I was now officially a single mother (with bipolar disorder) working as a flight paramedic (even more stress). One day after working my shift, I came home, called my mother to my house and had a complete breakdown. I had to quit my job because I mentally couldn't do it anymore. My daughter's father decided that he no longer wanted to be her dad (a blessing in disguise). My daughter was having a hard time with this so I made an appointment to see my pastor.
When we met, I explained my situation to him. I went into detail and then mentioned that my bipolar disorder was affecting my parenting. He told me that he didn't know anything about bipolar except what the general public knows. He looked at me and told me that he had no advice and didn't know how to help me except to tell me that I should just pray about it. He didn't refer me to anyone, give me any Scripture to read or anything.
I finally was stable after my doctor found the right medications. A friend of mine who went to the sane church was dealing with major depressive disorder. He was stable at the moment also. We approached the youth pastor (They have a large, phenomenal youth program) and asked if they would like us to speak to the group about mental illness as many young people were dealing with mental illness. He informed us that he had no room in his agenda for it. He never got back to us, either. It was as if it were a taboo subject. I have since stopped going to the church I once loved and have yet to find one that is open to the subject of mental illness.
