By Nancy Virden (c)2025

My nerves go “silent” when I experience something difficult. Well, at least they used to; now, it is a coping skill to stop and ask what I feel and how the experience affects me.

Avoidant of emotions or at least of acknowledging them most of my life, I have learned to welcome feeling only in the last dozen years. In that sense, new emotions teach me to recognize when they need to be addressed.

I had to put a pet to sleep thirty years ago, and as I left the vet’s office, my brain did a mental wiping of my hands. It’s over, I thought. Nonetheless, I was unable to think clearly for hours. Someone else had to point out that maybe the death of my dog was hitting me harder than I had allowed. My nerves had gone silent, but were very active.

This numbness is how my brain has protected me from pain. It is not helpful when it leads to inner agitation and stuffing reactions. Emotions have a way of appearing in one form or another, and mine showed up in depression and fear.

A therapist said, “Nancy, you are telling me horrible stories but show no affect. It is like you are reading out of a newspaper.” Learning to change that became a goal, and allowing emotions and their expression is part of reaching it.

We get better when we let our emotions have space to breathe. We give them fresh air by talking about them honestly. Telling God is the simplest way to release them; however, telling a trusted human is also important. It still surprises me how talking about an emotional challenge frees me. God made our brains and spirits to work in this way.

Nothing is so heavy after sharing it. Confusion scatters when the light of another’s wisdom shines on it. Fear calms when we discuss it aloud. Irrationality is more manageable in words than alone in our heads. Depression can be interrupted by asking for what we need.

On it goes- our power over mental disorders is, in part, how we choose to handle the truth. Be real. Do not hint. Tell people who are in a position to help how you are feeling. Embrace your emotions; you will find them more manageable and helpful in the immediate and long run.

-COMMENTS WELCOME

Today’s Helpful Word

Psalm 42:11

Why am I discouraged?
    Why is my heart so sad?
I will put my hope in God!
    I will praise him again—
    my Savior and my God!

If you are feeling suicidal or concerned about someone who is, in the U.S., call 988, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. For a list of international suicide hotlines, go here.

If you are suicidal with a plan, immediately call 911 in the U.S. or go to your nearest emergency room; in the EU, call 112. (For other international emergency numbers, go here.) Hope and help are yours!

Always the Fight Ministries (ATFM) has been displaying compassion for those fighting mental illness, addiction, or abuse since 2012. Nancy is the founder and voice of ATFM and openly shares her emotional resurrection from despair. 

NOTE: Nancy is not a doctor or a mental health professional and speaks only from personal experience and observations. This website is not intended to substitute for professional mental or behavioral health care.

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