Meeting the mental health needs of students
Are more students struggling with mental health issues these days, or are they just better able to articulate their struggles than students once were? Jim Epp doesn’t know the answer to this question. As principal of Rosthern Junior College (RJC), one thing he does know is that his students are not immune to mental illness…
‘Poetry and art for mental health’
Depression, anxiety, suicidal thoughts and eating disorders may not sound like subjects for art, but a recent exhibit at the Reach gallery proved that art is a powerful medium for educating and talking about mental illness. Hear and See: Poetry and Art for Mental Health featured the work of 14 poets and the same number…
From church to yoga studio
For many years the church provided me with a place where I felt like I belonged. I was 14 years old when I “decided” to get baptized. Coming from a Mennonite/Anabaptist background, I always respected the time in people’s lives when they would announce their dedication to the Christian faith and get aligned into a…
Walking toward wellness
Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a great battle.—Various attributions According to the Canadian Mental Health Association, 20 percent of all Canadians will personally experience a mental illness in their lifetime. Those statistics apply to people in our congregations as well, even if we don’t always like to talk about them in…
On becoming a better person
Although I had biked 21 kilometres to work and spent the hot day bent over in a vegetable patch just south of Winnipeg, I was still pushing hard on my ride home. I loved passing the hot-shot cyclists who frequented the same route. On that day of particular exertion and clarity, my sense of drive…
Shimmering peace in the midst of darkness
“Argh!” I cried out, as I slammed my fist down hard onto the kitchen counter. “I hate this! I’m so tightly wound up my body feels ready to split open. I can’t stand the tension anymore!” So my brain screamed within the turmoil of what seemed like the world’s worst case of PMS. This episode…
Guard your heart and mind
I memorized Philippians 4:4-9 more than 20 years ago when I was on bed rest during my pregnancy with my son Aaron. I had lost three babies before him—and one after him—so pregnancy for me was an obvious cause for anxiety. If truth be known, I am actually a professional worrier, so passages like this…
Depression resurrection
Today begins like any other, the type that has become common for me. I cheerfully get out of bed at a decent time, feed my children a healthy breakfast, tidy up and then do a boring 20 minutes on the elliptical machine while they begin their chores. It may not sound revolutionary, but I marvel…
‘I am still holding out hope that I will be free of this one day’
What is it like being a young adult journeying with mental illness? Canadian Mennonite spoke with three people from Mennonite Church Canada congregations to find out. Melanie Kampen Melanie Kampen sought help for her anxiety when it got so bad last summer that she couldn’t get out of bed. A psychiatrist diagnosed the 26-year-old with…
Small-town suicide
I wrote this story two years ago, and since then another suicide has occurred and been mourned, in a neighbouring community. That man I did know. To remember both of these men who left behind wives, children, even grandchildren, today I publish it. Let’s learn how to handle mental illness in the church in a…
