What do you do when your religion feeds your particular mental illness, making it worse? How do you navigate that to find some level of sanity while maintaining "belief"?
After trying a number of things, including feeding the illness by doing everything she felt compelled to do (and then some) Andee is finally concentrating on both physical and mental health like never before. BUT, at the expense of much judgement from within her faith...because she is not taking the route most DO; and getting on medication. She tried that too, and it made her feel physically terrible.
Andee is tackling her Scrupulosity by looking at her life, mind, and body as something to cherish and take care of. She's decided to TAKE CHARGE, NOT ADVICE like what Betty Jo down the street would be comfortable with. Instead Andee is going to the gym, she's building her self esteem, she's refusing to allow the old mental patterns to "have a say" (which includes opinions like Betty Jo's), she's eating healthier than ever before, and drinking coffee. Some of these aren't things her religion stands behind, but they are things that keep her from going to the dark places when she was feeling like ending her life.
My hero's aren't well known people. My hero's are people like Andee who are able to Take Charge, Exercise Freedom, Make New Choices, and RISE ABOVE where they have been in the past by acknowledging the "unhealthy things".
Because I'm not religious, I want be a cheerleader to everyone interested in working on themselves, and encourage them to ignore the small-minded people who can't see beyond "rules" they insist are coming from the mouth of god. Live your life, make your choices, worry about yourself, understand we ALL have freedom. Find respect, irrespective of your BELIEFS.
