well. Biblical Counselors do a supreme job at reminding people that we are created to be in communion with one another. Integrationists are good at reminding people of this, too, but Biblical Counselors really stress this fact to their clients. Another Scripture that really highlights this concept is found in 2 Corinthians 1:3-4. This says the following, 

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all of our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God" 

As you can see from this text, we are comforted by God in ALL of our affliction. This does not mean that God only comforts us in some of what troubles us. No, God promises to comfort us in everything that troubles us. Think about this for a moment. The infinite Creator of all of the cosmos loves us so much that He is willing to take time to comfort us in all of our affliction. Why does He do this? It is because once we are comforted, then we will be able to comfort those who are being afflicted with the comfort we receive from God. Biblical Counselors are very helpful in this regard because we need to be reminded of God's comfort and how we can comfort others. This falls in alignment with the idea of being in communion with other people. If we fail to be in communion with others, then we will not be able to know when the right time is to comfort others. 

I hope that this blog has given you some insight in knowing how Biblical Counseling is indeed a Biblical methodology in counseling other people. Does this mean it is the only methodology that should be used? Of course not! I still believe that there is a place for psychology, which is why I consider myself to be a Biblical Integrationist. I know that I still have a lot to learn concerning Biblical Counseling, and so I look forward to my future lessons in the courses to follow, and I am excited to one day say that I am a certified Biblical Counselor, but this does not mean that I'll ever let go of my convictions for psychology. I see immense value in both Biblical Counseling and psychology. I thank you for taking the time to read my blog, and may the grace of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ richly bless you all! 

-David Lee Chu Sarchet
Christian Mental Health Advocate 

Check Out The CCMH Ministry Website