Due to the stigma around mental health, it can be challenging for people suffering from mental health problems to find their place in society. Society has its ways of negatively labeling mentally unwell people. This contributes to the feeling of secrecy when one is struggling with their mental health. This, in itself, contributes to a mindset in which people think that they are alone in their struggles because no one talks about it. And this again leads to a strengthening of stigma. 

Professionals often asked me how I managed to shake off the stigma around mental health and how I found the ability to pick up my everyday life again, as an active participant in society. 

This is because I embraced a significant truth:

 I am not the mental illness I was suffering from, I found my identity somewhere else.  

But now thus says the Lord, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine.” – Isaiah 43:1

When you let the stigma around mental illness influence you, it is an identity issue. Because you are not your mental complaints, and certainly not the opinion people have of these complaints. 

You are set apart by Christ, the one who formed you and calls you ‘His’.

Throughout my journey, Jesus emphasized the importance of meditating on Bible verses about my identity in Him. I think that whatever you focus on, expands. So if you are focusing on the stigma around mental health, this will become your reality. However, if you focus on the way Jesus sees you. 

Jesus, his truth, becomes your reality. 

The Bible is full of verses that explain how Jesus sees us when we give our lives to Him. He sees you as precious and honored (Isaiah 43:4). He describes you as his treasure and His private garden (Songs of Songs 4:12).  

If the stigma around mental health is something that holds you back from participating in society. I encourage you to focus on who you are in Christ. Let this become the foundation upon which you build your life. I pray you’ll be so rooted in His truth for your life that opinions based on stigma will not stir up any negative emotions. Because remember, 

If our God is for us, who can be against us? (Romans 8:31)