One of the aspects I love about Shield-Bearer is that we are focused on curing the condition rather than treating the symptoms. If you only fix the symptoms – those things you see on the surface – the root cause will almost certainly return and need fixing over and over again.
Treating the symptoms is important, don’t get me wrong. If you break a bone, it’s important to have painkillers! But those painkillers only help with the symptoms of the broken bone. To stop treatment with painkillers will only cause us other problems (sometimes more serious ones) down the road if we don’t receive different treatment to heal our bones properly.
Caring for our mental health is about seeking out the root cause rather than treating the symptoms we see on the surface over and over again.
Very simply, our mental health affects how we think, feel, and act. Meditate on these three aspects for a moment. Start with your thoughts. What thoughts do you have about your life, your marriage, your relationships with your children, your employment, your day thus far, the activities you have planned later today. What thoughts do you have right now? What thoughts do you have about yourself?
You probably have both positive and negative thoughts about all of these topics. Some of us may have predominantly negative thoughts or predominantly positive thoughts. These thoughts will naturally color your feelings and emotions. As you meditate on your thoughts your emotions will match up with your thinking. Likewise, your behaviors or actions will follow suit.
If my neighbor’s mental health is poor, his actions are going to be poor and his actions may not just affect my neighbor’s life. His actions may affect my life and my family in a negative way.
This is why caring for our mental health is so very important. This is also why the mental health of everyone in our community is everyone’s concern.
We have many rising concerns in our communities:
School failure and dropouts are increasing.
Divorce is rising.
The numbers of juveniles entering the criminal justice system are going up.
More and more are experiencing victimization.
Suicide is growing at an alarming rate.
All of these issues, and many more like homelessness, road-rage, unemployment, financial distress, anxiety, depression and more find their root cause in issues of untreated mental health.
By looking deeper to figure out what’s causing the problems and issues our clients are struggling with we’re able to help them heal and fix the underlying causes so that they go away for good.
Your support will help Shield-Bearer make an incredible impact on our communities here in Greater Houston. You can be part of a movement to make a real difference!