Overcoming Suicidal Thoughts, Major Depression, Anxiety, Spousal Abuse, and a Tsunami of Health, Relationship, Money and Spiritual Problems
Nearly two years ago I reconnected with a friend on Facebook. We had been looking for each other for close to 15 years. What a blessing to be able to find each other on social media! It took us some time to catch up but as we talked I started to understand my friend’s situation. She was bombarded with unbelievable baggage. So I decided to help her help herself. She wanted to make changes and she wanted to be healthy and whole again.
We started health coaching sessions in December 2017. At the time my friend was on various medications for diabetes, heartburn, depression (two kinds), urinary incontinence, and high blood pressure. She was living day in, day out with chronic pain from heartburn and osteoarthritis, chronic sinus problems, vertigo, panic attacks, driving phobias. The list went on and on. Frankly, I had never seen a health history like hers before and I was seriously concerned for my dear friend! She also spoke candidly about her suicide attempt which had happened two years prior.
As with all clients I like to start the healing process with food. It’s how I healed my own autoimmune conditions and it’s the basis for achieving a healthy lifestyle. But I quickly realized that her struggles with food was just the tip of the iceberg. We had to dive deep emotionally for our health coaching sessions and I mean really, really deep.
Let’s fast forward to present day. My friend is off all of her medications. According to her doctor all of her blood tests came back normal. My friend was proactive in dropping all of her medications early in our health coaching program. She said that she felt numb with the medication and she wanted to be free from it. In the beginning she found herself crying a lot more without the anti-depressants. She felt loneliness and sadness and moments of intense emotions. This step is so important. No one talks too much about this. The fact of the matter is anti-depressants suppress one’s emotions. To heal and I mean to completely heal, one must feel his or her own pain. There’s no shortcut or magic trick around it.
In the relationship department my friend and her family have done a lot of healing and forgiving. Things are so much better for them now. She better understands her children. She’s present and is there for them. And they are able to talk and work things out as a family. She and her husband are civilly able to discuss the upbringing of their children together.
After almost two years of coaching sessions my friend has a job and a promising paid internship. It’s an encouraging first step for her. And I know that only more good things are to come her way.
I believe that my friend’s saving grace is Our Lord. She depends a lot on prayer especially attending frequent Adoration and Mass. When we first started sessions together she was spiritually weak and had quit going to church. Her faith is blossoming beautifully. Her daughter recently asked, “How do you overcome your depression, Mom?” My friend lovingly told her, “I talk to God all the time.”
September 10 is Suicide Awareness Day. There is help available for anyone who is struggling. As a holistic health coach and Access Bars practitioner I advocate Access Bars sessions for physical, emotional and spiritual issues, and for really any problem. Why? Because it can work quickly and it gets to the root problem. Free Access Bars clinics are available worldwide. For more information visit www.accessconsciousness.com/suicideawareness.
